This year’s Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is more than just a day of commemoration—it’s a day of celebration for two Kewaunee County parishes as a long-held goal becomes reality. The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is primarily recognized by Mexican Catholics to commemorate the day the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared before a peasant named Juan Diego. The apparition is credited with helping extend the Catholic Church into the Americas.

Today, the feast is celebrated by Catholics making pilgrimages to holy sites in cities like Mexico City and Des Plaines, Ill., to honor Mary. After last year’s celebration at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Luxemburg, Pastor Dan Schuster said he hoped to eventually offer a Spanish-language Mass in Kewaunee County, though at the time he acknowledged that the resources were not yet available.

A year later, St. Mary’s Catholic Church and Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Casco now offer weekly Masses in Spanish and have brought in Rev. Juan Manuel Ruiz to help serve the growing Hispanic community in Kewaunee County, which has increased from 473 people in 2010 to more than 800 in 2020, according to U.S. Census data. Schuster says he is grateful that the parish is now able to meet a major need in the community and hopes the ministry will continue to grow.

Holy Trinity will host two Masses to commemorate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The celebration begins Thursday night with a “serenata” at 6 p.m., followed by Mass at 8 p.m. A second Mass will take place on the feast day (Friday) at 6 p.m.