By Fr. Craig Clinch,
Pastor, St. Cecilia Parish in Hastings,
Director of Hispanic Ministry, Hastings area
The beat of the large drum could be heard four nights a week in Centennial Hall at St. Cecilia Parish the month leading up to the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec. 12. Around 30 parishioners, ages 5 to 65, gathered to practice the rhythmic dance called the Matachines. The Matachines are religious and cultural Mexican dance groups that dance especially around this time of year, a sign of devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Fidelia Marez began dancing with the Matachines, when she was about 14 or 15 years old at San Antonio Parish, Durango, Mexico.
“There were women leaders more experienced and older who taught us the dance,” she said, “and from that time I enjoyed the dancing, I always enjoyed dancing with the Matachines, along with my two brothers.
“When we came here to Hastings, they sent me videos of the dancing from Durango, and I had a great desire to bring it here to Hastings. At that time, Sister Julieta was serving the Hispanic community here in Hastings and she helped get it started and motivated us.”
That was 15 years ago.
“We started little by little and it was difficult to get it started,” she said. “Sometimes we would have practices, and few would show up. It was a lot of work. At first, we practiced at the Monastery of the Holy Cross. Sometimes it would snow, and no one would come to practice.”
But reflecting on the last 15 years, she said there were also many beautiful experiences, opportunities to travel to other parishes and towns to perform the dance: West Point, Schuyler, Lincoln, Fremont, Harvard, and Wood River. She recalled a niece and godchild who were just newborns at the time they started, and now they are young women helping to lead the dance.
Juan, Fidelia’s husband, also participates in the dance as a monstruo, assisting by guarding and helping the dancers and providing some comic relief for the audience, especially in a non-religious setting. Juan said that, historically, the Matachines would dance to give thanks to God, especially for the harvest. The dance served as an offering of thanksgiving to God for all the blessings of the year that helped to bring about the fruits of the harvest: the rains, the work, the sun, the soil.
“In Mexico, for example, without the rain, there would be no harvest,” he said. “They do many processions asking for the Lord to send rain, and processions of thanksgiving when the rains fall. The faith of the people is beautiful. One story is that a woman invited her neighbor to go in procession with the townspeople to petition the Lord for rain. He said no as he did not have time, nor did he have the faith to go in procession. It rained a lot that night, especially in the direction of the procession, but not on his side of town.
Each town has its saint, Juan explained. “The intercession of the saints are powerful for these miracles. The Lord works the miracle – it is His power – but the people have great faith in the help of the saints’ intercession.”
Juan and Fidelia said in Hastings, the Matachines dance is a great way for the people to exercise their faith and come together to celebrate the faith and to evangelize. They said the rosary novena leading up to the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe was better attended this year—a beautiful testimony of devotion and confidence in our Blessed Mother’s powerful intercession and trust in her promise to protect her children.
