They came carrying bouquets of roses and small children wrapped in blankets. It was early in the morning, 5 am, in fact, but that didn't stop several hundred men, women and children from coming to church on this very holy (for Catholics) date; the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

No, the time of the celebration was not a deterrent, but something had kept hundreds of additional worshippers from coming. According to Father Art Gramaje, attendance Wednesday morning at the Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration was sparse compared to previous years. And, Father Art was pretty sure he knew why.

"The rumors were that ICE, were going to be at this celebration." Father Art said. ICE is the legal agency called Immigration and Customs Enforcement . "That they were going to come before or after and do a sweep to look for people that don't have documents. It [the rumor] came to us Monday evening. I was actually in Sedona; we got a call, but couldn't do anything until yesterday morning. I called Chief Randy Oates, he said, you know, that is absolutely not true. I said thank you for affirming that it's not true, and now we can tell people that it's not true and to have confidence in coming to a celebration that means so much to them."

The Story Behind Our Lady of Guadalupe

While the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is extremely significant to Catholics worldwide, it is especially so to Catholics from Mexico. Father Art explained the importance of this day, "Our Lady of Guadalupe is how Christianity came to Mexico and spread from there. As you probably know, the Spaniards colonized Mexico, but Christianity wasn't really taking for various reasons, mostly cultural. But then in the 16th century, this apparition of Mary appeared at a mountain in Mexico City. She came to an Indian named Juan Diego - it's called the Miracle of the Roses."

Father Art continued telling the story, "She wanted a temple, a church built on that mountain. And it was up to this little Indian nobody, Juan Diego, to tell the bishop. So, the bishop actually listened to him, but said, 'We need proof. How do we know you're not just speaking something crazy?" The miracle is that during one of the apparitions, she gives Juan Diego roses in December. In Mexico City, roses don't grow in December at that time with that lack of technology."

"So, he puts the roses in his blanket, called a tilma, gathers these roses in his cloak and takes them to the Bishop. He says, "Bishop, the Virgin says this is your proof," and he shows the roses." Father Art smiles as he relates what happened next. "The roses spill out, the Bishop looks at the roses, and then looks at the blanket, and that's where the apparition that we see of Our Lady of Guadalupe comes, it was on the blanket. So, that's what's in Mexico City, in that basilica that was built because of the proof. And literally, there are millions and millions of people right now, in that basilica wanting to give honor to the Mother of God, who brought Christianity to Mexico. That's really the heart of it."

The honor of Mary, or in this case, Our Lady of Guadalupe, is a foreign concept to most American Protestants. Father Art attempted to explain why Catholics hold her in such esteem, "There's a lot of misconceptions about us Catholics, that we worship Mary, and part of it is the honor that cultures like the Mexicans give to Mary, it's almost like they are worshipping her. But, really, the heart of it, people know who's God, but the Mother of God, Mother of Jesus, has a special place, mostly cultural. In cultures where you don't go to the top guy, you know, but you go around, you know, 'Talk to His Mother, His Mother will convince Him," that's kind of the way it is. There's this cultural overlay of why Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, is so important is because she looks upon her children with love, like most mothers. And, so that's why there's this special heart connection with the mother, and why we bring roses and honor of her. And for Her to pray for us, that's what people ask, "Pray for us, intercede for us, help us with your prayers."

The Nationalistic Implications

Father Art struggled to explain why Our Lady of Guadalupe is more than simply a religious figure to most Hispanic Catholics. He discussed the service, which was given in Spanish, "Father Al Vasquez, who gave the reflection, was talking about the various aspects of the symbol of Our Lady of Guadalupe. For example, her eyes are cast down, and she has this slight smile. She's looking on her people, and she chose to come to the nobodies, the Indians, of the time. And she is a symbol of breaking oppression. She stands with the lowly against the powerful when they're being oppressed. It's a symbol of liberation and power, when they don't have it."

