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REVERE -- Her name was Teresita.
At 5'1" and 100 pounds, the Salvadoran woman's small stature belied her powerful presence and tenacity. When El Salvador was gripped by civil war and economic turmoil in the 1980s, she came to the U.S. as a refugee, making her way to the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, New York. She worked as a maid to provide for her family who remained in El Salvador. In a new land, she remained a devout Catholic and was a ubiquitous presence in her parish. There, she met Archbishop Richard Henning, then a priest in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. He found her to be a woman of "prayerful, joyful, and fervent faith."
"She became a beautiful figure of welcome and encouragement to lonely new arrivals," Archbishop Henning said in a homily preached in Spanish to over 1,000 members of the Archdiocese of Boston's Hispanic Catholic community, who had gathered at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Revere on Oct. 30, the night before his installation, to pray for him. "She drew exhausted people together after work for prayer and fellowship. She lifted their spirits with her love of song and ebullient personality."
It is traditional for a new Archbishop of Boston to host an evening prayer service on the night before his installation, but Archbishop Henning's was the first in the history of the archdiocese to be held primarily in Spanish. Archbishop Henning is fluent in Spanish and has spent much of his priestly ministry working with Hispanic communities. He described women like Teresita as spiritual teachers for him, much like her namesakes, Sts. Teresa of Avila and Therese of Lisieux.
"This tiny woman with a great soul and no biological children of her own gave birth to a community of faith," he said. "In her poverty, she shared the riches of faith, hope, and love. She lived the mystery of the cross and the truth of the Resurrection."
When Teresita was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the entire parish stepped up to help her, driving her to doctor's appointments and providing meals to her.
"Even in suffering and death, she gave them a witness of the beauty of trusting faith," Archbishop Henning said, "and they continue to honor her memory."
The archbishop described himself as "a spiritual immigrant" to Hispanic Catholic communities.
"I have no genetic or cultural claim to belong to your number or expect that you would hear me," he said. "And yet my experience over many years is a family of faith that has welcomed me, taught me the language, and witnessed to the faith with a spirit of joy. That experience of people and communities of great faith gives me now the courage to ask for you to welcome me here to the Church of Boston."
He hoped that the archdiocese would come to see him as "a spiritual son of Teresita."
The evening featured lively, joyful music provided by seminarians from Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Chestnut Hill; a Caribbean merengue praise band based in Lawrence; and singers representing Hispanic parish communities from across the archdiocese, including Cambridge, Peabody, and Revere. So many people came to the evening prayer service that some of them had to watch the service on a television screen in the lower church.
"Archbishop Henning is sending a clear message that he is a true pastor for all his flock, for all his people, and especially the multicultural community, including the Hispanic community," Archdiocese of Boston Director of Multicultural Ministries Wendy Mejia told The Pilot on Oct. 31.
She said that having the prayer service in Spanish was a sign that Archbishop Henning sees the Hispanic community, the largest non-English-speaking community in the archdiocese, as a priority.
"You feel seen, you feel heard, you feel loved, and also empowered," she said.
The evening prayer was also an opportunity for the Hispanic community to say farewell to Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley, who attended the service along with Archbishop Henning.
In her remarks, Mejia told Cardinal O'Malley that the archdiocese has "been blessed with your presence and closeness during your 21 years of service and love and dedication to your church."
"During these years, we felt your pastoral care," she said. "It reminds us of the love of Christ the Divine Shepherd."
She thanked him for his close relationship with immigrant and multicultural communities in the archdiocese.
"You will always have a special place in our hearts," she said. "So please, dear cardinal, hold us in your prayers because you will be in ours."
She dedicated a performance of "Amigo," a song which she said is "dear to the heart of all Latin Americans," to the cardinal.
"You are our friend, Cardinal Sean," she said.
She also said that the Hispanic community welcomes Archbishop Henning "with open arms."
"We are so filled with joy for having this celebration," she said. "It is an honor to pray with you and for you tonight."