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The first members in the St. Juan Diego Guild for Children already have at least two of the virtues Archbishop Raymond Burke talked about Friday.
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Arch Bishop Raymond Burke places a medal around the neck of one of the children being inducted into the St. juan Diego Guild for Children . Dick Riniker photo |
"Our Blessed Mother has chosen you to be her messengers," intoned the Archbishop of St. Louis during his homily. "You must be humble, generous and obedient."
More than 100 children displayed admirable obedience and humility in the tight quarters of the temporary chapel in the Pilgrim Center of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, waiting for the Mass at which Burke presided — and during which they were inducted. Proud parents and grandparents overflowed into the shrine's lobby.
On Friday, the Feast Day of St. Juan Diego, 135 children were inducted into the guild, and eight more signed up.
Dai Yang-Hancock, a kindergartner wearing the smart blue blazer of La Crosse's Providence Academy, was one of 135 children between the ages of 2 weeks and 12 years who received a St. Juan Diego Guild medal blessed by Burke. The former bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse founded the shrine six years ago.
"I'm a firm believer that you have to start your kids at a young age ... you have to start forming their conscience," said Dai's mother, Kathi Hancock.
"He will pray every day, do something kind — make those things part of his life," she said.
The 44 students from Providence stayed and watched an animated film, "Juan Diego: Messenger of Guadalupe," after the induction Mass.
On Monday, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 42 students from Sacred Heart School in Cashton, Wis., will be inducted during a Mass at the shrine.
The shrine is the site of a four-day Guadalupe celebration, culminating with Monday's feast day. By the end of the celebration, the guild will have enrolled 272 members, according to Amy Pavela, the shrine's program coordinator.
She said the guild's twice-yearly newsletter will include activities to help its young members emulate Juan Diego's persistence, obedience and humility.
Canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II, Juan Diego was an Indian peasant believed to have seen the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of the Americas, near Mexico City in 1531.
