Monday evening, students gathered in Stapleton Lounge at Saint Mary’s to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe ahead of finals. Students made roses, ate traditional foods and conversed with one another.
The event was organized by the Center for Faith, Action and Ministry (CFAM). Ruby Meza, a member of the Common Core team who helped coordinate the event, said the event was intended to be spiritual.
“We thought it was important to have a celebration that is not only cultural but also spiritual,” she said.
This is the first year CFAM has held this celebration, Meza said.
“I think I have felt a need for it in my time at Saint Mary’s, and I’m so glad that we’re having a celebration now,” she added. “I hope that it’s something that can continue in the next couple of years.”
Carrie Badertscher, the ecumenical chaplain with CFAM, said she was proud of the women who helped put this event together.
“I am really proud of the students who took leadership, to represent not only their culture but to educate the rest of campus on this special day,” Badertscher said.
Meza said the roses represent the roses that Mary told Juan Diego, a Mexican convert to Christianity, to collect and put in his tilma, a traditional piece of clothing that goes on the upper body, to show to the local bishop to prove the apparitions were real.
"When he got to the bishop he opened the tilma [and it] was the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe," she said.
The tilma is currently on display at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
“December 12 is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Meza said. “A novena is usually done for Our Lady of Guadalupe leading up to December 12.”
Meza said a novena is usually done to celebrate the feast ahead of its celebration on Dec. 12. However, with final exams coming up, Meza said, CFAM decided not to hold the event.
Itzury Becerra, a freshman, offered praise for the event.
“I felt this event made me feel more in touch with my Catholic side and I just loved it overall,” she said.
Meza said she was happy with the celebration.
“I'm so glad that there was such a good turnout and that we had so much support with this event,” she said.
Saint Mary's Center for Faith, Action and Ministry hosts Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration
Students gathered in the Stapleton Lounge to celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe.
