Washington's Voz - Homily to honor patrono of the Salvadorans

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Homily to honor patrono of the Salvadorans

Washington's Voz

Oscar V Ramírez
08/12/2005

The celebration in honor to the Divine Saviour of the World, patron saint of the Salvadorans, had a colorful and cheerful closing at the Saint Anthony church in Falls Church Virginia , with the attendance of about three thousand parishioners, who attentively listened to the homily pronounced by the Bishop of Zacatecoluca, Monsignor Elías Samuel Bolaños.

"We are united with you in faith, and what we celebrate today is the transfiguration of the God of our faith. Allow me to remember the 25th anniversary of the death of Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero, who was a man of contradictions, but like archbishop Saenz Lacalle said, we try to rescue the true shepherd he was, one of the best known in the world ", said Bolaños when initiating the homily.

Bolaños remembered the figure of Monsignor Romero as an exceptional shepherd who defended the faith of a whole town. Romero was assassinated on March 24, 1980 when he celebrated a mass in the Divine Providence Church , on the northern part of San Salvador , in the middle of a political instability climate that fueled the bloody conflict in the Central American countries that lasted about 12 years.

The prelate emphasized the universality of the Divine Saviour of the World celebrations, which are already part of the values and traditions of the catholic world. "The Coal miner", a Salvadoran Folklore song, was listened to in the church, where more than two thousand parishioners, in its majority Salvadoran, raised their white handkerchiefs and flags, as a sign of identity.

Among the parishioners concentrated in the front door of the church, there were young boys and girls dressing traditional countryside suits, behind them was a young Salvadoran named Resalió Lopez, whose dress simulated the image of the Divine World Saviour.

At the end of the mass, father Eugenio Hoyos invited the attendees to taste horchata, a traditional Salvadoran drink, and at the same time to make donations in order to fund the charity work sponsored by the diocese of Zacatecoluca. Some parishioners responded to Hoyos'exhortation, and extended their hands of generosity to Bolaños.