De La Rosa, Ana K (Week 3)

I was born in Mexico and in the 7 years I was there (before moving to the U.S.) my family was Catholic. We would attend church every Sunday. We also had an altar that would showcase ‘la Virgen de Guadalupe’. Every adult in my family would carry an image of ‘la Virgen de Guadalupe’ and on the back of that image there was a prayer that focused on ‘la Virgen de Guadalupe’. Once we came to the U.S. the first year, we all continued to attend a Catholic church but little by little we stayed away and only attended church as part of punishment. Up to that point I enjoyed going and learning the stories that my grandmother would tell me. After church turned into a punishment, I really hated seeing anything related to church. I saw ‘la Virgen de Guadalupe’ as a punishment and every time someone talked about her, I would get angry.

The thing I enjoyed about ‘la Virgen de Guadalupe’ was not what she symbolized but I loved how my family was always together. In every meal we would pray to her. You would think that we would pray for Jesus but no it was always to ‘la Virgen de Guadalupe’. December 12 was my favorite day because everyone around the block would gather to worship and celebrate her. Delicious food and amazing company. 

In my ‘quinceanera’ I received a gold necklace of ‘la Virgen de Guadalupe’. I kept it in the box and never wore it. In my mind it was a way to show that I did not worship her. I do believe in a higher power, but I don’t think I will ever worship her again. She represents a time in my life that was very dark and even though I prayed and prayed it continued to get worse and worse.