FOREST PARK—Rain didn’t deter the faithful who made a nearly mile-and-a-half pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

On Dec. 11, parishioners of San Felipe de Jesús Mission walked, prayed and sang through misty rain to begin a 24-hour devotion. 

Seven-year-old Miguel Martinez-Morales portrays St. Juan Diego on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Photo by Johnathon Kelso

The vigil attracted crowds of people for “Our Mother,” as believers affectionately called the Virgin Mary. 

As the statue of a brown-skinned Virgin Mary was carried into the church on a processional litter, people applauded. 

The 24 hours were dedicated to the event nearly 500 years ago when the Virgin Mary spoke in the Indigenous Nahuatl language, native to Juan Diego.

Under the care of the Virgin Mary

San Felipe de Jesús Mission sits just off I-75, within the flight path of airplanes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Some 3,500 people worship weekly in its Spanish colonial mission style church, at 925 Conley Road. Nearly all the community is Hispanic, predominantly Mexican. 

Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., was the main celebrant of the vigil Mass at the Forest Park community. He wore a vestment adorned with the image of the Virgin. 

Father Gerardo Ceballos Gonzalez, the archbishop’s priest secretary and director of divine worship, gave the homily, speaking of the care Jesus showed his mother at his crucifixion and the care the Virgin Mary has for his followers. 

“We see in her eyes a mother who rejoices when her children are happy, a mother who weeps when her children are suffering and bends down to take us by the hand and lift us up to her Son,” he recalled in an email. 

Father Ceballos Gonzalez said the Virgin Mary wants the faithful to act like Jesus in the ways they treat each other and in responding to life’s struggles.  

He urged people to take heart in her words spoken at the 1531 apparition to Juan Diego in what is now Mexico City, “Do not let your heart be disturbed. Do not fear. … Am I, your mother, not here? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Are you not in the folds of my arms? What more do you need?”

A special day

In the crowd of pilgrims was 49-year-old Victor Fernandez, a warehouse worker. A longtime member of the church, he helped organize the annual celebration for a few years. He is a native of El Salvador, where many traditions surrounding the feast day mirror Mexican customs. 

Parishioners carry a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe during a processional at San Felipe De Jesús Mission on Dec. 12. Photo by Johnathon Kelso

“This day is so special for us. It is about Our Mother,” he said.

 People show their love for the Virgin, who shows her care for them, he said. Fernandez said the Virgin leads the way for people to know Jesus and to know God.  

The activities surrounding the feast included the neighborhood pilgrimage, where a handful of homes along the route erected their own shrines with the statues illuminated by candles and electric lights. Others offered coffee to the walkers. 

After Mass, traditional folk dances and mariachi bands continued the entertainment and devotions until 3 a.m. Activities began on Dec. 12, the feast day, around 8 a.m., with multiple Masses until the final service at 2 p.m. 

Camilla Palacios-Sanchez holds a necklace depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe. Photo by Johnathon Kelso

The rainy pilgrimage the night before the feast did not deter the crowds.

Led by traditional dancers in feathered headdresses, flowered folk dancers and altar servers in white robes, a pickup truck followed carrying the image of the Virgin Mary. Roses surrounded the statue on the decorated trailer. Musicians rode in the bed of the truck playing for the crowd.     

There were five stops at shrines along the way to match the five apparitions of the Virgin. At each stop, a parish member read a reflection, followed by a recitation of prayers of the rosary before setting off again. 

Back at the church nearly an hour and a half later, the statue was tenderly lifted from the truck. Four men brought the statue of the Virgin Mary into the church. The crowd standing shoulder to shoulder parted to make way for the processional litter, and people applauded.