Throughout Hispanic community, Advent preparations begin

The Advent season is a blur of preparation. Decorating our homes, baking, shopping, visits to neighbors and plans for holiday gatherings crowd our already busy lives. Our days and nights are consumed with preparations. For many people the season is almost overwhelmingly busy, but all of this preparation has as its goal a welcoming of the Lord into our lives.

The Hispanic community of the Diocese of New Ulm is caught up in the same excited expectation, but its customs revolve around two great celebrations of the season which define the Hispanic experience of Advent.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

On December 12 the Hispanic community, and with special devotion, the Mexican and Mexican American communities, celebrate a series of apparitions of the Blessed Mother to St. Juan Diego, a native Mexican. The message of Mary to Juan Diego was one of a compassionate God wanting to help his people. The Gospel was brought to the Mexican people in the words of Jesus’ compassionate mother. Her words penetrated the hearts and souls of a people in a time of darkness, crisis, change and despair. The message of Guadalupe is a message of hope and a declaration of a God passionately interested in his suffering people. In her final appearance to Juan Diego, Mary encouraged a suffering people to trust in the power of God’s goodness and in the promises of Jesus, her son.

Following are the dates, times, and places throughout the Diocese of New Ulm that the Feast of Our Lady will be celebrated:

Sleepy Eye - Church of St. Mary, December 12 beginning with a 7:30 p.m. procession and Mass followed by a potluck meal.

Glencoe - Church of St. Pius X, December 12, beginning at11:00 a.m. with procession and Mass followed by a potluck meal. There will be a Mañanitas service at midnight on Saturday.

Willmar - On Friday, December 10 an evening of entertainment at the Church of St. Mary’s will include the Matachines group from Glencoe, a music group, the Hermanos Gonzalez from Gaylord, and Mexico Lindo, a folk dance group from St. Paul. The celebration continues on December 12, beginning with Mañanitas celebration at 6:00 a.m. At noon there will be a procession and Mass, followed by a dinner.

This year’s celebration will be a joint effort by the Church of the Holy Redeemer in Renville, the Church of St. Philip in Litchfield, and the Church of St. Mary in Willmar. These three communities will celebrate the feast together at the Church of St. Mary.

Posadas

The preparations for the other traditional celebration of Advent, Posadas, is celebrated from December 16 through December 24. The celebration of Posadas is a commemoration of Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem and recalls their search for shelter or “posada.” Posadas take the form of a novena. The community gathers for nine days of prayer and celebration. In Mexico people process from home to home in a neighborhood looking for welcome and an open door. At each stop in the procession people sing a traditional song asking for entry, and they are answered in song with a refusal to open the door. At the last home on the pilgrimage the door is open and people celebrate with hot chocolate, coffee, sweet rolls and traditional Christmas foods.

In Minnesota, an outdoor procession in the snow and cold is not possible and the community has adapted the celebration to new circumstances. The community gathers in one place, prays the opening prayers of the novena, moves outside for the song, and quickly returns indoors to finish

the prayer and to celebrate.

Fr. Anthony Stubeda, diocesan director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry, worked with materials from the Mexican American Cultural Center to develop a bilingual celebration guide and booklet. The adaptation of these materials is used throughout the New Ulm diocese, and through the efforts of the Mexican American Cultural Center throughout the United States.

If you would like additional information about this year’s scheduling of the celebrations of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Posadas, please contact Rev. Anthony Stubeda, Director of Hispanic Ministry for the Diocese of New Ulm, (507) 359-2966; jmichels@dnu.org. Information will also be available

on the diocesan web site at www.dnu.org.