Behind the camera

I received an e-mail yesterday from longtime Catholic Standard & Times freelance photographer Joanna Lightner letting me know that she is gravely ill. Like Joanna herself, the e-mail was filled with the kind of grace I rarely evince but always recognize. And while the news saddened me greatly, it also brought to mind the words I spoke at my own mother's memorial: how the loved ones of artists are luckier than most - because the artist lives on in the art she created during her lifetime.

So it will be with Joanna.

Her images have been part of the Catholic Standard & Times much longer than my six years at the paper. She has probably photographed thousands of events at hundreds of venues. Those of my readers who are part of the Philadelphia Archdiocese have probably seen her snapping pix at the Cathedral and churches around the five counties - a tidy, slender figure with a mass of blond curls and the kind of dangly, artsy earrings I covet.

Since Joanna has always worked for us as a freelancer, I haven't had the opportunity to spend tons of time with her - but she's always been one of my favorites (yes, managing editors have favorites). I usually schedule her to cover the annual Hispanic Heritage and Migration Week Masses because she doesn't mind diving into the fray and capturing the energy and pageantry that gets lost if you stand back and set yourself apart from what you are shooting. I seem to remember her telling me that she didn't start out as a photographer, but discovered her passion for that artform later in life. Maybe that's why the distance and reserve aren't there; maybe that's why I schedule her for the events that are nearest and dearest to my own heart.

Joanna's photos are here, too, accompanying some of my blog posts. (If you type Joanna's name into the Lijit search tool on the right nav bar you will bring up each post that has an image or two of hers to accompany it.)

Much as I try to be a stoic, I'm just not. It's hard for me to lose anyone I care about, and I care about Joanna. But the friends and colleagues of photographers are luckier than most - the images captured by their unique eyes, their unique hearts, will live on and on.

A feast day like no other

Ready?

The feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is nearly upon us.

Want the full Misa de Gallo experience as you'd have in Mexico or Latin America? Try St. Isidore Church in Quakertown, were the Mass begins on Friday and ends on Saturday. Yes, that's right, a midnight Mass with mariachis and roses and all the pageantry that accompanies this feast. The Mass will be celebrated by our Vicar for Hispanic Catholics, Msgr. Hugh Shields.

Not quite up for a midnight Mass? Try the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia on Saturday, Dec. 12 instead. The Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Justin Rigali from 7 to 11 p.m. The usual crowd from St. Thomas of Aquinas parish is expected to absolutely fill the Cathedral. This promises to be spectacular. I don't know if there will be matachines -- also known as the "soldiers of the Virgin"-- with their amazing outfits (those are matachines in this post's lead image) but if there are, you are in for a treat

Nearly every parish across the Archdiocese that has a Spanish-language Mass will celebrate a Mass for Guadalupe's feast day: Immaculate Conception in Levittown, Our Lady of Fatima in Bensalem, St. Patrick in Norristown, Visitation in the city, Mision Sta. Maria in Avondale and St. Cecilia in Coatesville are the ones I know about, among many others I'm sure.

Truly, if you've never experienced this feast day Mass at a church with Latino congregants, you must. Veneration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is joyful and festive and heartfelt -- and you'll never talk about pews empty of people again.
Next up in the Latino trifecta of the Christmas season: Las posadas -- which start Dec. 16 and run through Dec. 24.


(Photos by Sarah Webb and Joanna Lightner for the Catholic Standard & Times)

This is who we are

Images of the Latino Community in the Philadelphia Archdiocese first published on the bilingual page of the Catholic Standard & Times. Go to www.cst-phl.com for weekly coverage of Latino Catholics in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

Photos are by Sarah Webb and Joanna Lightner for the CS&T.

Music is from Robert Rodriguez's "El Mariachi" and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico"

And a nod goes to my daughter -- who only rolled her eyes a few times while teaching me to use iMovie.

La Morenita in Philly

Millions of people throughout the Americas are celebrating the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe today. Catholics in Philly are no exception. Join Cardinal Justin Rigali for the celebration of this feast tonight at 7:30 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church on 17th and Morris St. in Philadelphia.

(La Morenita carried in the procession preceding the Hispanic Heritage Mass, 2007, Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia. Photo by Sarah Webb for the CS&T)














(La Morenita at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Philadelphia, Nov. 30, 2008. Photo by Joanna Lightner for the CS&T)








(La Morenita accompanied the Guadalupe torch from Mexico City to New York City on a two-month, 5000-mile journey. Here pictured at St. Peter the Apostle Church in Philadelphia on Dec. 6, 2008. Photo by Carmen Alarcon for El Diario/La Prensa)











(La Morenita at St. Patrick Church in Norristown, Dec. 7, 2008. Photo by Sarah Webb for the CS&T)













(La Morenita at La Milagrosa Chapel on Spring Garden St. in Philadelphia. Photo by Sarah Webb for the CS&T)

This just in

A torch lit at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on Oct. 5 – a symbol of hope and faith, and a reminder of the human dignity of the peoples on both sides of the border – carried by runners from Mexico City to New York City, will make a stop in Philadelphia this weekend.

Sometime between 5 and 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 the torch, carried by runners representing the migrant community, will arrive at St. Peter the Apostle Church at 5th Street and Girard Avenue. Sunday morning, runners will carry it to its next stop – Bayonne, N.J. – ultimately to arrive in New York City on Dec. 12 the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Also, on the Philadelphia Catholic breaking news front, it is semi-, quasi-, just-about official that the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul – Philadelphia’s mother church – will be installing an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Apparently, the Mexican community of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish wrote a letter to Cardinal Justin Rigali last year requesting that he consider installing an image of La Morenita in the Cathedral given the large number of Latino Catholics in the Archdiocese….at this year’s Day of Sanctification for priests, Nov. 24, the Cardinal announced it is in the works.

No word yet whether it will be in the chapel, or in the Cathedral proper, or whether it will be a statue or a painting, but as soon as I know, the readers of this blog will know.

(Photo of La Morenita at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Philadelphia by Joanna Lightner.)