Questions | Yonkers | Latino Communities
Mexican Culture in Yonkers
Document 8
Vocabulary
Amnesty: Pardon, freedom. In this case, a program that gives legal recognition to undocumented immigrants.
After winning a court order to conduct a popular religious and cultural event through the streets of New York City, more than 2,000 Mexicans turned out in the predawn hours Dec. 12 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on West 14th Street to honor their patroness and take a step toward making a mark in their adopted country.
Some participants said the Antorcha Guadalupana run, held for the first time last year, is a way for Mexican immigrants to gain acceptance in New York, as the St. Patrick's and Columbus parades have given Irish and Italian newcomers a sense of identity and belonging.
Dressed in white sweatsuits imprinted with images of the Virgin of Guadalupe and waving Mexican flags and signs calling for a general amnesty for undocumented immigrants, participants in the torch relay set off at intervals in parish groups with police escorts to form a chain of runners stretching from Seventh to Third avenues along 14th Street. They jogged to parish churches in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn in imitation of an annual Mexican festival, in which runners carry torches from their hometowns to the shrine of Guadalupe outside Mexico City in time for the feast day. It is an exercise of religious devotion and cultural cohesiveness.
"This represents the biggest holiday in Mexico. We want to keep this going here," said Alfredo Perez, 26, one of 10 brothers and sisters who carried the torch for St. Cecilia's parish in East Harlem.
The torches were blessed by Auxiliary Bishop Patrick J. Sheridan, vicar general, after prayers to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spanish by Mexican Bishop Alejo Zavala of Tlapa Guerrero.
"This is a large expression of the faith of a great people," Bishop Sheridan told CNY. "It is especially good to see so many young people who will carry on this tradition."
Bishop Zavala celebrated Mass that evening in St. Patrick's Cathedral. Mass also was celebrated when runners arrived at the parish churches throughout the city.
The torch run commemorates the appearance of Mary in 1531 to a Mexican peasant, Blessed Juan Diego, and the miraculous appearance on his shawl (tilma) of an image of the Virgin which is still on display in the Guadalupe shrine. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the Americas…
Document 8: Excerpt from Caulfield, Brian. “Show of Faith,” December 16, 1999. CNY Feature Story. Online. Internet. http://www.cny.org/archive/ft/ft121699.htm.
Document 8 Short-Answer Questions
- What Mexican religious belief does the torch run commemorate?
- In the second paragraph of the article, what hope is expressed?
- What was asked for in the signs of many of the participants?
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