DENISON – Faith and pageantry walked hand in hand through St. Rosa of Lima Parish last weekend as more than 300 Hispanic Roman Catholics celebrated the feast of Guadalupe – a signature event in their culture.

Today, Dec. 12, is the official feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but the Rev. Paul Kelly, pastor of St. Rose of Lima, said the Denison ceremony occurs on the nearest Sunday on the calendar. Guadalupe is the patron saint of heavily Catholic Mexico and is a key figure for immigrants in this area of that faith.

The event in the relatively new Denison Catholic church, in which Kelly holds Masses in both Spanish and English, involves spectacularly colorful costumes and dances with historical meaning to the parishioners – many of whom brought camcorders to archive their families’ roles in the two-hour program.

“They show up in the early morning hours to sing to the Virgin Mary very popular songs from the tradition,” Kelly said. “It commemorates the apparition of the Virgin Mary to an Indian named Juan Diego in 1531.”

The icon had a unifying effect in Mexico and helped bring people into the church, Kelly said.

“When the Christians first came and the Spanish first came, they were having difficulty converting the Indians (in Mexico and Central America),” Kelly said. “They did not want to convert. The Spanish had been in Mexico for 10 years before the apparition occurred with very little success.”

After the apparition, millions converted to Catholicism, he said.

On Sunday the parishioners, largely young families with many children, some of them attired in ancient costumes, arrived in the church before 5 a.m. Later, in a reception area, hundreds remained to eat breads, drink punches and coffee and continue in song and prayer. As this happened, several boys played an impromptu soccer game in the hallway outside.

Kelly said there is no connection with the ceremony and Christmas other than that in the image, Mary is pregnant. What’s more, the festive nature of the event blends well the seasonal mood.

“It’s really an exciting day for everyone because it represents such a joy and a fervor people have for Guadalupe and the message she brought,” he said.
St. Rose of Lima has about 500 English-speaking households and 300 Spanish-speaking.

He has been in Denison for 18 months and says he enjoys working in the culturally rich parish.

Kelly spent four months in Mexico and started taking Spanish in Coon Rapids. After Carroll County, Kelly spent seven years in Sioux City, where he also developed the Spanish-speaking skills he now uses at St. Rose of Lima.