Hispanic Heritage Shines Brightly, Even Under Threat

Our Lady of Guadalupe Means Both Vibrant Celebrations and the Need for Protection of Our Communities

Leslie Gracia
October 8, 2025

For Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), NETWORK’s Sr. Carol Coston Fellows share their thoughts on the importance of this observance in the U.S. This reflection comes from DePaul University student Leslie Gracia.

Leslie Gracia

In my experience, living in America means witnessing month-long ethnic and cultural celebrations throughout the year. As someone of Hispanic descent, I love how, from mid-September to mid-October, I see Mexican restaurants, bakeries, and street vendors selling cut-up fresh fruit, elotes, and Mexican flags.

There are street murals in vibrant shades of red, green, and orange. They display images like Our Lady of Guadalupe, a mom praying her rosary for her child who hasn’t arrived home before midnight, Frida Kahlo with monarch butterfly wings, Indigenous Mexican people, and so many other beautiful images.

Seeing Hispanic people connect through our ethnicities makes it feel like we are at home, especially in Chicago. And yet they also make me feel like I am walking down the streets of Etzatlán, Jalisco, a town I visit in Mexico because I have family there.

Our Lady of Guadalupe plays a significant role in the Catholic Mexican community, as she appeared on the outskirts of what is now considered Mexico City, up on a hill called Tepeyac in the year 1531. When I visit Etzatlán on December 12, her appearance day anniversary in Mexico, we gather at night in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is near the plaza. We pray the rosary, sing her Las Mañanitas, and offer her roses that are blessed by the local priest.

We eat traditional holiday foods like tamales with atole, a warm, thick corn drink flavored with guava or nuts. A view of a big, knitted figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe, almost like a mural, adorns the wall of the sanctuary. Above us in the sky, a knitted star pattern is draped from the sanctuary to another building, creating a woven ceiling. Then we move towards the plaza for the last event of the night, the castillo.

The castillo gets lit from the bottom, and the fire and beautiful bright lights escalate to the top of the structure. When the fire reaches her figure, red and white light explosions and loud whistling noises emerge from the castillo itself. It feels magical. Towards the end, our Lady of Guadalupe’s white crown begins to burn, hence the name castillo. Then it flies up into the sky. Kids run after it, not caring about the possibility of getting burned. They just want to have it.

Our Lady of Guadalupe plays an important role for immigrants. Many pray to her for protection when crossing the border. The same goes for anyone who feels unsafe, especially right now, with ICE raids targeting communities and places of employment, but mostly just anyone who looks Hispanic. No Hispanic person is safe after the Supreme Court ruled that ICE can now racially profile anyone who looks Hispanic or is speaking in their native tongue – that is, because of our Hispanic Heritage!

While Our Lady of Guadalupe has always been invoked for safety, right now I feel like everyone is coming together to pray to her and ask for protection. Hispanic Heritage Month is usually a time for celebrating as a community. We forget the racism we encounter every day and throw street parties, unapologetically and loudly playing our Spanish music. But this year it has turned into a month of fear and hiding, of staying alert so that fewer families get separated. Our community bonds remain strong.

Learn more about NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L).

Image source: Wikimedia Commons, Attribution-ShareAlike International 4.0. license. Image cropped for this post and adapted into the featured image graphic.