As he searched for ways to illustrate just how important Our Lady of Guadalupe is to these worshippers, he said, "It's a nationalistic symbol, it's a symbol for those who are oppressed. So, if you can combine the flag with the cross, with Martin Luther King's non-violent protest, that's the power that this symbol has for the Mexican people in particular. But for the Catholic church, she is the patroness, she is the interceder for all of the Americas, so, South America, Central America, North America, she is the Mother of the Americas."

Father Art spread his hands apart, palms upward. "So, I was thinking about this earlier, she is literally, a forerunner to globalism, she is like a spiritual forerunner to globalism. You know how NAFTA has broken the borders in Congress, well she is an intercessor, not only for Mexicans because that's where she comes from because of Mexico City, but all of the Americas, connecting us on a higher spiritual realm is a newfound power of the symbol."

Fear and Distrust 

Father Art gestured to the people who did come, estimating that probably around 400 had attended. But, normally on this day, he said, there would be close to a thousand there to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe. "This whole area, where we're standing, would have been filled. All of the seats in here would have been taken, it would have been filled."

But, because of the rumors about a second sweep by ICE, which had pervasively spread throughout Prescott's Hispanic community, his parishioners had largely chosen not to risk it. "Rumors happen, and they happen because of fear, and I think that's what's going on in the neighborhoods now, because of those sweeps two weeks ago that went through, and also the Prescott police's involvement in that; they did not have to combine efforts in finding warrants. They had two sets of warrants, the Prescott Police had warrants, and ICE had warrants. These people here want criminals off the street as much as anyone, so if you have a warrant for something, especially the Prescott Police , because they don't deal with immigration; they [the Hispanics] want their neighborhoods safe, so that's not the question. The question is why they chose to combine the searches together. Because what it seems like is that they go in looking for one person, and then ICE comes in, and then, what they do?"

"They [ICE] just ask, "Are you here legally, do you have documents to be here?" and people will just say, because they are police and they are scared and they think they should answer, "No, I don't have any documents, I am here illegally," and," Father Art snapped his fingers, "that's the probable cause for arresting them, because they've admitted it. But, if they don't have a warrant for this person, and the person doesn't say anything, they cannot arrest them."

You Have a Right to Remain Silent

And, so, when people came to celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe on Wednesday morning, Father Art also handed them a strip of paper, which looked like this:

When asked why he gave them this information, especially at church, and whether it was appropriate to do so, Father Art replied, "We believe that by informing people of their rights, we're actually being good Americans, because this is our constitution. So, being in this country without papers is not a felony, it is a misdemeanor. It's a federal issue, but people have rights, and what the community sees, especially when Prescott Police participate in this, is that we are being targeted and that's not what this country's really about. I believe that by informing people of their rights to remain silent, we're actually doing the community at large a greater good. A lot of people will disagree with that, because they see things as a problem."

Father Art admitted that, in his heart, he believes that the political issue of immigration has some deeper roots than some might want to think about, "I believe that the real problem is that, and this is harder to put our arms around, is that it's totally, socially acceptable to say, "I want the law enforced, this is the law, it should be enforced, that makes me a good citizen, even a patriot." But the difficulty is that there are many people, there is an undercurrent of, "We don't like Mexicans," so there's a racism that undergirds for some, not all. It's not acceptable to say, "I don't like Mexicans, and I want them out," it's not acceptable to say that. So, that's the undercurrent, and it gets played out in immigration, you know, the Law, so to speak, and that's what makes this a hard topic, a hot issue, because it's harder to deal with that in real discussions."

Liberty and Justice for All

Father Art passionately believes that the phrase, "Liberty and justice for all," should really apply to, well, all. And when it isn't applied equally, he thinks that is where the misunderstandings begin. "Our ideal is liberty and justice for all, that's what we say in the pledge of allegiance; when people don't feel free, where we live, then we've got some work to do, as a community, for the common good, you know. We don't want people living in fear, we don't want people being afraid to call the police, because there's this crime going on, but if we call them, they're going to come and ask me for my papers. That's what's happening, that's the fear. At whatever level, things that drive fear into our living and take away our real freedom to act and live well, in a right relationship with one another, then we've got a lot of work to do."

Father Art looked around sadly, "We had hundreds of people here already, but maybe half... it would have been standing-room only." 

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