Continuing in the same manner as last year, this year, Santa Marian Kamalen will visit the entire island, including all parishes, in place of the traditional procession in Hagåtña.
In an interview with Patti Arroyo, Monsignor James Benavente shared that this decision has engaged more parishioners and has been more inclusive of individuals with limited mobility who cannot otherwise physically participate in the traditional procession:
“To see folks who are limited in their mobility—who live at home, so, to see them being brought out, people coming out, and they’re on recliners— and also with their oxygen tanks outside on the street, and you could tell these are folks who are confined to their homes and this is their only opportunity—so, that’s the outreach that completely was unexpected, but it moved so many of us to see that.”
According to a Dulce Nombre De Maria Cathedral-Basilica release, the schedule for December 8, in brief, is as follows: each parish will recite a decade of the Rosary as a sign of solidarity in prayer; then, upon Santa Marian Kamalen’s arrival at the cathedral, she will be transferred to a Carosa to be followed by a brief candlelight procession around the block, then mass.
Monsignor Benavente reminds the public that the island-wide visit is not a motorcade and urges individuals not to organize motorcades to follow the statue for the safety of every person:
“For safety reasons, we have Guam police, who have been very accommodating of our requests, and so they try to keep it very small, very tight, to get in and out of traffic—particularly, intersections, so they don’t want folks following, because they may get caught up with the lights and so forth, and we don’t wanna get anybody into an accident or cause any injuries or harm to anyone.”
For more information about this year’s procession celebrating Santa Marian Kamalen, visit Aganacathedral.org or FB.com/AganaCathedral.
Destiny Cruz, PNC News First.
