By Joyce Coronel | May 7, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Gone are the days when Phoenix was a small town known mostly as a haven for those suffering from a respiratory illness. Today, it’s the fifth largest city in the country and boasts a rich, multicultural personality. 

Thousands of those who now inhabit the Phoenix Diocese were born in far-off lands — Africa, Poland and the Philippines. Others hail from Vietnam, Iraq, Brazil or Korea.

Many of the newcomers are Catholic, and they have brought their own blend of Marian devotions to the Valley. During the month of May, many increase their prayers to the Mother of God.

Joseph Kimbuende, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a parishioner at St. Gregory. He spoke of the symbolic importance of beliefs surrounding motherhood in his African tribe and how those beliefs influence Marian devotion.

“In my tribe, the mother has more power. The mother symbolizes the stability of the clan,” he said. “That belief is also found in the way we look at Mary; Mary is the mother of the Holy Family, but also of our families in Africa.”

Kimbuende was active in the Legion of Mary back in the Congo and wanted to continue with the group here in Arizona. The Legion of Mary is a worldwide organization of more than three million people who are devoted to the rosary and service to others.

At St. Gregory, there are about 15 members in a parish praesidium, or individual chapter, and two-thirds of them are from Africa, Kimbuende said. The Phoenix metro area, he added, has a population of at least 10,000 native Africans, at least half of whom are Catholics.

Kimbuende said St. Gregory’s praesidium meets at the parish, but that members usually wind up visiting each other’s homes afterwards for socializing.

“We’re like family,” he said, adding that members often volunteer to transport recent immigrants from Africa and Asia to Sunday Masses. 

Praying in Polish

At Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in North Phoenix, Sr. Weronika Ilnicka, MChR, spoke of the Marian devotions popular in Poland that now bloom in the Arizona desert. About 1,200 people worship at the church each weekend. Many participate in the Rosary Society, a popular organization in their homeland.

And while some of the parishioners have come to the Valley directly from Poland, others left Chicago and New York behind and found a Phoenix parish that celebrates the sacraments in their beloved mother tongue.

The faithful gather each day at the church before Mass to pray the rosary. The Mass and rosaries at the parish are in Polish and Sr. Weronika and the pastor, Fr. Eugeniusz Bolda, S. Chr., direct a four-hour language school for 154 children on Saturdays.

The John Paul II Polish Language School is for students in elementary through high school to study and learn Polish. They also examine the truths of the faith and participate in Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops.

Love of the rosary and devotion to saying it is a cornerstone of the program. The children are divided into groups of 20 students each to pray a decade of the rosary daily.

Love for the Blessed Virgin is also manifested in the Wednesday evening novena to Our Lady of Czestochowa that follows the Mass. Members of the congregation write down individual prayer intentions, placing them in a basket for the pastor to read aloud.

On Sunday at 8:20 p.m., parishioners gather to pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Sr. Weronika sings and leads the people in prayers for the sick.

Filipino devotions

Around the corner at Our Lady of the Valley, the Filipino community shares its Marian traditions with the Phoenix area.

In 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that about 22,000 Filipinos lived in the Valley. As in their homeland, most of them are Catholic. Eight priests from the Philippines rotate among parishes in the diocese with a Filipino Mass.

Chita Dilema is a parish leader at Our Lady of the Valley and she said traditional Marian devotions are flourishing there. About 300 people attend the Sunday Mass, offered in Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines. About 80 percent of the congregation is involved in the health care profession. 

During the month of May, the community encourages its members to pray the rosary daily. On Sundays, they move the statue of the Blessed Mother towards the ambo so that during the offering, they can present roses.

“We carried this over from Philippines,” Dilema said.  “Over there, it’s just little girls who do it, but here in this country all of us bring roses.”

The last Sunday of May is especially devoted to Mary and mirrors practices in their homeland. 

“On the last Sunday of May we have our fiesta which we call flores de mayo,” Dilema said. “We dress up all the little girls and have a big procession around the parish grounds.”

Parishioners carry candles and a statue of the Blessed Virgin as they process, saying the rosary, until they enter the church for Mass.

The Filipino practice of visiting the family home of a parishioner who has lost a loved one is also prevalent in the north Phoenix parish. For nine consecutive days, friends and family members gather at the home of the grieving family to pray the rosary and share a potluck meal. 

Ignacio Rodriguez, the associate director of the Division of Ethnic Ministries for the Diocese of Phoenix, sees beauty in the rich blend of cultures in the local Church, especially when it comes to Marian devotions.

“Although we hail from different parts of the world, the one thing that unites us is our faith and our devotion to Mary,” he said, “whether it be Our Lady of Czestochowa, Our Lady of La Vang or Our Lady of Guadalupe, she’s still the one mother of us all.”