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Amid mariachi players, Mexican dancers and more than 2,400 pilgrims and onlookers, a unique tilma relic associated with Our Lady of Guadalupe was carried reverently through the streets of New Haven in a Guadalupe Celebration sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.
The faithful came from all across Connecticut and even from neighboring states on Sept. 9 to take part in the colorful procession, which began at St. Mary’s Church, passed the New Haven Green and City Hall, wound by the Knights of Columbus’ 22-story international headquarters, and finished at the Knights of Columbus Museum. The procession line spread out for two city blocks, as groups carried banners from their parishes, children marched in colorful Mexican garb, and dozens of Fourth Degree Knights in regalia walked in formation.
The purpose of the procession was to proclaim the unity of all people of America – North, Central and South – under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“We Mexicans are very devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe,” said Claudio Rojas-Verde, who performed with a dance troupe during the procession. His wife, who is from Peru, also performed with their 10-year-old son.
“Mexicans are a very religious people and they want to pass on their traditions to their children,” Rojas-Verde explained. “That is why we are here.”
The tilma relic was carried in shifts beneath a canopy on the half-mile route by Archbishop Henry J. Mansell of Hartford and Supreme Chaplain Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport. Police vehicles stopped traffic at each intersection.
Carried in a silver case, the relic is a small piece of the actual tilma of St. Juan Diego that is on display in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The tilma bears the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which was miraculously imprinted after she appeared to Juan Diego in 1531. The relic has been on loan to the Knights of Columbus this summer from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Before the procession, the Guadalupe Celebration began with a 5 p.m. Mass at St. Mary’s Church, where the Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882. The main celebrant, Archbishop Mansell, was joined by five other bishops and 33 concelebrating priests.
Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, supreme chaplain for the Knights of Columbus, delivered the homily, urging all those who were packed into the church to dedicate their lives to Jesus Christ through Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Immediately following Mass, Msgr. Eduardo Chávez gave a 30-minute talk on the history and significance of the tilma and the Guadalupe event.
“The apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe was an important moment, an encounter between God and human beings,” said Msgr. Chavez, who is postulator for the canonization cause of St. Juan Diego and rector of the Institute of Guadalupan Studies in Mexico City.
The black sash around the waist of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s image shows that she is pregnant with Jesus, he explained.
“Jesus Christ is at the center of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, he is at the center of her message to Juan Diego, he is at the center of the Church and her message to us,” Msgr. Chavez said.
He said that today, Our Lady of Guadalupe is telling all laypeople in the Church to live as signs of Jesus Christ, through Our Lady of Guadalupe to bring hope to a world that is thirsting for signs of hope.
At the end of the procession, a prayer service and blessing ceremony with the relic was held in the museum’s underground parking lot, followed by a lively Guadalupe Fiesta, with Mexican food, music and entertainment.
During the fiesta, the tilma relic was displayed for individual veneration inside the museum. Msgr. Chavez also joined Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson for a book signing event for the bestselling book they co-authored, Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love.
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