Virgen de Guadalupe Celebration

December 12th marks a very special day for many Latinx within the community and around the world. Within the Catholic Church’s calendar, this day is dedicated to the apparition of the Virgin Mary that appeared to Juan Diego in the city of Guadalupe, Mexico in 1531.

The event was hosted through the collaboration of El Centro, the Newman Catholic Club, and the Associated Students. It started at Goodwin Forum where a procession was made from the campus to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Arcata.

Cal Poly Humboldt’s Danza Azteca held a beautiful ceremonial dance outside the church before the evening mass began.

“We came to pray from our mother earth,” Frank Cortez, one of the drummers of Danza Azteca, said. “To give our prayers for what it is today. We all came today to celebrate, to give thanks for another day of life, for another year. The blessings we received, and we got for our families, our communities.”

Jonathan Alexander Gonzalez, a dancer for Danza Azteca, also expressed his own thoughts and feelings of the night’s significance. 

“We did a dance thanking the mother earth, Tonatzin, our word for the Virgin Mary. Today is the 12th of December, which is the day of Virgen de Guadalupe. So, we’re just recognizing the history that comes with all this, as well the spirituality aspect of it as well. It’s something that speaks to a lot of people’s hearts because whether you’re Catholic or religious at all. Spirituality that’s in us all.”

This has been Matthew Taylor with Redwood News.