Today
is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, memorializing the day and event of when
Our Lady appeared in Mexico to Juan Diego in 1531. You probably know the history, but if you don’t make sure you read the
Wikipedia entry and search out Catholic sites that will relate the story and
devotion. Our Lady under this title is
super important in this segment of the world, carrying the additional monikers
of Empress of the Americas, Patroness of Latin America, Queen of Mexico. If you live in North or South America, this
is our native Marian devotion.
Needless to say Our Lady of Guadalupe is huge in Mexico. And so is Mariachi Music, a native musical genre from western Mexico. When the Mexicans celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, it is very common to integrate Mariachi Music into the Mass. For the first time ever, today at my parish of St. Rita in Staten Island we celebrated today’s feast day with a Mariachi band for musical accompaniment.
It was different. It was endearing. It was wonderful!
I
wish I had videoed all the musical parts of the Mass. I only captured two at the end of Mass. Both were after the pastoral blessing when
the band moved up to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and serenaded the
Blessed Mother. Here are the videos.
And
here’s how they ended with a more upbeat tune.
Oh that was wonderful, and you can see our two pastors, Frs. Eugene and Anthony clapping along behind the altar. Fr. Eugene is planning to do this annually. Unfortunately I did not get the name of the band.
One last thing. Our Lady of Guadalupe has a special place in my heart. That was the name of my parish in Brooklyn growing up.
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