St. Mary's plans dedication service

By JULIE KEANE, Globe staff reporter
December 9, 2004

HAWARDEN - St. Mary's parish will be hosting a dedication and fiesta Dec. 12 to honor the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and promote parish unity.

"We need to bring our Mexican and Anglo communities together," said Father LeRoy Seuntjens, pastor at St. Mary's. "We need to be one Catholic family in Hawarden. The idea is to be one family of God. Secondly, it's a wonderful gift that the Mexicans have brought to American with Our Lady of Guadalupe - her story, her power, her intercession, what she has done for those people and what America needs. She is a mother of a new age and life."

The day will start at 10:30 a.m. as dancers from Sioux Center lead the procession into church. The dancers are dressed in Native American costumes and use their talents of dancing to honor Mary. There will be a bilingual Mass in English and Spanish at 11 a.m. After the Mass, there will be a blessing and dedication of the new Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine in the church.

The shrine was constructed out of confessional stalls from the church. Father Seuntjens said a doctor, who was instrumental in the start of Trinity Heights, provided authentic copies of Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine in Mexico to any parish or institution who wanted the icon and had a Hispanic community. St. Mary's has had the icon for about three years.

Father Seuntjens said with the new shrine and beautiful icon in place "Mary's house is completed."

"We hung the icon in the shrine with a nice rich drape hanging behind it and we put a spot light in there also," he added. "It is a nice little devotion space. The dedication is going to be to all of God's people."

Following the Mass there will be a fiesta in the parish hall where there will be authentic Mexican food served. Some of the Hispanic parishioners will be preparing the food for the fiesta. Rice, beans and roast pork will be some of the choices for those attending.

Father Seuntjens credits the parish for the idea of the shrine and fiesta. He said some of the Hispanic parishioners at St. Mary's have raised the funds to help take care of the cost involved with the fiesta, shrine and dedication. He said he is very excited about the new addition to the church.

"Bishop DiNardo declared her the patroness of our diocese, the Holy Father declared her the patroness of all the Americas," he said. "Her coming to Hawarden is a gift."