Parish welcomes image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

IC photo/Laura Vallejo

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An image originally from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is enthroned at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Salt Lake City during a Dec. 9 celebration.

SALT LAKE CITY — Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Parish in Salt Lake City resounded with drums, rattles, shouts of “Viva la Virgen!” and “Viva Cristo!” and many cheers as parishioners and non-parishioners alike shouted for joy on Dec. 9.

The occasion was the welcoming of their new images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego that are now part of the church.

Months ago, the parish started the process to get an image of the Holy Mother of God from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. This image would be an exact replica created from the miraculous image that is on the cloak of St. Juan Diego, and would be completed with the full control and approval of the Catholic Church and come complete with certification thereof.

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that the parish received is printed on a tilma rather than on paper, and it is the same size as the original one in the Shrine of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

 According to the shrine website, in 1999 Cardinal Norberto Rivera, then Archbishop Primate of Mexico, authorized the removal of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe from the basilica in Mexico in order to create an exact digital copy with the full control and approval of the Church. The resulting digital file is the only digital rendition of the sacred image created directly from the miraculous image.

The parish’s image of St. Juan Diego also came from Mexico.

Sofia Palestino, a parishioner of Our Lady of Guadalupe and one of the many people who made the arrival of the images possible, acted as the master of ceremonies during the Dec. 9 welcoming event, which started with a procession with the images from the Utah State Fairgrounds to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church.

During the procession, hundreds of people confronted the winter temperatures with smiles.

Accompanied by the sounds of four different groups of Aztec dancers, matachines and a tambura, people processed through the streets, shouting cheers in Spanish such as “Viva la Virgen!” and “Viva Juan Diego!”

Upon their arrival at the parish, which was already filled with people, the dancers entered first, clearing the way for the images.

Palestino welcome everyone to the celebration, which was so well attended that people overflowed into the church entrance.

“Thank you to all the families and people that made this day possible,” said Palestino as the drums started to reverberate inside the church.

The first image to enter was the image of St. Juan Diego.

“This is a great gift of our Church, to be able to contemplate inside of our Church men and women who live in eternity interceding for us,” said Fr. Jose Fidel Barrera, the parish administrator, as he blessed the image of St. Juan Diego.

A moment of silence was broken by cheers and joy as the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in the door.

“Welcome to your home,” said Palestino as people clapped and cheered as the image was brought forward.

“These people receive you with lots of joy. … You are our queen. Welcome to your home,” she said.

The image was escorted by the Aztec dancers and the matachines.

The tradition of the matachines goes back many centuries. According to the story, the Spaniards brought the dance to the New World during colonial times as part of their worship.

In 1531, according to Catholic teachings, the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, an Aztec Indian, and told him to call her Our Lady of Guadalupe; miracles have been credited to her.

“Thank you, God Our Father, who allows us to have your Mother here today,” said Fr. Barrera, then shouted, “Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe, Viva!”

The evening was a special faith-filled time for many of those present. With a big smile on her face, Herlinda Muñoz said that she was moved and filled with joy. “The opportunity that in this parish we are welcoming this image is great. I have no words to describe the feeling,” she said.

For her, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is like having a bit of Mexico closer to her heart, she said.

“For every Mexican and for every Catholic she is Our Mother and we love her dearly,” said Maribel Moreno. “This is something very beautiful. … This is marvelous,” she said, adding that she was very moved.

“Having this image of our patron saint motivates us to keep going forward, to keep serving, to keep walking,” said Sotero Valerio, an Our Lady of Guadalupe parishioner. “The ways of Our Lord are always open; with faith, strength and never giving up we can make great things happen. This is just one of them.”