Procession Marks Celebration

“Muchismo.”

That’s the amount of appreciation Magloria Pintor said she feels for being able to celebrate the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe here the way it’s done in Mexico, her homeland.

About 150 people took part in a procession Sunday carrying flags of their homelands, banners depicting Saint Juan Diego and the Virgin, her portrait draped with a rosary and a large statue of her. Marchers recited the Hail Mary prayer in Spanish as they walked along West Eighth Street.

Pintor and hundreds of others were waiting at the church to take part in more ceremonies. Translating for her mother, Lilibeth Rodriguez said Pinto felt “pride in something special.”

“It’s very nice for us Mexicans,” Rodriguez translated.


The four-day celebration began Saturday and will continue through Tuesday, the actual feast day. The Virgin of Guadalupe is revered as the patron saint of not only Mexico, but all the Americas, a priest said. A new statue of the saint was blessed in a new garden alongside the church, which now has about 4,000 Latino parishioners. Plainfield’s overall Latino population is estimated at one-fourth to one-third of all residents.

See the previous post for times of events Monday (Dec. 11, 2006) and Tuesday.

--Bernice Paglia