Ecuadorians Take To The Streets To Honor The Virgin Of The Cloud [Video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJD6N-SMzaQ

Catholic Ecuadorians took to the streets of Bensonhurst Sunday in honor of La Virgen De La Nube, or the Virgin of the Cloud, a Roman Catholic devotion based on a legend that can be traced back to 17th-century Ecuador.

Worshipers marched through 71st Street and down 20th Avenue in a dramatic procession to Saint Dominic Roman Catholic Church (2001 Bay Ridge Parkway) wearing traditional garb, singing, playing trumpets, and proudly displaying American and Ecuadorian flags, as well as ornate banners referencing the Virgin Mary. At the end of the procession was Mary herself, draped in a floor-length veil and a fedora, carrying Baby Jesus in one arm, a scepter of flowers in the other.

Ecuadorian-Americans in Bensonhurst belong to of one of three flocks that worship at Saint Dominic — and it is not the only local Catholic church to welcome parishioners of all stripes, according to church leaders.

“You’ll find that there are several parishes in our cluster of the deanery that have great diversity. For example, we have an English-speaking apostolate, an Italian apostolate, and a Spanish apostolate,” said Deacon Anthony Mammoliti, a pastoral associate at Saint Dominic. “They are three distinct groups, but we are one parish.”

Bensonhurst’s houses of worship create a unique arena where the neighborhood’s immigrant groups are united by common faith. With Hispanics accounting for the fastest growing demographic group among Catholics, according to a recent Pew Survey, it makes sense that, in addition to English, nearly all parishes in southwestern Brooklyn also offer weekend masses in both Italian and Spanish. Saint Rosalia – Regina Pacis (1230 65th Street) also offers a mass in Chinese.

While Roman Catholics from Central America, Italy, and China worship in different languages, they share many common traditions. One such tradition is the practice of Marian processions through the streets to commemorate a miracle or spiritual event that occurred in their hometown or country, such the Virgen de la Nube of Quinto, Ecuador.

Legend has it that in 1696, Quinto’s bishop Don Sancho of Andrade and Figueroa, fell very ill. Devastated, the people Guálupo, a village on the outside of Quito, decided to organize a novena — a nine-day period of worship — to the Virgin Mary asking her for his recovery.

Suddenly, goes the story, 500 people witnessed Virgin Mary emerge out of a cloud, draped in a white veil, carrying lilies in her right hand, and Jesus in her left. After this apparition, the bishop was miraculously healed. As a result, in Ecuador, a grand procession honoring the Our Lady of the Cloud is held every year on January 1 in the city of Azogues.

While the devotion may be native to Ecuadorians, it did not stop other parishioners at Saint Dominic’s from partaking in the festivities on Sunday.

“It was open to everyone,” said Mammoliti. “It may have been a devotion to the blessed mother in the Hispanic community, but it reflects the ever-growing devotion to the mother that we all share.”