Annual celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe connects young and old through customs and traditions

Wearing ruffled white dresses embroidered with flowers and decked in red and green ribbons, a cluster of little girls moved through the sanctuary of St. Mary's Catholic Church like so many butterflies. Nearby, little boys in straw hats and striped serapes strolled solemnly past, one of them wearing a drawn-on mustache.

For Carmen Ramirez, who has lived in Corvallis for 20 years, the sight of children in traditional costumes was exactly the right way to pay tribute to Mexico's patron saint, Our Lady of Guadalupe. The celebration of her Feast Day on Dec. 12 is one of the holiest days in Mexico, and is honored every year at St. Mary's in a bilingual Mass.

"We have to connect our customs and old traditions so they don't disappear," Ramirez said. "Our kids are going to do it, and our grandkids are going to do it."

Keeping cultural traditions alive for the new generations is an important part of the Mass for "Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe." The Virgin of Guadalupe, a vision of the Virgin Mary, appeared in Mexico in the form of an indigenous woman, and her iconic image ties together indigenous traditions with Catholic beliefs.

Festivities for Dec. 12 start at midnight in Mexico, but in Corvallis, the celebration is only slightly more subdued. It begins at 5 a.m. with Mananitas, or "Little Mornings."

"Then there's breakfast with tamales and atole," a special corn-based drink, Ramirez said. The evening Mass is followed by dinner and dancing for the entire community.

More people from all kinds of cultures are coming to celebrate the day, Ramirez said, and the number of Latinos who are participating in St. Mary's events in general is growing.

Although Our Lady of Guadalupe is patroness of the Americas, she is most specifically identified with Mexico, where she appeared.

Hispanic Ministries coordinator Ina Hecker is originally from Chile, but this summer, she and a group of parishioners went on a pilgrimage to the Basilica in Mexico City, where the image of the Virgin on Juan Diego's cloak is displayed.

The Basilica is a place of great reverence and adoration for Mexican Catholics, who often travel part of the journey on their knees before reaching the church. So many people flock to see the image that two moving sidewalks have been installed to keep traffic flowing.

"It was a wonderful experience," Hecker said. She took with her a bag full of written-out prayers from local parishioners, and spent an hour going back and forth in front of the Virgin.

"I went to her image, and I read them and dropped them," she said.

Hecker also is an artist of religious iconography, and created the image of Guadalupe hanging over St. Mary's altar with the help of community children and adults.

Bernarda Silva stood at the back of St. Mary's in an embroidered dress, waiting for Mass to start. A native of Veracruz, Mexico, she spent the day helping set up the church for the event.

She felt especially close to the virgin because of her connection to the indigenous people of Mexico, and she was prepared to request special favor on her feast day.

"I ask for wishes for the next year," she said. "I ask her to keep my life safe and my kids' lives safe."