Together we celebrate San Juan Diego and the Virgin of Guadalupe

Photo courtesy of Juan Diego Catholic School

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The Image of the Virgin of Guadalupe stands in the front of the Juan Diego Catholic School. This year will be the 478 anniversary of her apparition to San Juan Diego.

SALT LAKE - It has been 478 years since Saint Juan Diego, an indigenous Mexican, reported the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City.

This year in Utah, Catholics have a lot of plans to celebrate the feast day commemorating the event.

"For Our Lady of Guadalupe we always have a Mass honoring her on the 8th of December," said Molly Dumas, director of institutional advancement/public information at Juan Diego Catholic High School, adding, " for our patron, Juan Diego, we are celebrating Dec. 2 Mass with a fiesta luncheon."

This year the high school commemorates its 10th anniversary under the patronage of Saint Juan Diego. The importance of the celebration relays the grandness of celebrating this anniversary. "It is important because it has been very important to have traditions that mark that special day," Dumas said.

Every year the school creates and distributes a special poster that commemorates its patron saint. This year the poster depicts the students of Juan Diego, St. John the Baptist Middle and Elementary Schools, Guardian Angel Day Care and St. John the Baptist Parish, all of them part of the Skaggs Catholic Center in Draper.

Another thing that will distinguish this year's feast is that this particular celebration won't be a traditional party. "We talked about having a big party, spending a lot of money, but then we decided that we should commemorated it by giving back, by making education possible for all students, and we are going to do that by building a school in Africa," Dumas said.

For that purpose the schools have been doing all kind of things to collect money, among them, more service projects in which every team, every sport team and every extracurricular activity is focused in collecting money for that cause.

Other churches and parishes throughout the Salt Lake City Diocese will be commemorating the Virgin of Guadalupe Feast, too.

St. Olaf Catholic Church will celebrate a Mass that will be adorned with music in Spanish, and refreshments and Mexican goodies will be served as well. Colleen Gudreau, director of communications and media from the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City said that "Our Lady of Guadalupe is only one of many titles that our Blessed Mother has, and the celebration after Mass is in Her honor. Our Blessed Mother invites you all to this special occasion."

The Cathedral of the Madeleine will start the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration on Dec. 11 with a long walk that will end with a mariachi band singing the traditional "mañanitas" to the Virgin, as well as a Mass and a celebration with goodies and refreshments. "On this occasion we are very happy to be able to celebrate with our community our mother one more year," said Maria-Cruz Gray, the diocese's director of the Hispanic ministry.

According to official Catholic accounts of the Guadalupan apparitions, during a walk, Juan Diego saw a vision of a young girl, surrounded by a light that was calling him, "Juanito, Juan Dieguito." This event occurred on the Hill of Tepeyac.

Speaking in the local language that was Nahuatl, the Lady asked for a church to be built at that site in her honor. From her words, Juan Diego recognized her as the Virgin Mary. When he told his story to the Spanish bishop, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, the bishop asked him to return and ask the lady for a miraculous sign to prove her claim. The Virgin then asked Juan Diego to gather some flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill, even though it was winter when no flowers bloomed. There, he found Castilian roses and gathered them. The Virgin herself re-arranged them in his poncho. When Juan Diego presented the roses to Zumárraga, the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared imprinted on the cloth of Diego's poncho.

JUAN DIEGO CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL (300 EAST 11800 SOUTH, DRAPER)

Dec. 2, 10 a.m. Mass and fiesta. The community is invited.

Dec. 8, 10 a.m Mass.

ST. OLAF CATHOLIC CHURCH ( 1800 SOUTH ORCHARD DRIVE , BOUNTIFUL) (

Dec. 12, 5:30 p.m. Mass. Afterward, the community is invited to McNamara Hall where refreshments and Mexican goodies will be served.

CATHEDRAL OF THE MADELAINE (309 EAST SOUTH TEMPLE, SLC)

Celebrations start Dec. 11 at 10 p.m.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (725 SOUTH 250 EAST, HYDE PARK )

Dec. 9 Mass in Spanish for Juan Diego at 7 p.m.

Dec. 11, 7 p.m. Vigil/ prayer, dramatic play of Our Lady of Guadalupe, singing of the Mañanitias at the midnight Mass for Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spanish.

ST. GEORGE CATHOLIC CHURCH ( 259 WEST 200 NORTH, ST. GEORGE)

Dec. 17, 7 p.m. Novena our Lady of Guadalupe stars on Dec. 12, mananitas 5 a.m. Mass 5:30 a.m. English Mass at noon. Procession of our Lady of Guadalupe from Bluff Street Park at 6 p.m., end in the church for Mass at 7 p.m. There will food after Mass.