Perth Amboy celebrates Hispanic community feast days
By Erick Rommel
Head Staff Writer and
Sara Acevedo
Special Contributor
The Catholic community of Perth Amboy turned out Nov. 14 to celebrate several feasts with connections to their parishes. In La Asuncion Parish, the community celebrated the feast of St. Martin de Porres, in Our Lady of Fatima Parish, the community honored Our Lady of Divine Providence, and in Holy Trinity Parish, the community participated in the procession of the Lord of the Miracles.
The Puerto Rican Association for Human Development sponsored the celebration in Our Lady of Fatima Church as part of Puerto Rican Discovery Day. Hundreds of worshipers packed the church.
Our Lady of Divine Providence is the patron saint of Puerto Rico.
On Nov. 19, 1969, Pope Paul VI declared Our Lady Mother of Divine Providence to be the principal patroness of Puerto Rico. He also decreed that the Virgin’s solemnity be transferred from Jan. 2 to Nov. 19, the day that the island was discovered. The intention was to join together the two great loves of the Puerto Ricans: their gorgeous island and the Mother of God.
According to Catholic Online, the name and worship of Our Lady of the Divine Providence originated in Italy in the 13th century. It was a popular devotion which later passed to Spain, where a shrine was built in Tarragona, Catalonia. In the mid- 1800s, Bishop Gil Esteve Tomas, a Catalan, studied the devotion in the seminary and placed the diocese in Puerto Rico in the hands of Divine Providence after finding the cathedral and diocesan finances in ruins. The bishop’s trust was rewarded. In less than five years, the cathedral church had been restored.
Augustinian Father Luis Madera celebrated the Mass in honor of Our Lady of Divine Providence. He was joined by Claretian Father Francesco Iacona, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, and deacon Herminio Rivera. Later in the day, a flag raising ceremony was held at City Hall Circle, followed by cultural activities in the PRAHD building on First Street.
The celebration in La Asuncion Parish marked the third annual celebration of St. Martin, the patron saint of Peru. An image of St. Martin was included in the procession at the start of Mass as hundreds watched and religious articles brought by the community were blessed. Father John B. Gordon, pastor, celebrated the Mass, which was sponsored by the Peruvian community and attended by Karin Durand, Peruvian Consul.
St. Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579. Catholic Online calls him the patron saint of barbers. When he was 15, he became a lay brother at a Dominican Friary, where he spent his entire life working odd jobs. He wanted to go on a foreign mission and become a martyr. Since this wasn’t possible, he made a martyr out of his body, devoting himself to never-ending, severe penances. In turn, God granted him many graces and wondrous gifts, such as aerial flights and bilocation – the ability to appear in two locations at the same time. In addition, St. Martin maintained a cat and dog hospital at his sister’s house and showed a great gift of spiritual wisdom – he solved his sister’s marriage problems, raised a dowry for his niece in three days and resolved theological problems for the learned of his order and for bishops.
The Catholic News Agency says the procession of the Lord of Miracles, also known as the Lord of Pachacamilla, originated in Peru, when a slave, brought from Angola, drew an image of a black Christ on the wall of a hut in Pachacamilla, a town near Lima. Despite several attempts to erase it, the image remained, even surviving an earthquake in 1746 which leveled all the surrounding buildings.
Worship of the image has grown throughout the years. Today, it is one of the most venerated images in Lima. Every year thousands of faithful dress in purple tunics, sing and pray while a two-ton litter carrying the painting is carried throughout the community during a 24-hour procession on the shoulders of believers.
The event began with Mass in Holy Trinity Church celebrated by its pastor, Father Thomas F. Ryan, and continued with the procession, during which fraternities from Kearny, Atlantic City, Rahway, Plainfield, Carteret, New Brunswick, Washington D.C. and Baltimore joined their Peruvian brothers and sisters. Peruvian counsul general Rosa Esther Silva y Silva also attended.
No matter which event they attended, members of the Peruvian, Puerto Ricans and other Hispanic communities from the diocese came together for the same reason, to manifest their faith.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law