ALBUQUERQUE, NMThe National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) presents the Feast of Guadalupe Concert & Celebration on Tuesday, December 16 at 7 pm in the Roy E. Disney Center for Performing Arts. The NHCC is located at 1701 4th Street SW.  This concert showcases the talents of a number of New Mexico musicians and dance companies to present works composed in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It includes performances by the Matachines Danza del Santo Rosario de Ciudad Juárez and Albuquerque members of the Holy Rosary Church; student performers from the University of New Mexico’s Programa de Lectoescritura Familiar; Mariachi San José; Ballet Folklórico of Albuquerque; and Trío Los Trinos, featuring Antonio Aragon, Chuy Martínez, and Otilio Ruiz. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students/seniors/NHCC members, and are available at Ticketmaster outlets or in person at the NHCC Box Office. A small exhibition on Our Lady of Guadalupe is also on display in the lobby of the Center’s Roy E. Disney Center for Performing Arts. 

The legend of the appearance of Santa María de Guadalupe dates back to the 13th century in Spain, where she is said to have appeared to a herder searching for his lost cow, and restored the dead animal to life while telling him where he could find her image buried on that spot. The herder was unable to convince clerics of his vision until his prayers to the Virgin also brought his dead son back to life. At this time the image was excavated, and a shrine was built on the site and named in honor of the Virgin, Our Lady St. Mary of Guadalupe, or Nuestra Señora Santa María de Guadalupe.

In Mexico, the Feast Day of Guadalupe commemorates the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the Aztec Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac, outside Mexico City, in December 1531. Diego, like the Spanish herder, was eventually able to convince doubting clerics to build a church to the Virgin near the site of his vision, and today over ten million people a year make pilgrimages to her shrine in the Basilica of La Villa de Guadalupe. 

Devotion to Santa María de Guadalupe knows no national boundaries, and she is revered as Queen of the Hispanic world, as well as Patroness of the Americas. The Feast of Guadalupe is celebrated in the heart of the advent season, giving this time of year still deeper meaning for the community by centering on the image of a woman in waiting.

ADDITIONAL OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE EVENTS:

November 21, 2007 - January 6, 2008

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Exhibit

NHCC, Roy E. Disney Center for Performing Arts

Tuesday - Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm, Free

The 2008 Virgen de Guadalupe exhibit, curated by Maria Otero, features 13 artworks that explore how the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe relates to the concept of mestizaje.  The pieces come from the NHCC Permanent Collection, which contains 179 Guadalupe objects donated by Kendell O. and Wilda I. Shlenker in 2002.