Mercedes priest’s giant ofrenda honors the dearly departed

MERCEDES — Father Rene Angel has been the pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church for just over seven months, and he has hit the ground running with the changes that have been made since his arrival.

“We have transformed this church,” Angel said. “What you’re seeing — the paint and the renovations are all mine.”

Among those changes the pastor has added are a baptismal fountain near the entrance to the church and red stripes along the white walls leading up to the altar.

The red stripes continue to the altar, rising up from the floor to meet at the center. And just in front sits Angel’s newest addition, a 20-foot ofrenda filled with photos, over 5,000 different colored paper ​​cempasúchil flowers, candles and mementos.

“It’s the first time inside the church,” Angel said. “In previous years they did it in the parish hall. It was very small. People were also invited to do it at home. This time — I’m very familiar with big altars — and I planned to do this here. It was a good idea.”

Angel said that the giant altar was a way to help members of his congregation remember their departed loved ones through faith, and the response has been overwhelming. The pastor said that there are over 600 photos that have been added to the ofrenda, and more continue to come in each day.

“It’s a way of remembrance. Sometimes the deceased people, they are not remembered,” Angel said. “Many times one, two, three generations pass and they are gone. Nobody remembers them. Nobody knows who they were. So it was important to bring the altar and remember them in this way — especially when you are talking about inside the church.”

The ofrenda took two weeks to construct, with the specifications and design coming directly from Angel himself. The ofrenda is 22-feet tall, 20-feet wide and extends 16-feet deep. He said that he wanted half a bowl to display the pictures. The pictures sit on shelves that are lit from behind and a water-like effect emblazoned over the large paper-flower sacred heart, which sits at the center of the ofrenda.

Intermingled with the pictures on the ofrenda are small statues of numerous saints, a decision that was made to show the Catholic belief that the deceased in Heaven exist among the saints.

“They are among them, especially in Heaven,” Angel said. “In Heaven, there are no stages. There’s no degrees. Everybody is going to be close to God. That is the intention. They are mixed with the saints.”

Included on the ofrenda is a black guitar, which Angel said was a way to honor the musicians who have passed away — particularly one who was a former member of the church choir.

Sitting next to the guitar is a picture of a man with a frame of dominoes. Angel said it is a picture of his father, who loved to play dominoes.

Angel’s father died earlier this year — one day before he was set to come to his new church.

“I couldn’t go to the funeral. That was very hard for me,” Angel said. “I am very committed to my priesthood.”

“He liked playing dominoes after retiring,” the pastor continued. “I put it there as a way of saying farewell since I couldn’t go (to the funeral).”

While Día De Los Muertos is a two-day celebration, beginning on Nov. 1 and ending on Nov. 2, Angel said that he plans to keep the ofrenda up for the entirety of the month.

Anyone who wishes to add a picture to the ofrenda is invited to do so at the parish office. The priest said that the church is not liable for any photos that may get lost. He is encouraging the community to bring copies, not originals, with contact information written on the back.

“Every picture has a story behind the person who did something in this world,” Angel said. “I tell the people, ‘These people who are here, they are our elders and they were building this community.’ We are who we are because of them, and we have to thank them. This is a way of thanking them.”

To see more, view MyRGV staff photographer Joel Martinez’s photo gallery here:

Photo Gallery: Mercedes priest’s giant ofrenda honors the dearly departed