KENSINGTON — For the past three months, Simab Aziz said an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has appeared in her dreams again and again.
“It was a call from Our Lady of Guadalupe,” said Aziz, a parishioner of St. Helen Church in Howard Beach. “I kept on seeing Our Lady of Guadalupe everywhere I turned.”
So, when Aziz learned that St. Rose of Lima Church was holding a special consecration of persons to Our Lady of Guadalupe on May 20, she knew she wanted to attend and be among the 242 parishioners enrolled in the Universal Archconfraternity of Holy Mary of Guadalupe.
Based out of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, the archconfraternity promotes public worship and devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
On May 20, St. Rose of Lima also unveiled a permanent installation of a replica image of Our Lady of Guadalupe sent from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The image was blessed by Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio. He was joined by Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Octavio Cisneros, who celebrated the Mass.
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The idea for the evening dates to December 2016, according to St. Rose of Lima’s pastor, Father Jon Ukaegbu. At that time, and after making numerous trips to the basilica in Mexico, Bishop DiMarzio noted how Mexico honors Our Lady of Guadalupe, and asked Father Ukaegbu if they could do something similar.
Fast forward to July 2023, when Father Ukaegbu learned of the archconfraternity during his own trip to Mexico. While there, he also learned about the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and decided to bring a replica home with him for the parish.
“The airline nearly denied my flight. They said I have to get two seats,” he said, adding that at immigration, “they said I’m doing business. I said, ‘No, this is a spiritual project.’ ”
Father Ukaegbu stressed that the original image is no ordinary picture.
“This image is unlike any other,” he said. “It came from heaven.”
He noted that the image is imprinted on the tilmàtli — the coarse fiber cloak worn by St. Juan Diego when Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to him — making it unlike anything human hands could produce. Bishop DiMarzio echoed that wonder.
“It’s more than 500 years old. It really should have just disintegrated because it’s only fiber. But it has not. And the colors are as brilliant as the day the miracle happened,” he said of the original image, noting that its enduring power is what gives the replica its meaning.
Bishop Cisneros reflected on the timing of the St. Rose of Lima celebration. “We are in May. It’s the month of our Blessed Mother,” he said. “What a beautiful moment, in a specific way for the Mexicans, to have the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe here in the parish of St. Rose of Lima.”
Bishop Cisneros added that anything that unites people is good because that’s what our Blessed Mother does to all of us.”
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During the Mass, Bishop Cisneros also blessed 242 medals sent from the basilica.
The medals, Father Ukaegbu said, “have power to protect, to dispel any negative force or evil.”
A consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe will now be offered at St. Rose of Lima on the 12th day of every month, which Bishop Cisneros expects to provide lasting fruit in the parish community.
“They’re pledging themselves to do some charity — to realize that we have to come out of ourselves for others,” he said. “Good fruit has to come because good things are being done.”
For Aziz, the mission to spread the Blessed Mother’s message has already begun.
“I’m going to make sure that everybody I see, I tell them about Mother Mary,” she said. “Because she’s really real. If you really ask her for help, she’s there. You just have to open your eyes.”