Members of the Ecuadorian community held a procession for the Virgin Mary through the streets of Albany Park Wednesday, commemorating a religious holiday and a cultural touchstone with special significance for immigrants.
The feast of Nuestra Señora Virgen de la Nube, or the Virgin of the Cloud, is celebrated in villages throughout Ecuador and Peru, and marks a once-a-year chance for immigrants here to share their faith with traditional music, dancing and food.
More than 1,400 people packed Our Lady of Mercy Church for Mass, before some escorted a statue of Mary outside around the block. Then they gathered in the church basement for traditional rice, pork and empanadas, and dancing to traditional songs.
“These are all people who immigrated to a new country and brought their faith with them,” the pastor, the Rev. Thomas Byrne, said. “This is much more than a cultural celebration.”
While the recent influx of immigrants to Chicago consisted largely of people from Venezuela and Colombia, asylum-seekers from Ecuador have joined the existing community. Through Catholic Charities, the church is helping 13 families live in apartments and get established here, and runs a food pantry.
Before Christmas, the parish commemorated the Biblical journey of Jesus’ parents, Mary and Joseph, trying to find lodging in a foreign land, with obvious parallels to immigrants, Byrne said.
Parishioners like Noe and Dora Torres hold prayer meetings throughout the year and help organize the event, their son Carlos Torres said.
One favorite tradition is the Vaca Loca, or Crazy Cow, a mock bovine that dances and shoots off fireworks, though for this indoor event, the fireworks were limited to sparklers.
Another is for women to wear the traditional pollera, or brightly colored skirt and blouse, sometimes with a wool sweater or serape.
The event commemorates what the faithful believe was the appearance of the Virgin Mary in the clouds above the town of Azogues, Ecuador, in 1696. The local bishop, who was ill, recovered. The veneration of Mary has been carried on by nuns and Franciscan friars, and believers make annual pilgrimages to the site, similar to commemorations at Fatima, Portugal, and Guadalupe, Mexico, as also celebrated at a shrine in Des Plaines in December.
“It’s an opportunity to pray to our blessed mother, thanking her for her care and love, and asking that she continue to guide us,” said parishioner Lucy Arias. “It takes months of preparations and donations.”
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