Novena preserves Mexican heritage

Three decades ago, Fabiola Ramos found herself alone in the desolate hills of her native Mexico with her three young daughters, safety an obvious concern.

The van in which she, her children, husband and husband’s friend were traveling in had developed engine trouble during a pilgrimage. The men had gone into a nearby town to seek assistance, leaving Ramos behind with her children.

She turned to the Blessed Mother in prayer and made a promise to Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray the rosary if the family escaped unharmed. Less than five hours later, they were all on the road again, with the repairs costing a fraction of what was originally estimated.

“I made this promise and realized how am I going to do this? I don’t know how to pray the Our Father,” Ramos said.

Twenty years would pass before she was able to fulfill her promise to the Blessed Mother but that commitment has turned into reviving a centuries-old Mexican tradition of honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe to Baton Rouge.

Ramos is one of the pioneers of initiating an annual nine-day novena honoring the patron saint of Mexico. The pilgrimage, as Ramos likes to call it, moves from home to home each night to pray the rosary and the novena. Every gathering ends with a meal.

Each home has an altar where the traveling statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe is placed for the night. The novena begins nine days leading up to Dec. 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. However, in some Mexican traditions, the novena can last up to 46 days.

“This is a great common tradition and takes a commitment,” Ramos said through an interpreter. “The origin is to ask the Blessed Mother to bless families and for the needs of the families.”

She said the celebration also provides spiritual consolation for families who are separated by great distances, such as relatives still living in Mexico.

“The other necessity is the kids who are born and raised (in the United States) to learn and carry on the tradition,” Ramos said. “In their own experience here, after some time had passed, people had left traditions behind.”

Ramos said she was originally approached 10 years ago about starting the novena in Baton Rouge and, as she says, “I was told we are putting you in charge and go find nine families.”

Although experiencing difficulties getting started, one reason being none of the priests serving the Hispanic Apostolate had been from Mexico, during the past decade the gatherings have grown, with up to 14 different groups organizing novenas. Four of those are dance groups, which Ramos was once one of the dancers.

“I have pictures, I can prove it,” she said with a chuckle.

The majority of those praying the novena are Mexican because of its origins but people from Columbia, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras are invited, and they will often attend. 

A typical gathering will include 20 to 25 people.

Close to 20 people gathered on a recent night, the crowd held down by a constant rain, in the home of Rami Zarata, in a small neighborhood of mobile homes occupied by mostly Hispanics tucked away in the Gardere area of Baton Rouge. 

“It is an honor and it’s something to carry on the tradition of my parents,” said Zarata, a native of Mexico who admitted to experiencing a few flutters since it was his first time hosting the novena.

His altar was simple but elegant with Mary, of course, being the focus.

“It was a tradition like when I grew up in Mexico,” said Zarata, whose parents still live in his home country.

“It’s important to revive this tradition because I see a lot of evangelization that comes from it,” Ramos said. “A lot of people don’t know the basic prayers like the Our Father but through gatherings like this they hear the prayer and they learn it.” 

She said the novenas also help the younger generation learn the language of their parents and ancestors. Many youth have spent much, if not their entire lives, in the Baton Rouge area and thus are more familiar with English. 

“Everything they do is in English and here is a way to carry on the tradition and keep the language of their parents and develop an appreciation of their language,” Ramos said.

The novena ends on the night of Dec. 11 at St. Pius X Church in Baton Rouge, which is the home of the Hispanic Apostolate. The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is told from 10 p.m. until midnight, at which time Mary is awoken through a series of traditional songs, cheers and chants.

Some Mexican communities “wake up” Mary at 4 a.m., the same time when friends and families will sing at the windows of those celebrating a birthday.

Ramos said her hope is to continue to evangelize in the neighborhood and bring more people to the Blessed Mother to “fix their eyes” on her.

“She’s a great advocate,” Ramos said. “Above all, it’s the importance of the youth knowing our faith.”