A Celebration of Our Lady of Suyapa
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February 15, 2023One of the most important aspects of Hispanic Ministry is celebrating the cultural feasts of the immigrant people whom we serve. The Hispanic community in Baton Rouge is very diverse.
While most of our community may have origins in Mexico, we have many people from many Latin American countries. An important part of our ministry is celebrating the feasts of the many nations represented here.
On February 3, we celebrated the national Marian feast of Honduras, Our Lady of Suyapa. The church was full, with over 500 people. Mass began with Garífuni dancers, an indigenous community of Honduras. The Virgin followed with more dancers. Most of the congregation came from Honduras, but we had very good participation from other nations. Bishop Michael Duca presided at Mass, with Fr. Carlos Rubio from Honduras, Fr. Emilio Gomez and Fr. Mike McAndrew serving as concelebrants. Fr. Carlos gave the homily. After communion, we blessed throats for the feast of St. Blaise.
After the Mass, several hundred people gathered to enjoy good food, music and cultural dance performances. It was not our first celebration of Mass for the feast, but the first time we celebrated with the presence of Bishop Duca and a priest from Honduras.
The celebration was not just important for the people of Honduras, but a reminder of the importance of celebrating the feasts of each nation in our communities. We now celebrate Our Lady of Peace (Salvador), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico) and Our Lady of Suyapa (Honduras).
As we celebrate these feasts, we will probably be celebrating others, as immigrant communities want recognition.