Mariachi band to serenade for downtown Tampa church celebration

Visitors to downtown Tampa on Saturday morning may feel the need to double-check the date when they hear the mariachi band on the steps of Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

Cinco de Mayo isn't until May 5, right?

"That's right. This is for Our Lady of Guadalupe," says Lorraine Parrino, a longtime parishioner at the historical church. "With her feast day falling on a Saturday, we want to make a big celebration of it."

The mariachi musicians will serenade passers-by with lively Spanish music, inviting them into the church for a 10:30 a.m. bilingual Mass. Afterward, the church, at 509 N. Florida Ave., will host a reception with Mexican fare and sweets.

"Anytime you can get people downtown on weekends, it's a good thing," Parrino says. "And whether you're a Catholic or not, this is a great opportunity to tour our beautiful church. It's one of Tampa's treasures."

Catholics believe that in 1531, early on the morning of Dec. 9, the Virgin Mary appeared as a young girl surrounded by light to an Aztec Indian named Juan Diego on Tepeyac, a hill near Mexico City. Speaking to him in his native language of Nahuati, she asked that a church be constructed on that spot to honor her as the mother of God.

Diego went to the bishop in Mexico with the Virgin Mary's request; the Catholic leader wanted proof. When the Indian returned to the spot, she appeared again - and directed him to an array of beautiful Castilian roses, all in bloom despite the season. She helped him arrange them in his tilma, a peasant cloak, and sent him back to the bishop.

Catholics believe that when Diego made his second presentation, the Virgin Mary appeared again - imprinted on the tilma. The bishop apologized and enthusiastically committed to building a basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In the subsequent three years, some 3 million Aztecs converted from paganism, a form that included human sacrifice, to Catholicism. It is considered the single largest conversion in the church's history.

Diego's tilma remains on display in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, intact after nearly five centuries. In 1999, a Vatican Council report proclaimed it the "most visited Catholic shrine in the world." More than 20 million pilgrims visit there annually, many hoping for a healing or spiritual experience.

"If it wasn't for Mary, we wouldn't have Jesus. She said yes to God and made everything possible," Parrino says. "This Mass celebrates the woman to whom Christians owe so much. And there's no better time than the Christmas season to honor that."