Dancers praise God and honor Mary On Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
December 18, 2003

For several years, Holy Family School has celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a special liturgy. This year Father Paul Kelly, Hispanic minister at Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City, celebrated the Mass that was held at St. Boniface Church on Dec. 12.

"Our students come from diverse backgrounds and we have a large number of Hispanic students," noted Beth Calhoun, principal at Holy Family School. "This is a way to pay tribute to them because Our Lady of Guadalupe is so special to the Hispanic people."

In opening comments of the liturgy, Karen Rodriguez, a teacher at the St. Boniface Center of Holy Family School explained that Our Lady of Guadalupe was the patron saint of the Diocese of Sioux City. She planned the Mass.

"One way we honor Mary is through dancing," she announced. "Under the direction of Rosa Loza, we have dancers here who will be praising and honoring Mary through their dance."

As the liturgy opened, 12 Hispanic students from Holy Family School, half in red and half in blue Mexican dance costumes, danced down the aisle as Loza played a drum. Another student carried a banner, bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Some had parts in a skit that told the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe as Mary appeared to the Aztec Indian Juan Diego. Rodriquez narrated the story.

Father Kelly tied in the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe to his homily. He reminded the young students that Mary had asked for a temple to be built. He told them that mothers may ask their children to do a lot of things because what they ask is good for them. Father Kelly said that in other Bible stories, Mary has said that people are to do whatever Jesus asks of them.

As the Mass concluded, the special Mexican dancers processed out of church as they danced.

"It is a traditional dance from Mexico in honor of Maria," noted Loza.

This is the second year that she has organized a dance group for this special feast day.The dancers practiced every week for the last two months in order to prepare for Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrations. In addition to the liturgy at St. Boniface, they danced at Cathedral of the Epiphany, Remsen St. Mary's and a few other churches.

Not only did Loza choreograph the dance, but she also made the costumes. She explained that she changed the costumes from last year in order to give Mary greater honor.

"It's a lot of work, but I like to do it," said Loza, who volunteered her talents to the school. She was assisted by Juanita Garcia, diversity aid for the Catholic Schools of Sioux City.

Maria Garcia, a seventh-grader at Sacred Heart, said participating in the dance was a good way to express her faith and bring a little of the Mexican culture to Sioux City. She enjoyed dancing for others.

Jessica Valdocinos, a fifth grader at St. Joseph Center of Holy Family School, said the dancing was a good way to appreciate God.

Angela Cardona, a fifth grader at Holy Family, said she liked to show people about the Mexican culture and show people how they danced in the past.

In all there are 16 dancers, but four of them were not able to participate in this liturgy as they were in class at public schools.

Other students were involved in the liturgy as readers and song leaders.