Syracuse parish hosts Mass, festivities
By Tami S. Scott, associate editor
Above: The faithful receive the Eucharist during the Oct. 13 Spanish Mass held at St. Anthony of Padua in Syracuse. A celebration observing National Hispanic Latino Heritage Month followed.
Panama, Cuba, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Mexico.
These are the native countries of those we spoke to after the regularly offered 11 a.m. Spanish Mass at St. Anthony of Padua. The parish community gathered on Oct. 13 for something more: Mass and a festive reception complete with ethnic food and music to celebrate the observance of Hispanic and Latino Heritage Month.
The Syracuse Southside church currently represents 15 countries, said Father Brendan Foley, Spanish Ministry and administrator of Our Lady of Pompei/St. Peter and St. John the Baptist/Holy Trinity. And the number of parishioners continues to grow.
Altar servers travel from as far as Marathon and Watertown to participate in Mass.
“I inherited a really beautiful foundation here from Father [Robert] Chryst, who, for three decades, was taking care of the Spanish-speaking community of Syracuse,” he said. After Fr. Chryst retired, however, there was about an eight-month gap before another Spanish Mass was offered again. Consequently, participation had dwindled. “It just needed to be reignited.”
Fr. Foley, ordained in 2021, has since been ministering to the Spanish with Mass, Holy Hour, sacramental preparation and faith formation. His first Mass in Spanish began with just 13 people, who he said are still active in the church and describes them as “pillars of our community.”
“We didn’t even use the full church … we used the little side altar,” he said, [but] “within just a few weeks and months, it really blossomed and continues to, and what happens is … Jesus is so kind to bring in such generous-hearted people all the time.”
On Sunday, there were 180 people in attendance.
The Community
As an established global language, finding people who speak English is expected and maybe even taken for granted. But that’s not the case for Hispanics and Latinos; finding a church with a Spanish Mass and a vibrant community is crucial in keeping their culture and faith as they traditionally celebrate them.
Cuban native Tania Guntin, who has lived in Syracuse for 11 years, said it was a blessing when she found St. Anthony of Padua three years ago. She described the community as a family.
“It was a blessing because … I was kind of lost looking for a Catholic Church, which I found, but in English. It’s not the same,” she said.
She was studying English at the time but there was still that language barrier, so she continued to seek familiarity
Delicious ethnic specialties were served at the reception after Mass.
in both language and culture. “We celebrate the same God,” she said, but worship a little bit differently.
Choir director Ada Hernandez, a Puerto Rican native, explained, “We are Latinos. We are kind of proud of what we do when we praise, you know, in another way, and we have to, we want to hear it in Spanish.”
Fr. Foley told the story of a Venezuelan mother and daughter who hadn’t yet visited the church but reached out after their husband/father died the week after Easter. He was young, in his late 50s. They asked Father to celebrate his funeral with them.
“It was very providential that they reached out,” he said. “It’s one of these things where it’s like, even Jesus was loving them, because to lose a husband at a young age is so hard, and to have a community to grieve with and to walk alongside with in the journey of faith … It’s just been so, so important for them, and we feel really privileged to welcome them.”
Music is an integral part of praise and worship for the Hispanic Latino community.
Some of the altar servers travel from as far as Marathon and Watertown, Fr. Foley said. “This community has a lot of reach in a lot of different ways and so that’s why the Sunday celebration is so important here. People come from a distance. The emphasis on Sunday gathering and being here together is our main opportunity to be together as a family.”
Major blessings
In June 2023, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved a National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry, which outlines what they see as major blessings and contributions from the community:
“A few of these graces include an abiding love for family and community, a rich practice of Catholic traditions, an authentic Marian devotion and vibrant ecclesial movements.”
“Every time you hear them (the list of graces), you think, yep, that’s boldly present here. Yes, that’s boldly present,” he emphasized. “Again, I think the generosity of the Lord to take care of us and to do something that we can’t on our own … it’s been a blessing. And I could never imagine that this is what priesthood would be like three-plus years in, but it’s obviously way better than I could have planned for myself.”
County Executive Ryan McMahon presents Fr. Brendan Foley with a proclamation recognizing National Hispanic Latino Heritage Month.
A welcome proclamation
At the start of the reception, County Executive Ryan McMahon presented to Fr. Foley a proclamation recognizing National Hispanic Latino Heritage Month, declaring September 15 through October 15, 2024, National Hispanic Latino Heritage Month in Onondaga County.
Cheers and applause followed, and the festivities began.
