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‘The Light of Hope’

Led by the light of the Guadalupe Torch, a procession of people and two large images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego were welcomed to Immaculate Conception Church in Hendersonville Tuesday night after crossing the state line from South Carolina. The torch is on a 2,500-mile pilgrimage from Mexico City to New York, and will stop at seven churches in the Diocese of Charlotte along the way. (César Hurtado | Catholic News Herald)

The Guadalupe Torch crossed through the Diocese of Charlotte this past week, leaving a luminous trail of hope and consolation as it wound through nine parishes that joyously welcomed it on its way to New York.

The Antorcha Guadalupana (Guadalupe Torch Run) is a relay pilgrimage that travels each year through Mexico and the United States in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Marian fire symbolizes the light of faith, the love of Mary, and the hope of an immigrant community divided by a shared border.

The torch left the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Mexican capital of Mexico City on Aug. 30 and will reach St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

This year, the torch spent six days on a sojourn through the Charlotte diocese – starting with Hendersonville and Asheville, areas recently devastated by Tropical Storm Helene.

From Hendersonville to High Point, passing through Asheville, Newton, Charlotte, Mocksville, Lexington, Greensboro and Thomasville, the caravan of runners carrying the torch and images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego was greeted for the role they played in uniting – through faith and prayer –family and friends separated by a common border. They were met with prayers and songs for the Virgin of Tepeyac – the name for

Mary that refers to her appearance to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City in 1531. Also known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, she has become a symbol of Mexico.

As expressed by Lucia Romero, a 67-year-old Mexican, one of the organizers who has been following the route since 2009, “Our Virgin of Guadalupe comes to visit her sons and daughters, to unite all our peoples as one family, the Mexicans, the sons of Mexicans in the United States, all Latinos, all their sons, all their daughters, without distinction. This torch has been carried by many hands, those of our relatives and friends on the other side of the border, and now it is carried by your hands. With the torch, we all become messengers for dignity and social justice.”

The Guadalupe Torch Run is organized by the Tepeyac Association of New York.

Hendersonville

Hundreds received the Guadalupe Torch at St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville. Everyone wanted to touch and carry the torch, including Marta Reyes.

Reyes and her family were deeply affected by Tropical Storm Helene – going without electricity and water for two weeks after the storm. The first days were “very difficult,” she said, because they could not find water or food until caravans of aid trucks brought them needed supplies.

As a result of the storm, Reyes has lost her job, while her husband is finding hourly work. Her young daughter has needed counseling as she struggles to understand why her city has been destroyed.

Despite everything, Reyes came to thank the Virgin “because we are alive.”

Asheville

Hundreds received the Guadalupe Torch at St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville. Everyone wanted to touch and carry the torch, including Marta Reyes.
Reyes and her family were deeply affected by Tropical Storm Helene – going without electricity and water for two weeks after the storm. The first days were “very difficult,” she said, because they could not find water or food until caravans of aid trucks brought them needed supplies.

As a result of the storm, Reyes has lost her job, while her husband is finding hourly work. Her young daughter has needed counseling as she struggles to understand why her city has been destroyed.

Despite everything, Reyes came to thank the Virgin “because we are alive.”

Newton

St. Joseph Parish in Newton also hosted the Guadalupe Torch. The procession traveled through several city streets before reaching the church, where pastor Father James Collins received it.

During Mass, the response of the Responsorial Psalm seemed tailor-made for the occasion: “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”

In his homily, Father Collins called parishioners “beautiful people” and said that for him “it was an honor to be able to celebrate this occasion with all of you.”

He ended by issuing a challenge to the community, asking if they would be willing to leave everything, “including their life of sin, to follow Christ.”

Charlotte

As is traditional, the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe prepared a large and diverse reception for the torch as it came through. Prayers, singing, dancing, artistic performances and spectacular lights created the perfect setting.

In a concelebrated Mass, Father José Gregorio García, parochial vicar, received, thanked and blessed the runners who had arrived from Newton. “Thank you for bringing us this light that comes from the heart – the greatest, the heart of a mother who tells us, ‘Do not be afraid, I am here with you,’ ” he said.

“Today a new light must be illuminated for us, the light of hope, of truth. Mary, our mom, walks by our side,” he said in his homily.

Mocksville

St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Mocksville has been a stop for the Guadalupe Torch since its first race in 2002.

On Friday afternoon, the faithful waited on the outskirts of the city to take the torch in procession through its main streets until they reached the church. There

Father Eric Kowalski, pastor, was waiting to welcome the torch, bless the images, light the Paschal candle from the light of the torch, and celebrate Mass.

Regardless of what language they preferred, all parishioners were invited to pray, share delicious traditional Mexican dishes, and participate in dances and songs in honor of the Virgin Mary.

Lexington

There was no happier person at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Lexington than its pastor, Father Sabastian Umouyo, who received the torch and presided over the procession that carried the images of St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe inside the church.

A huge smile lit up his face throughout the liturgy and during the reception afterward in the parish hall.

In his homily, Father Umouyo praised the runners and thanked them for their faith and enthusiasm. “We are separated by borders, but our faith unites us. May the light of Christ shine not only outside but also in our hearts,” he said.

Greensboro

It has been 22 years that Deacon Enedino Aquino of St. Mary’s has been receiving this light of love that the Virgin of Guadalupe brings us from the Basilica in Mexico.

When asked what is so attractive to so many about the Guadalupe Torch, he said, “The union of peoples through prayer, supplication. Despite the distance, the Virgin unites hearts.”

He said it enables him to feel connected to his mother, who every year went to the Torch passage in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

“My mother’s hands touched the image. And I would receive it and touch it here in North Carolina. It’s an emotion that can’t be described.”

Thomasville

In the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 10, the Guadalupe Torch arrived at Our Lady of the Highways Church in Thomasville. The faithful, volunteers and

Father Gabriel Carvajal, pastor, received the torch on the esplanade where at noon an open-air Mass was offered for more than 700 people. The size of the crowd made it impossible to celebrate Mass inside the church.

Our Lady tells us we must entrust ourselves to God’s will, Father Carvajal noted in his homily: “I am the Mother of Heaven and I have come to your home to ask you to hold on to His hand. Today, He asks us to illuminate your hard heart that does not want to surrender.”

High Point

On Monday, Nov. 11, the Guadalupe Torch, the Light of Mary, departed from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish for Burlington, where the faithful of Holy Sacrament Parish in the Diocese of Raleigh will take over for the next leg of the journey.

As the torch left, the faithful said goodbye to Our Lady of Guadalupe, hope of her migrant people separated by a border. Yet her message remains in their hearts and carried out through the actions of those who touched and carried the torch. Mary’s words, “Do not be afraid, am I not here who am your mother?” continue to ring in the ears of those who were able to experience the torch in person, and its message of hope will continue to shine in our communities.

Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe! Long live St. Juan Diego! Long live Christ the King!

IN PHOTOS: The Guadalupe Torch visits the Diocese of Charlotte