Latinos Pay Homage to the Virgin Mother : Religion: Annual festivities include special Masses, processions, devotions honoring Mexico’s patron saint.

Lupe Bianes ran up to the front door of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. It was 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, and Bianes, who lives in San Francisco, did not know if she was at the right place. “Are they holding Mass here for the Virgin Mother?” she asked a bystander in Spanish.

Bianes, 59, said she has not missed the morning celebration since she was a little girl, when her mother used to take her. Bianes, like many of the other 400 Latinos who gathered at this small church, had a devotion to the patron saint of Mexico, an adoration passed from one generation to another in the Mexican community.

Our Lady of Guadalupe was among a dozen churches in Orange County honoring the Virgin Mother on Tuesday with festivities that included special Masses, candlelight processions and traditional Mexican foods.

The festivities commemorate the day the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to Juan Diego, a poor Indian.

According to the story, Diego was on his way to Tepeyac Hill, in what is now Mexico City, when the vision appeared on Dec. 9, 1531. The Lady told him to ask the bishop to build a shrine where she stood. But when Diego conveyed the news, the bishop doubted his word.

On Dec. 12, the vision appeared again and told Diego to go to Tepeyac Hill and pick roses. Diego told this to the bishop as well. Knowing that the land on the hill was dry and cracked, the bishop this time said that if Diego found the flowers, he would believe him. Diego went to the hill, found the flowers, picked them and placed them in his tilma, a capelike garment. As he unraveled the garment and laid the roses at the bishop’s feet, the story says, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared on his cape.

Today, Catholic churches in Mexico and Southern California continue to capture the emotion and old religious customs when they honor Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In Santa Ana, mariachis strolled down the middle aisle of the darkened church singing the traditional song, “Las Mananitas.” As they approached the altar, the lights came on to reveal a painting of the Virgin Mother. The mariachis sang hymns of prayer written for Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Bianes knelt in a middle pew, put her hands together and prayed. Next to her was a mother and a boy of about 5. The boy rubbed his eyes as if he had just awakened, and his hair was still rumpled from the night before.

Women with flowers in their hair and brightly colored shawls walked up to the altar to offer baskets of fruit, flowers or food. The older women had dark veils and red, white and green sashes around their necks.

After mass, church members gathered in a reception hall and had hot chocolate and Mexican sweetbread. The mariachis continued to play and sing festive songs.

“The celebration at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church has always been very rich and colorful,” said Father Jaime Soto, episcopal vicar for the Latino community.

Soto said the Virgin Mother is the patron saint of the Catholic Diocese of Orange.

Tuesday night, Latinos gathered in front of the church. In a candlelight procession, they walked around the neighborhood singing songs of prayer. Children were dressed like Juan Diego and the Virgin Mother. Adults wore traditional Mexican costumes. At the procession’s front, a man held the image of the Virgin Mother.

The procession ended back at the church and was followed by another Mass with mariachis.

Sister Carmen Sarati of St. Joseph Church in Santa Ana said, “Our Lady of Guadalupe’s very presence becomes absorbed by symbolism and images.”

In a church display, the Virgin stands on a crescent moon and wears a blue veil covered with gold stars. The sun’s rays are behind her as she looks compassionately down at a small Indian boy at her feet. She represents the poor, oppressed, and silenced masses of Mexican society at the time of the Spanish conquest, Sarati said. In contrast, the rays behind her show her overshadowing presence and power.

“She is the symbol of her people, the nation, of Mexico,” Sarati said.