Celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe

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NEWPORT – Everardo and Louisa Llamas were sitting in St. Joseph's Church on Sunday morning and said it felt like home.

The Mass was said almost entirely in Spanish, with a mariachi band accompanying many of the readings before a standing-room-only crowd. Singing, clapping and dancing punctuated the service, much like those in the church in Guadalupe the brother and sister attended while they were growing up.

That's one of the reasons the Llamases chose the church on Broadway – because of the annual Feast of Our Lady Guadalupe celebration.

"It was just so beautiful and to see everyone come together; that's what we're here for," said Louisa Llamas, a Newport resident. "It's like two different worlds coming together as one and when you see people's faces, they're so happy."

"It was very good," added her brother, who lives in Middletown. "It reminded me of the church back home."

The goal of the feast is to bring together different cultures, Father Raymond B. Malm said.

As the guardian patroness of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a natural choice for such a celebration, because she symbolizes togetherness and community, Father Malm said.

For many Mexican Catholics, Our Lady of Guadalupe serves as the symbol of the Virgin Mary in the Americas. She is said to have appeared before Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in 1531 on a hillside outside what is now known as Mexico City.

In April 1999, St. Joseph's was selected as the host parish for the local Hispanic community, with the church now counting about 200 Hispanic families among the 850 families in the parish.

The celebration was the first led by Father Malm, who took over at St. Joseph's after the Father John J. Lavin retired in July.

During the homily, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes, Father Malm switched easily between English and Spanish, a non-native tongue he honed during his tenure in Providence, where he worked with the Dominican community.

"I think the Mass and celebration are a great way to open lines of communication within the community," Malm said. "It also shows how our faith is celebrated as one in Mass and it helps everyone realize we really have more in common than our differences. Each country is different, but we are together."

Juan Aguilar, an El Salvador native who lives in Newport, agreed.

"Today was very good," Aguilar said as he enjoyed a cup of soup during the feast in the basement of the church, attended by more than 100 people after the Mass. "We're all together and it shows."

Fellow parishioners Tony Leach of Middletown and his father-in-law, Bill Corcoran of Newport, said they were impressed.

"I liked it a lot," Corcoran said. "We came last year just for this and it's great to see a celebration of our differences and our commonalities."

"It was nice to see everyone together for such a happy occasion," Leach added. "Anytime that happens, it's a positive."

This article originally appeared in The Newport Daily News on Monday, Dec. 8, 2008. It is reprinted by permission.