The last few years I’ve gone to the Hispanic National Parish where they have stuff going on all week leading up to the big day and then about 6 Masses on the feast day with a huge outdoor temporary shrine, processions, folk dancers, the works, and everything is jam packed with people coming from three states. But that’s about 40 minutes drive away and I have a lot going on this year so I decided to just go to my parish, which I discovered does have a special Mass, but for some reason they do not put it on the regular Mass schedule so you have to know to read the fine print in the Spanish section of the bulletin or else know some Spanish parishioners who will tell you. I have no idea why it is not on the regular listing of Masses or on the website. I did notice a few other non-Hispanics there including some of the usual daily Mass crew who I see around the neighborhood at various daily Masses.
It was standing room only anyway, a little lower key than the one 40 minutes away but still had a very nice guitar group, a Bishop coming in specially to say the Mass in Spanish, people dressed like Aztecs blowing a conch as the Guadalupe statue is processed in, a blessing of everyone’s statues (including some statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Jude that were as big as the kids carrying them), and posole, pan and chocolate afterwards.
The family sitting in front of me dressed up their two infants in arms in Guadalupe outfits with headscarves, sombreros, and little mustaches penciled on their upper lips. They looked like tiny Mexican men. It was so cute.
