Central Utah celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe

Courtesy photo/Kathryn Kane

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Parishioners portray Saint Juan Diego and the Virgin Mary as they reenact the scene at Tepeyac when Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared. 

HUNTINGTON — Each year the parishioners from Good Shepherd Parish in East Carbon City, Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price, Saint Anthony of Padua Parish in Helper, and San Rafael Mission in Huntington celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

This year, San Rafael Mission hosted the event. To raise money for the celebration, they prepared various Mexican foods to sell after Masses at the parishes during October and November. Each week they changed the menu and offered it for sale at a different parish. As one member of the community stated, this allowed everyone the opportunity to be part of the celebration and bring them together as a community united in Christ.

The money that was raised was used to purchase flowers for the celebrations and pay for the mariachi music.

The community began the celebration with a novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, beginning with a rosary at San Rafael Mission on Dec. 3. Each day of the novena, they took the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to a different house in the different parishes and met to say the rosary. The image was purchased years ago to help a woman who was in jail.

On the evening of Dec. 11, they met at the mission to celebrate the Mañanitas (traditional birthday music.) Mario Escobar provided the mariachi music for the celebration.

After the Mañanitas, Father Donald Hope celebrated a Mass at midnight.

Fr. Hope is pastor of Notre Dame de Lourdes and administrator of San Rafael, Good Shepherd and Saint Anthony of Padua parishes.

The celebration continued on Dec. 12 with a reenactment of the appearance of the Virgin to Juan Diego.

This year, the reenactment was portrayed by adults from the community. After the reenactment, there was a potluck celebration.