PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Wind gusts clocked at 39 mph chilled the air but not the enthusiasm on Dec. 12 for an estimated 4,000 people celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The crowd at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph was spread over two Masses — one in the morning for Queens parishes and one in the afternoon for Brooklyn parishes.
Fifty-two parishes participated, besting the 49 at last year’s feast, when 3,400 people attended.
“It is more than ever,” said Father Baltazar Sánchez-Alonzo, director of the Mexican Apostolate. “I believe that this number of people will increase.”
And as in years past, Guadalupanos continued the tradition of trekking from the Co-Cathedral back to their home parishes behind torches lit by Bishop Robert Brennan and Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Octavio Cisneros.
The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe commemorates the day in 1531 when the Blessed Mother appeared in an apparition to an indigenous peasant named Juan Diego atop the hill of Tepeyac on the north side of present-day Mexico City.
It is a major celebration in the Diocese of Brooklyn — home to an estimated 175,000 Mexican Americans.
Father Sánchez-Alonzo, pastor of St. Mary Gate of Heaven Parish, South Ozone Park, said the day is a great opportunity to publicly proclaim the faith.
“Everybody is happy, rejoicing,” he said. “We are happy because we are Catholics, because we belong to this diocese, and because we are the voice of Mary.”
The participants, including school kids and teens, but mostly adults, wore this year’s uniform — black sweatpants and neon (with some olive) green hoodies. The tops had the screen-printed message Mary gave to Juan Diego: “¿No estoy aquí, que soy tu madre?” (“Am I not here? I am your mother.”)
Added outer layers helped break the cold. The thermometer reported 39 degrees, but the wind made it feel like the mid-20s, according to the National Weather Service.
Beatriz Guallpa was among 30 members from Queen of Angels Parish in Sunnyside, who shrugged off the chill. She said the six-mile hike would be worth it.
“It’s the faith of it,” she said. “And it’s believing and following the tradition of what it was in Mexico.”
Edwin Garcia, a 20-year-old from Bushwick, said he makes the feast each year with his parish, All Saints-Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii. To do so, he, like the others, asked to be off from work.
“My church gave out flyers to our employers, kind of like a doctor’s note,” Garcia said. “She is the mother of Jesus. So, she’s very important to me.”
Between Masses, Bishop Brennan praised the Guadalupanos.
“We have very good, talented young people in this diocese,” he said. “I just love seeing their enthusiasm, their faith, and devotion.
“As time goes on, I start to see some of them, and I say, ‘Hey, these aren’t people who just come out on the 12th of December. These are people who are very active in our parishes and doing great things.’ ”
Bishop Brennan was the main celebrant, while Bishop Cisneros and Father Sánchez-Alonzo concelebrated.
In the homily, Bishop Cisneros urged the faithful to open themselves to what God wants them to do, including vocations for the priesthood and religious sisters.
He recalled how the Lady told Juan Diego to build a shrine on the hill, but he begged her to ask someone else, someone important, not a peasant like himself. He wanted to visit his ailing uncle, but Lady followed him and assured him that his uncle was already healed, so he obeyed.
Bishop Cisneros said Mary did the same thing at the Annunciation when the angel Gabriel appeared to tell her she would give birth to Jesus.
“And she says, ‘Who am I?’ Same as Juan Diego,” Bishop Cisneros said. “But immediately she responds with confidence, with trust, and with humility.”
Her response: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38).
“That’s what I want them to reflect on,” Bishop Cisneros said of the Guadalupanos. “To trust in God, to trust in Mary, be humble, and do what he’s asking you.”
Asked about the chances of 4,000 participants yielding at least a few vocations, Bishop Cisneros grinned and said, “If we get one, I’m happy.”
Father Sánchez-Alonzo said the Masses were so full the Mexican Apostolate added overflow seating in the undercroft of the Co-Cathedral. It was a stark contrast to 2020 when only 220 people attended the feast because of the pandemic.
It was also Father Sánchez-Alonzo’s first year as director of the apostolate. His predecessor, Father Jorge Ortiz-Garay, pastor at St. Brigid Parish, Bushwick, died in March 2020 of complications from COVID-19. He was the first Catholic priest in the U.S. to die from the disease.
Father Sánchez-Alonzo recalled how the apostolate’s former director often said he wanted to grow the feast until it filled the 19,000 seats of the Barclay Center. No doubt he would have celebrated this year’s strong attendance, Father Sánchez-Alonzo said.
“I think that he’s rejoicing in the Kingdom of Heaven,” he said of his friend. “He was the instrument of God to begin this ministry. He sowed the seeds, and now it is bearing fruit.”
