With the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ annual “Mass in Recognition of Immigrants” ceremony fast approaching, the archdiocese’s Office of Immigration Affairs wanted to create a way for the community to come together and remember those affected.
The answer? A “Ribbons of Prayer’ exhibit inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, where visitors can write the name of a person affected by recent immigration enforcement on a ribbon and tie it to a stand near the chapel. Each person on the ribbon will be prayed for during the Immigrants Mass celebrated by Archbishop José H. Gomez on Sept. 20.
The ribbon exhibit will be on display inside the cathedral through mid-October.
Also featured in the “Ribbons of Prayer” display are three paintings by local artist Lalo Garcia, an immigrant from Mexico, whose works have long explored the ways Our Lady of Guadalupe protects immigrants.
“The inspiration behind the ribbons was trying to find something that would help unify everybody and give everyone a tangible thing that they could participate in to help lift the names of the people who the immigration laws in our country have impacted,” said Isaac Cuevas, the archdiocese’s director of immigration and public affairs.
“We wanted to create something visual. And together with Lalo Garcia, the artist, we were able to find an available chapel that the cathedral allowed us to use and put everything together.”
For those who can’t tie a ribbon in person, they can submit a name and prayer intention online at lacatholics.org/ribbons-of-prayer.
Esmeralda Sosa, who works in the archdiocese’s Office of Life, Justice, and Peace, was one of those helping to tie ribbons on the exhibit. For her, the meaning of the ribbons became especially personal after writing the names of people who are detained or have died in immigration detention centers.
As of July, more than 65,000 people were being held in immigration detention nationwide, according to records, while at least 26 people had reportedly died while in ICE custody this year.
“You could only say a prayer silently for them because you don’t know their situation, their family, but it’s a lot,” Sosa said.
For her, the chapel provides a space for people to bring their grief, concerns, and prayers before Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“It means a lot for us to be able to have the space for people to pray and to bring those prayers to our Blessed Mother and really just have her intercede for all of them and for us,” Sosa said.
Garcia chose three paintings to display in the “Ribbons of Prayer” exhibit.
The first, titled “The Monarch Virgin, Protector of Migrants,” was created as a reflection of the current immigration climate, including the uncertainty facing migrant families.
“The concept came about to show solidarity with everything that is happening nowadays,” Garcia said. “It’s my way of reminding [immigrants] that they are not alone, that they are protected by Our Lady of Guadalupe, and God.”
In the painting, Garcia depicts Our Lady of Guadalupe protecting monarch butterflies, which he describes as a universal symbol of migration and resurrection.
Seven monarch butterflies appear beneath the protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe — a number Garcia connected to its significance to the Faith.
“It actually has a magical number — the Holy Spirit and the seven cardinal sins — so it is a magical number that we also find within religion,” Garcia said.
Garcia’s second painting, “Divine Migrants,” draws a connection between the Holy Family and the experience of today’s immigrants.
The painting depicts the Holy Family during their flight to Egypt, after King Herod ordered the killing of all young infant males. Garcia said the story is a reminder that the Holy Family were also migrants who left their homeland to escape violence.
“We often forget that they, too, had to flee their own home and go somewhere else to survive,” Garcia said. “From then until now, we [immigrants] continue fleeing violence.”
Garcia said his final painting, “The Migrant’s Journey,” reflects the stories and sacrifices of migrants who leave their homes behind in search of a better life. The painting depicts immigrants in all walks of life, with Our Lady of Guadalupe at the center.
“We hear stories about what life is like here, specifically in Los Angeles,” Garcia said. “But we leave behind empty towns, we migrate, and we entrust ourselves to the Virgin Mary as we make the journey to get here to Los Angeles — to what we’ve heard about the American Dream,” he said.
As Garcia explained the symbolism behind his paintings, he also left room for viewers to interpret the artwork through their own experiences.
“That is the most important thing to me, that you make it your own, that you can read something for yourself in the painting, because it gives you that opportunity,” he said.
