St. Rose Parish celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Friday, Dec. 25, 2015

By Kevin Cummings

Special to the Intermountain Catholic

LAYTON — Prayer, praise and the sound of drums echoed through the night as St. Rose of Lima parishioners celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec. 11. The vigil celebration began with a rosary in Spanish and English, and included Aztec dancers, Mass, mariachis and las mañanitas in a melding of Catholic teaching, tradition and Mexican culture. 

After the rosary concluded with a litany to Mary, the congregation was given the opportunity to purchase roses as an offering to the Virgin; 600 roses were sold in less than 10 minutes.

“People still wanted to buy some. Next year we’ll need to have more,” said Fr. Clarence Sandoval, pastor.

The evening continued with a troupe of costumed Aztec dancers who portrayed the transition of ancient Mexico from a pagan religion to Catholicism. Accompanied by drums, the dancers performed and were the first to present roses in honor of the Virgin.

Moments after the congregation was invited to offer their roses, flowers covered the front of the sanctuary. Every pew was filled, and an overflow crowd sat in chairs along the sides of the church by the time Mass began. A mariachi band signaled the processional and Fr. Sandoval, assisted by Deacon Manuel Trujillo, began the celebration of the Mass.

In his homily, Fr. Sandoval recounted the story of Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill in 1531. At that time, despite nearly two decades of evangelization, the Franciscans had made little progress in converting people away from the pagan religion of the Aztecs. “Human sacrifice was still practiced and people worshipped a dark god,” Fr. Sandoval said.

After Juan Diego’s encounter with La Morena, over 8 million people converted to Catholicism within 10 years. 

These days, Fr. Sandoval said, “Our world worships a dark god which sacrifices millions of children in abortion every year. We need the intercession of Our Lady to defeat the dark god, and she needs our prayers for the world, too. We need to be in unity with her.”

 Following the Mass, the congregation stayed in their seats as the mariachis continued with songs of praise.

Behind the scenes, a volunteer crew of parishioners prepared a feast in the social center to mark the occasion. The foods included handmade tamales, churros, donuts, jalapeno cheese bread and hot chocolate. As is fitting for a feast, the faithful concluded their celebration with a shared meal.