A day of celebrations of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe drew to a close at numerous parishes around the archdiocese on the evening of December 12, including at the Church of St. Anastasia in Harriman, where Archdiocese of New York Auxiliary Bishop Edmund J. Whalen, Vicar for Clergy, celebrated Mass for hundreds of parishioners.

The Orange County parish has both a dynamic English-speaking and Spanish-speaking community, and increasingly, the two groups celebrate religious and cultural moments together.

The evening began with a Marian procession around the area surrounding the church and school, covering more than a mile during over a cold two hours. The procession ended in front of the church, where marchers were received by Father Baldi Socualaya. Participants then came inside, where they were welcomed by Bishop Whalen.

Many of those who took part in the St. Anastasia procession had also joined the morning walk from Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine at St. Bernard in Manhattan to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and came back in time for their parish’s evening event.

“It is rewarding and challenging to form a single community,” Father Socualaya told The Good Newsroom before Mass. He came to St. Anastasia eight years ago. “Both communities get along well. Now, we have more bilingual Masses and fundraisers,” he said, pointing to the church’s 125^th anniversary in October as an occasion where parishioners worked together, regardless of linguistic differences.

Bishop Whalen celebrated the Mass entirely in Spanish, concelebrated by Father Socualaya, and assisted by Deacon Lucas Garcia. All three wore vestments featuring the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The church was filled to capacity, including standing room and additional space in cry rooms and in front of shrines.

The bishop blessed a new image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which Father Socualaya said he plans to hang above the sanctuary’s entrance.

At the end of Mass, Father Socualaya thanked Bishop Whalen for his attendance, along with all of the parishioners who helped organize the procession, the Mass, and also the distribution of tamales and hot chocolate to the numerous attendees.

Bishop Whalen expressed his delight at the enthusiasm for the veneration of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the Harriman parish. “There are a lot of young people, who, it must have been very early when they left here, went down to Manhattan, were at Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe at 6 a.m. this morning, then at the cathedral for Mass at 10, then back here in Harriman for 7 o’clock. What a sign of faith. What proof that there is great hope because these fine people recognize the tradition of faith they were raised in. It’s part of who they are, and their devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe is part of their life and they live it with joy,” he told The Good Newsroom after Mass.

Bishop Whalen encouraged other parishes with changing dynamics and multiple language groups to get to know their neighbors better. “We’re Catholics together. Catholic means universal; here comes everybody. We’re all part of it. We sometimes forget that in the upper counties, there is a large immigrant population that is enriching the faith and helping our faith to grow, challenging all of us,” he said.