Consecrated to the Blessed Mother on Her Feast Day

By Marie Elena Giossi

Thirty young girls in Bushwick consecrated themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Wednesday, Dec. 12, at a feast day Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas.

The fragrance of roses filled St. Joseph Patron Church in the early morning hours as students from St. Frances Cabrini, the cluster school attached to the church, took their seats among parents and parishioners already in the pews. All eyes were drawn to an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe with Juan Diego kneeling before her to the right of the altar. Surrounding the image were floral arrangements and bouquets, mostly with red roses, and single-stemmed roses placed on the altar with heartfelt prayers and gratitude.

Devotion to the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe dates back nearly five centuries when Juan Diego heard a woman calling him to Tepeyac Hill on the outskirts of what is now Mexico City. There the Virgin Mary appeared to him with dark skin like his own and spoke in his native tongue. She told him to visit his bishop and ask that a shrine be built there in her name.

Marie Elena Giossi Photo 

Mary’s Club: These 30 girls from St. Frances Cabrini School consecrated themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12. Teacher Wanda Marty, back row, far left, runs the after school club, which has the full support of Principal Maria Crifasi, far right.

The skeptical bishop asked the peasant for proof. On Dec. 12, Juan returned to the hill and the Virgin told him to pick flowers. Although it was winter, he found roses blooming, gathered them and took them to Mary, who placed them in his mantle. He went to the bishop and when he opened his mantle, the flowers fell. In their place was an image of the Blessed Mother, as she appeared at Tepeyac.

Wearing a mantle emblazoned with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Frances Cabrini fifth-grader Miguel Cortes, who is of Mexican descent, represented Juan Diego at the 8:30 a.m. Mass. He walked alongside fourth-grader Natalia Sanchez, dressed in shiny red and green fabric as Our Lady of Guadalupe. St. Joseph’s Knights of Columbus Council 14249 members Juan Gonzalez and Jaime Marty, Jr., provided an honor guard.
Carrying flags representing the nations of the Americas were 30 girls from grades three through eight who later consecrated their hearts, minds, bodies and souls to Mary’s Immaculate Heart.

These girls are members of Mary’s Club, an after school group formed earlier this fall which meets on the first Monday of every month under the direction of Wanda Marty, fifth - eighth grade religion and language arts teacher. Marty began the club as a way to increase devotion to Mary and encourage girls to emulate the Virgin Mother in their lives. Girls gather to pray, study Mary’s life, her apparitions and feast days, and learn to recite the rosary.

“We’re giving ourselves to Mary today so she can protect us,” said 13-year-old Jasmyn Plasencia, an eighth-grader. “After this, we belong to Mary. We need to respect ourselves because we belong to the Mother of Jesus. We have to ask ourselves before we do anything, ‘What would Mary do?’”

Plasencia said that Ms. Marty “lives her life that way” and she wants to do the same.

Father Mariano Cisco, C.S., pastor, celebrated the Mass, during which he told children the story of the Virgin Mary’s visit to the peasant in the “old country.”

“We are here today because we want to show her (Mary) we love her as our mother. Every day she wants to help us but she wants us to talk to her, to ask her help,” he said.

“We don’t ask for money or toys,” he reminded boys and girls. “We ask her help to be honest, to be good people, to make us strong in our faith.”

He then pointed to the Mary’s Club girls, saying, “When you consecrate yourself, it means you will dedicate your life to her (Mary). Give to her your heart, your life, your intelligence. Serve her and do the best you can to live your faith and show you love the Blessed Mother the way you love your mothers.”

Girls were then called to the altar steps to recite their vow of devotion to Mary and received Immaculate Conception medals from Father Cisco and Principal Maria Crifasi.