Nov. 7, 2023 Umatuna e-newsletter story --- Feast of Santa Marian Kamalen islandwide procession to return this December 8 --- She has traveled to all parts of the island bringing God’s message of love to the people of Guam through her historic statue four times in the past three years. Now it’s time for the people to return to Hagatña to renew a longtime tradition of honoring Santa Marian Kamalen during the islandwide procession this December 8.
The Feast of Santa Marian Kamalen and the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception will see a much-anticipated return of the islandwide procession with the historic statue of Our Blessed Mother, confirmed Monsignor James Benavente, Pastor of Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica.
“Clearly those who are very used to the traditional procession around Agaña are very excited about it and rightfully so,” said Monsignor James. “And we’re happy to be able to go back to what we’ve been doing all these years.”
What Guam Catholics have done for many decades in commemoration of the Immaculate Conception is to converge in Hagatña by the thousands. Young and old, the faithful walk through the streets in prayer with respective parishes or schools in a solemn islandwide procession with the statue of Santa Marian Kamalen.
However, those footsteps -- and in some cases, wheelchairs – have not traveled the streets of Hagatña in the past three years.
The descent of the COVID-19 pandemic in Guam in 2020 prompted the Archdiocese of Agaña to temporarily halt the traditional procession in the capital of the island in favor of an islandwide pilgrimage in which the statue of Santa Marian Kamalen traveled to all churches and villages of Guam.
From 2020 to 2022, the image of Santa Marian Kamalen visited Catholics including the homebound and elderly four times during islandwide pilgrimages that saw thousands of people line the roadways of Guam, side streets of the villages and pathways directly in front of our Catholic churches. Securely encased in a clear plexiglass display, the statue stood atop a platform at the back of a pick-up truck as people waved white cloths, tossed flowers at the statue and clutched Rosary beads. They prayed the Rosary especially in front of the churches and sang Marian hymns in honor of our Blessed Mother.
The first-ever islandwide visit of the statue of Santa Marian Kamalen occurred on Saturday, May 2020 as Guam reconsecrated itself to the Blessed Virgin Mary in solidarity with the rest of the United States and Canada. Seven months later, needing to take precautions against the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Monsignor James decided to replace the islandwide procession in Hagatña with Mother Mary’s visit throughout the island on Tuesday, December 8 of 2020.
Though the nightly novenas and Masses continued during each of the years, the islandwide pilgrimage with the Santa Marian Kamalen image continued in place of the islandwide procession in 2021 and again in 2022.
While acknowledging that many Catholics welcome the return of the traditional procession in Hagatña, Monsignor James also noted that a good number of people found great joy in seeing Mother Mary come to them represented by her Santa Marian Kamalen statue during the pilgrimages. The islandwide pilgrimages allowed people such as the disabled or elderly who normally were not able to participate in the procession in Hagatña, to view the image of Santa Marian Kamalen fairly up-close, sometimes at the front of their homes. As the main caretaker of the Santa Marian Kamalen statue, which is more than 300 years old, Monsignor James rode with the image during each of the four prilgrimages and witnessed the tremendous faith and joy in the faces of the people.
Each time, Mama Mary’s visit had a profound effect on thousands of people, said Monsignor James.
“The overwhelming number of people that came out is just unbelievable,” said the longtime Chamorro priest and pastor of Agaña. “I would say very conservatively that half of the island came out during the islandwide pilgrimage.”
“For me, the only thing is that I hope and pray is that all those people who we were able to touch and reach in the outskirts and periphery would be able to come and join us here (in Hagatña) because there’s a great number of people that actually came out for the islandwide pilgrimage,” said Monsignor James.
“It’s truly a remarkable event faith and devotion to Santa Marian Kamalen and I hope that many of the same people that came out would come and join us here in Agaña,” he said.
Whether it’s honoring Our Blessed Mother with festal activities such as the procession in Hagatña or greeting her as her statue visited each parish, Monsignor James encourages everyone to reflect on the difficulties that our people have suffered in the past and Mother Mary’s role in helping to bring us closer to God during the war, supertyphoons, major earthquakes and the recent pandemic.
“Just to think of the difficult times and the challenges that many people had, those people that had to endure tremendous suffering during the (Japanese) occupation and secondly, during those dark times and uncertainty in regards to COVID-19,” Monsignor James said.
“In all these occasions we certainly see the love that Our Lady had for her people and the love and devotion that we her people have for her,” he added. “How Our Lady continues to point us to her son Jesus Christ and for this reason we have every reason to be joyful and to be able to celebrate this important feast day of Our Lady.”
Monsignor James asks everyone to remember “how we are lifted up from darkness and suffering and Our Lady is the one that brings us that good news that we are never abandoned by her Son.”
The nightly novenas of Rosaries and Masses that are part of the commemoration of the Feast of Santa Marian Kamalen each year will begin on Thursday, Nov. 30. --- Photo caption: Traditional caretakers of the historic statue of Santa Marian Kamalen tend to her icon to prepare for a small procession around the immediate grounds of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral last December 8, 2022. The statue of Our Lady had just arrived from her extensive islandwide pilgrimage to all villages and parishes. (Archdiocese of Agana photo by Victor Consaga)