Topic > Experiencing the Known - 1103

There are more Latinos in America than any other ethnic group (Piar/Stone, xiii). As we experience in our daily lives, in most places we go there are Latino people. The major Latino groups in the United States come from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba, respectively (Piar/Stone, xiii). Their main religion is Roman Catholicism (Piar/Stone, xiii). Latinos in our community today are not seen as white and still seem like an outsider in America because most of them are new generation immigrants looking for an opportunity to improve their lifestyle. The site visit to Saint Finbar's Catholic Church reflected the theme of the symbol of the Virgin Mary and popular religiosity introduced in the essays “Theological Significance,” “India,” and “Mestizaje as a Locus of Theological Reflection (1983),” written by Jeanette Rodriguez, Richard Rodriguez and Virgilio Elizondo, in the Piar/Stone volumes. In the essay “Guadalupe: Symbol of God's Unconditional Love,” Jeanette Rodriguez states: “The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in churches must be accessible and within reach, so that devotees can touch it or rub their hands on the frame or touch the candles in front of the painting” (Piar/Stone, 42). In front of the church of St. Finbar, in the shade of the garden, there was a statue of the Virgin Mary. The statue was very interesting as it represented the symbol of the faith of the Latins, the representation of the "unconditional love of God" (Piar/Stone, 42). There were many beautiful fresh flowers and religious candles printed with the image of the Virgin Mary located in front of the statue, which represented the traditional beliefs of the Latins; the belief that flowers are symbols of the Virgin Mary. According to the article “The Virgin Mary”, in the Piar/Stone volumes, “Until recent years it was customary in every house to adorn itself with wild flowers and