A Day to Remember Fr. Stanley Rother

Today was our last day in Santiago Atitlan and it was the day that we had been most looking forward to ... the reason that we came.

Today was the 25th Anniversary of the day in which Fr. Rother was brutally killed in his rectory, only because he tried to help the poor people of Santiago.

We got up early enough and had a simple breakfast. We wanted to visit the Rother shrine in the church before the crowds arrived. There were already a few people there and we noticed that more flowers had been brought in. Also, the booths surrounding his memorial had been expanded to include written histories of Fr. Rother and quotes from his letters. There was also a place where people could leave their own thoughts and reflections.

We noticed several Americans there, later learning that they were Oklahoma priests that had travelled down on their own, separate from the Archbishop's party. Mark and I spent some time there and prayed the morning office together.

Next we visited the Rother chapel in the rectory, a place that I had been many times before. Now, the cabinets housing Fr. Rother's personal effects were opened and the chapel too was festooned with flowers and candles. It was poinant to be there on his anniversary. It was good to be Oklahomans remembering another Oklahoman.

We soon met up with members of the Archbishop's party. Instead of taking the ferry over from Panajachel, this time they had opted for a bus - a full size tourist bus! How it made it from Panajachel and through the streets of Santiago, I'll never know. It was really quite fun to see.

There were no seats in the church reserved for the group for the memorial Mass, so we all scrambled for space as best we could. I eventually ended up with a quite good seat, more than half way up to the altar and just off the main aisle. I'm not sure how I managed that. Mark attempted to find the other seminarians to see if he could help serve Mass, but ultimately he found a place behind the altar.

The Mass was incredible! Bishop Raul Antonio Martinez, Bishop of Solola, presided, accompanied by Archbishop Beltran and many other priests from Oklahoma, San Lucas, San Pedro and elsewhere.

People were jammed into just about every available space, overflowing the doors into the old cloister and down the front steps of the church. Easily 3,000 people. The music, the incense, and the pageantry was amazing for a humble man from Oklahoma. I wonder what he would have thought of it all?

Most of the Mass was done in Spanish, but parts were done in Tzutujil too. The only English spoken came at the end of Mass as greetings and gifts were exchanged by all the dignitaries.

Once Mass was over, the plan was for the group to go to the Posada de Santiago for lunch. We knew that getting the folks on the bus and over to the Posada was going to be an ordeal, so Mark, Tracy and I joined the staff of the Amigos for a fleta ride instead.

We managed to get there about 20 minutes before the bus. Apparently the bus created quite the traffic jam as it tried to negotiate the streets. Wish I'd seen that!

Before sitting down for lunch, the group traveled on to the Peace Park and the mudslide area of Panabaj. Here the Archbishop led us in an explanation of the events surrounding both locales and led us in a prayers and songs. It was very nice to be a part of that.