For the three nights leading up to the pope’s arrival in
Washington, Iris Chavez, 25, worked on a tilma for her
5-month-old son Loukas to wear to see the pope along
Constitution Avenue. She used an apron, stamped the image of
the Virgen de Guadalupe on it, and attached brightly colored
flowers.
“Ever since we heard the pope was coming, we said we had to
go,” said the parishioner of All Saints Church in Manassas.
Iris, her husband Rigoberto, 28, daughter Emily, 2, and
Loukas, spent the night before at her father-in-law’s home in
Washington. At 4 a.m. Sept. 23, when the security gates
opened, the four were there to claim their spot on the White
House side of Constitution Avenue across from the Washington
Monument.
“We’d been praying for the pope and for the trip and we had
to take the kids,” said Iris. “We thought, who knows, the
pope loves babies.”
Loukas was sound asleep when the pope was leaving the White
House to begin his popemobile procession down Constitution
Avenue. She tried to wake him up so he could see the pope,
but it wasn’t until the motorcycles in the motorcade came
past that he woke up suddenly. She was afraid he’d start
crying, but he was fine, just looking around and smiling. She
held him up high so he could see.
“The popemobile stopped right in front of us. I’m not sure if
it was Secret Service or Vatican (security), but a man rushed
over to us.” Iris said she wondered what was going on. One of
her church friends in the front grabbed Loukas, and before
she realized what was happening, her baby boy was heading to
see the pope in his new tilma, pacifier in place.
The pope blessed him and kissed him on the head, and then
handed him back.
“Everyone around us was bawling their eyes out,” she said.
For 40 minutes afterward, people clamored to touch Loukas,
hug him, take pictures of him and with him. One woman told
Iris, “May God bless your baby abundantly.”
Iris said Loukas didn’t appear scared at all. Big sister
Emily was sitting on her father’s shoulders several yards
behind. When she saw her little brother being taken to the
pope she clapped and cheered, “Loukas, Loukas.” Her father
said later when he saw the pope stop there his heart stopped.
“There were so many people there and to see that it was your
child, what a beautiful experience,” she said. “He’s got a
lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
“Sometimes we think this doesn’t happen to just normal
people, but it does happen,” she said. “It’s like a dream,
but it is so real.”
Her pastor, Father Lee Roos, said he saw Iris the previous
Saturday evening at a parish Hispanic Leadership Committee
meeting. “She told me that she was going to take Lucas with
her to see if he could be blessed by the pope. I told Iris
that there would be thousands of people and I didn’t see how
that would happen,” Father Roos said. “God surprised me. I
was glad to be proven wrong.”
Iris works part time at the parish with Father Juan
Puigbó, parochial vicar. During the parade, parish
receptionist Cristina Jimenez had been watching the coverage
on TV when she saw a baby that looked like Loukas. Minutes
later, Father Puigbó called the office to confirm,
Iris had called him with the news of the special blessing.
Iris came from El Salvador at age 11 with her mom and brother
to join her father already here. Rigoberto came with his
brother when he was 16 to meet his parents here. High school
sweethearts, they experienced a “conversion” after attending
Cursillo, a Catholic spiritual retreat.
“We feel so fortunate that we have discovered Christ so early
on in life,” Iris said. “We have a beautiful family; we are
trying hard to do everything we can to reach God in heaven.”
Iris consecrated both her children to the Blessed Mother when
they were born. “We want to grow in faith as a family, and we
pray for their vocations.”
Iris also teaches at a public high school in Prince William
County. She shared the papal encounter with peers at school,
some who have been away from the church, and many started
crying or sharing their personal stories. She marvels at “how
the pope is reaching others when they don’t even know they
are being reached.”
The Chavez family has a very active church life, and “the
kids are part of it; it’s a package deal for the four of us,”
Iris said. “We go from here to there, lots going on, but it’s
worth it because in the end God is with us.
“God sends little blessings here and there and this is one
where we just happened to be at the right time. The only way
we can top it is heaven.”
