A woman stood alone in prayer for several minutes near the end of Mass at St. Rita Church, her eyes fixed on the multicolored statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe which was surrounded by flowers, candles and photographs people had placed there.

At the end of the Dec. 12 liturgy celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, others in the congregation of about 400 people - most of them Hispanics - came to visit the statue.

Three men, two holding candles, knelt before the Virgin statue in silent prayer. Some people brought bouquets of flowers, adding to the flowers already there.

One mother, Zita Grande, led her two-year-old daughter, Lizeth Dominguez, to stand next to the statue for a photograph. The girl, dressed in native attire and holding a bouquet of flowers, stood motionless as her mother recorded the moment on film.

The visits to the statue were part of the feast day celebration at St. Rita, 8709 Preston Highway, of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The feast commemorates the apparition of Mary to an indigenous Indian, Juan Diego, on a hill outside Mexico City in 1531.

The Dec. 12 feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, is an important one for Mexicans in particular but also for other Latin American people. Karina Barillas, a native of Guatemala who has lived in Louisville for about five years, spoke of what it means to her.

Barillas, director of an Hispanic choir at St. Rita, noted the importance of Mary's apparition in a Latin American country and with a skin color that resembled the native peoples. It signifies, she said, that "God doesn't have (a particular) race, color or nationality."

Barillas said the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe "brings me back to who I am, to the religion I deeply believe in and to my heavenly mother. It was something that I was taught by my mother and by the church back home."

Back home, in Guatemala, Barillas recalled that as a child, "we dressed in indigenous clothing" on the feast day, and people went to the - place of worship devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Wearing indigenous clothing symbolized that "we are all one," which is what the Virgin of Guadalupe means, she explained.

Barillas said that at the time of Mary's apparition in Mexico, the indigenous people were dominated by the Spanish. And when the Virgin appeared to an indigenous person, Juan Diego, it demonstrated that "God doesn't have privileges" for anyone, that he is "an inclusive God," she said.

Songs at the Spanish-language liturgy expressed the Hispanic people's love for and devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The opening hymn said: "Your children come to greet you. ... I would love to give you a thousand kisses to show you my love. This is such a great day celebrating your tender apparition."

Another song, led by the choir at the Communion of the Mass, related the story of the Virgin's apparition, saying "her arrival brought much joy, peace and harmony" to the people.

And the closing hymn, described as a "love song" to the Virgin, had these words: "Goodbye queen of heaven, good-bye mother of the Savior, good-bye mother of mine. I give you my sincere love.'

Franciscan Father Thomas Smith, an associate pastor at St. Rita who ministers to the parish's Hispanic community, presided at the concelebrated Mass. The. homily was given by Deacon William Rodriguez, a student at St. Meinrad Seminary who will be ordained a priest in Raleigh, N.C., in June.

The Mass and fiesta which followed concluded a day long celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which began before dawn with a "las mananitas" service of songs and prayer at St. Rita. Father Smith said about 300 people attended the 5 a.m. service of "welcoming" the feast day.

Also, he noted, some Hispanics met at the church for eight days prior to Dec. 12 to pray the rosary in preparation for the feast day.

Vatican to issue decree for the canonization of Mexican Juan Diego By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service (The Record, 12/20/02)

Five days before Christmas, the Vatican planned to issue a decree clearing the way for the canonization of Blessed Juan Diego, according to a Vatican official and to the promoter of the cause.

The decree will recognize the miraculous healing of a young Mexican man through the intercession of Juan Diego, the Mexican native to whom Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in 1531.

Father Eduardo Chavez Gonzalez;4, postulator of the cause said the Vatican decree, scheduled to be published December 20, brings with it the implicit recognition that Juan Diego truly

existed. His sainthood cause was stalled for several years in the midst of debate over whether

Blessed Juan Diego was a historic figure or merely a legend. The canonization is likely to be held in 2002, although exact dates will not be set until early in the new year.

Father Chavez said the miracle in Blessed Juan Diego's case involves a young Mexican man who attempted suicide in May 1990 after traveling to the United States to see his father and being rebuffed by him.

"He was so sad, he tried drugs. He was very depressed and attempted suicide several times, Chavez said.

One day the young man, who was about 20 at the time, went of his mother's second-floor apartment in Mexico City to throw himself off, the priest said.

The mother grabbed her son's leg as he went over, and shouting, "Juan Diego help me, Juan Diego help me" she tried to hold him.

The mother's cries brought out neighbors who, to their horror, saw the youth slip from his mother's hands and land directly on his head, Father Chavez said.

He was rushed to the hospital, the priest said, adding, "the X-ray was clear, his head was crushed. They could not understand why he was still alive."

The doctor, who was devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe, told the mother to pray to Juan Diego "and she said, 'I already did,'" Father Chavez said. Two days later the doctor said there was nothing he could do for the youth, so they discontinued all life support, the priest said.

The following day, May 6, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and officially proclaimed Juan Diego blessed.

Shortly after the Mass, "this youth woke up and started eating. It frightened everyone in the hospital. They thought he should be dead, but instead he was hungry," Father Chavez said.

"Over the next four days, his cranium healed completely. and exactly one week after the fall, he walked out of the hospital on his own," the priest said

Father Chavez said the doctor told him the young man, now about 30 years old, completed a computer engineering degree in the United States, although he doesn't know in what city.

The important person in this story is the mother," he said. "She is the one who invoked Juan Diego with such faith."

Pope John Paul's Dec. 20 meeting with members of the Congregation for Saints' Causes also was expected to include the issuing of decrees for the canonization of Blessed Padre Pio, an Italian Capuchin, and Blessed Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei.

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