Fears of immigration officials showing up in migrant communities did not keep thousands of Mexican nationals from attending the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the downtown Dallas cathedral carrying her name.
Dec. 12 is the day that commemorates her appearance to Juan Diego, a Nahua man, whom she asked to build a shrine on Tepeyac Hill in Mexico City. Since then, La Virgen de Guadalupe became the patron saint of Mexico. Her feast day is one of major cultural significance.
As people lined up outside the door to attend mass Thursday evening, matachines--dance troupes who perform ritual dances in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe --performed on the street in front of the cathedral. They wore regalia with the Virgin de Guadalupe’s photo on them, as incense burned in the streets. Street vendors sold ponchos, T-shirts, roses and homemade champurrado. Mariachi music from inside the cathedral could be heard at the church entrance.
Despite the outward festivities, there was an undertone of fear among the migrant attendees.
Rogelio Trujillo Ortega, who has been performing with a matachines group with family for almost a decade, said many devotees were afraid to attend because of fears of immigration agents showing up, but he wanted to continue his tradition of honoring La Virgen de Guadalupe.
“A lot of us are here carrying a little bit of fear,” Trujillo said in Spanish. “Some said they didn’t want to come because of that, but that didn’t affect me. I know that la virgen is going to take care of us and protect us.”
For Mexican Catholics, la virgen is a symbol of hope, culture, protection and identity.
Maria Delgado, who walked three hours from her northwest Dallas home to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral, said it was her second year fulfilling her promise of arriving to the cathedral on foot. She calls it a “small sacrifice” to show her devotion to la santa madre, or holy mother, and plans to continue this tradition with her family for years to come.
Carrying a large portrait of the Virgen de Guadalupe throughout her trek, she said it was la virgencita who protected her and her family on her walk--just like she has protected others who have crossed the border to the U.S.
“We have to show gratitude to la virgen that we are alive and that she gives us strength to keep on fighting and to keep going,” Delgado said.“We are happy, even though we do have fear–look, we are here, lots of Hispanics, lots of Mexicans are here to give thanks for everything she has given us.”
La virgen morena, ordark-skinned virgin, is seen in spaces throughout North Texas where there is a strong Mexican national community presence. She’s seen on the wall in auto shops, at bus stops, in cars, in Mexican curio shops and churches.
For Berniece Tovar, a matchines dancer and teacher at Our Lady of Perpetual Help locatedin the Love Field area, it’s the image of Guadalupe at her community church and school that keeps her and her students going.
“For me the Virgin of Guadalupe has always been a representation and reminder of a role model to follow,” Tovar said.
She said she’s seen some of her students’ families at her school torn apart by immigration policies -- and not everyone who attended last year’s celebration is here anymore because of deportation. She sometimes struggles with what to tell her students, but asks the Virgin of Guadalupe for guidance.
“It's been a difficult situation as to, you know, what happens to them and what's going to be their next step,” Tovar said. “It’s hard to explain to smaller students because they don’t know what’s going on, but older students understand.”
Joanna – who only shared her first name with KERA –and is Mexican-American, said the cathedral felt like one of the few safe spaces where migrants could gather without fear.
She said it was the immigration concerns that has unified the Mexican migrant community for the two-day celebration, instead of staying in the shadows.
“I feel like a lot of people are here just trying to support all the Hispanics in the community that can't come out because I know a lot of people here that wanted to be here that couldn't,” she said.
