Pilgrimage honors Our Lady of Guadalupe
Published 5:02 pm Friday, December 9, 2016
The Rev. Urbano Ramirez, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Port Arthur, said the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a big deal in Mexico and it also has a good turnout in Port Arthur.
“We started the pilgrimage in 2000-something,” he said. “We started at the soccer fields (near Memorial High School) at the beginning. We start at St. Joseph’s (Catholic Church at 4600 Procter St. in Port Arthur) now.”
“We have 4,000 participate every year. We get Spanish-speaking people from here, Lake Charles and Beaumont, but it’s open to anyone. Anglos and Spanish-speaking people.”
Six hundred children in Confirmation classes will also join in the pilgrimage.
The procession starts at 8 a.m. at St. Joseph’s and begins with a prayer on Saturday, Dec. 10. The procession will make stops at Queen of Vietnam Catholic Church and Christus St. Mary’s Hospital.
Three hours later, the procession will stop at Our Lady of Guadalupe church at 11 a.m. for a solemn Mass and a theatrical presentation of the miracles of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
There will be a musical band, floats, praying singing, dancing, at horses at the end of the pilgrimage. Police will accompany the pilgrimage.
Ramirez said the pilgrimage is in preparation for the Feast Day of Our Patroness on Monday, Dec. 12 with Las Mananitas with Mariachi at 4:45 a.m. and Mass at 5 a.m. at the shrine.
There will be dancing and an offering of food while the Mariachis sing.
There will also be a live Nativity scene the remainder of the month at the shrine.
Ramirez said Nativity scenes started in the 12th century with St. Francis of Assisi. It spread through Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries and eventually came to America.
The church starts making preparations for the feast the day after Thanksgiving.
“They do a beautiful, beautiful job. I’m very happy,” he said.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Spanish Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, also called the Virgin of Guadalupe, in Roman Catholicism, the Virgin Mary in her appearance before Juan Diego in a vision in 1531, according to www.britannica.com. The name also refers to the Marian apparition itself. Our Lady of Guadalupe holds a special place in the religious life of Mexico and is one of the most popular religious devotions. Her image has played an important role as a national symbol of Mexico.
David Ball: 409-721-2427
