06 Dec 2011 ‘Our Lady of Guadalupe’ processional on Dec. 12

Dancers and music will highlight an annual celebration that has drawn more than 500 participants in years past.

On Monday, Dec. 12, members of St. Joseph Catholic Church will celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, according to Yolanda Berumen. “Everyone is invited and welcome to celebrate,” she said.

The event will include a processional that begins at 4:30 p.m. at Simon Park in Downtown Conway and ends at St. Joseph Catholic Church, where mass is planned at 5 p.m. A reception will follow.

“This event honors the mother of the true God (Our Lady of Guadalupe), and that the Christian religion was to replace the Aztec religion,” Berumen said. “And the Indians, who learned through pictures and symbols, understood the image of the tilma, which revealed the beautiful message of Christianity: the true God sacrificed himself for mankind; instead of the horrendous life they had endured sacrificing humans to appease the frightful gods!” 

Aztec dancers and a mariachi band will perform during the processional and reception. This is the only time of the year for the dancers to perform.

This is the sixth year for the Conway celebration.

For more information, contact Berumen at 327.6568.

Background information:

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Since December of 1531, the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Aztec Indian Juan Diego in generated the conversion of Mexico, Central and South America to Catholicism. Indeed, the Blessed Virgin Mary entered the very life stream of Central America and became an inextricable part of Mexican life and a central figure to the history of Mexico itself. To this date the most important religious celebration in Mexico and Central America is December 12, the feast-day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Her appearance in the center of the American continents has contributed to the Virgin of Guadalupe being given the title "Mother of the Americas."  It is important to understand the historical background and setting at the time of the apparition to fully appreciate the impact of the Virgin of Guadalupe. 
The news of the appearance of the Indian mother who left her imprint on the tilma spread like wildfire! Three points were appreciated by the native population. First, the lady was Indian, spoke Nahuatl, the Aztec language, and appeared to an Indian, not a Spaniard! Second, Juan Diego explained that she appeared at Tepeyac, the place of Tonantzin, the mother god, sending a clear message that the Virgin Mary was the mother of the true God, and that the Christian religion was to replace the Aztec religion. And third, the Indians, who learned through pictures and symbols, understood the image of the tilma, which revealed the beautiful message of Christianity: the true God sacrificed himself for mankind; instead of the horrendous life they had endured sacrificing humans to appease the frightful gods! It is no wonder that over the next seven years, from 1531 to 1538, eight million natives of Mexico converted to Catholicism!
The tilma of Juan Diego is the only known divine image of the Blessed Virgin Mary that exists on our planet!
Seven million people from the Americas visit the Virgin of Guadalupe every year, especially on December 12, the annual celebration of the miracle. If one visits Mexico City, one can plainly see who has the heart of the people. One finds the Virgin of Guadalupe pictured everywhere in Mexico City, in the airport, taxis, bakeries, even on street corners. Our Lady has been the factor that has preserved the Aztec Indians from the cultural disintegration observed with other Indian populations such as in North America.
Popes through the ages have recognized Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Pope John XXIII was the first to call the Virgin Mother of the Americas on October 12, 1961. John Paul II was the first Pope to visit the Guadalupe shrine on January 27, 1979. On January 23, 1999, Pope John Paul II, referring to all of the Americas as one single continent, called the Virgin of Guadalupe the Mother of America.
Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego a Saint on July 31, 2002. Juan Diego certainly deserves sainthood, as he was both humble and obedient to the request of Our Lady. The Catholic Church remains firmly entrenched in Mexico, Central and South America, which today are at least 90% Catholic. The Catholic Church of the United States with 60 million Catholics can attribute much of our recent growth to the Hispanic population of North America.
For the last six years the Hispanic community here at St. Joseph has celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  This year the celebration will be Monday, December 12, 2011.  It will start with a procession at 4:30 p.m. in front of Simmon Park, and then continue with Mass at 5:00 p.m.  After Mass there will be a gathering in the Parish Hall.  Everyone is invited to come and celebrate this important day for the Hispanic community.