A more than 2,000-person procession for Our Lady of Guadalupe through Passaic, N.J., on Dec. 7 concluded inside Holy Trinity Church, where Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney celebrated a Spanish Mass in her honor that afternoon. Dec. 12 is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, specifically Mexico, mothers, and the unborn.
Bishop Sweeney celebrated the Mass after the faithful finished the 90-minute procession through the streets of Passaic — a 28-year tradition. Father Antonio Rodriguez, Holy Trinity’s pastor, concelebrated the liturgy with Bishop Sweeney, assisted by Deacon Pawel Halat of the parish and a visiting deacon. The church’s altar displayed a large image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Many churchgoers dressed in native garments or clothing bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and joined in singing Spanish hymns during the Mass. Representatives of the Pricio and Delgado families offered public reflections and lit the candles of the parish’s Advent wreath. They climbed a ladder to reach the wreath hanging above the altar—a tradition at Holy Trinity started by the German Catholics who founded the parish.
In 1531, the Blessed Mother appeared four times in Mexico to St. Juan Diego, asking for a church to be built in her honor. These apparitions are referred to as Our Lady of Guadalupe.
