The fifth graders at Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Hermosa Beach treated their fellow classmates and community to a rendition of the Feast of Our Lady Guadalupe story on Friday morning.
During Friday morning’s Catholic Mass, led by Bishop Oscar Solis, a group of students donned costumes and regaled the congregation with a pantomimed version of the story while a fellow student narrated the tale.
According to the story, peasant Juan Diego in Mexico City was traveling the long journey to church when he was visited by a beautiful lady, the Virgin Mary, who asked him to get the bishop’s permission to build a church. The archbishop denied Diego’s request and asked him to return with proof of Mary’s existence.
The Virgin told Juan Diego to gather flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill, where he found Castilian roses, not native to Mexico, blooming in December on the normally barren hilltop. The Virgin arranged the flowers in his tilma or cloak, and when Juan Diego opened his cloak before the bishop, the flowers fell to the floor and on the fabric was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The student actors, led by Deirdre Morrissey-Berru, enthusiastically retold the story. Preschoolers brought in bundles of multicolored roses to place at the foot of the Our Lady of Guadalupe mosaic in the front of the church.
Marianne Mitchell, the school psychologist, said the celebration is one of the student’s favorite days of the school year.
“Deidre does such a great job with the students and they love putting on the show,” she said.
