Essay On Quinceanera

1697 Words4 Pages

Elizabeth Fung
English 1B
Dalia Sirkin
16 November 2016
Rite of Passage: Quinceanera
Quinceañera is the Spanish word for a girl who is 15 years old. Among Latinos in the United States, quinceañera also is the name given to the coming-of-age celebration on a girl’s 15th birthday. The quinceañera has its origins many centuries ago when both boys and girls participated in rites of passage. To prepare for womanhood, girls were separated from other children at a certain age so the elder women could teach them about their future roles as members of family and community. During the official rites of passage, the community would thank the gods for the future wives and mothers, and the young women would vow to serve the community. Later, missionaries …show more content…

Adult have a responsibility of passsing down the faith to younger members of the church as they are the future. The church can only provide the quinceanera an opportunity to reflect on her role as a Catholic Christian woman in society which often distorts the woman’s role. The quinceanera ritual is a valuable for the religious message it send not only to the young people of the church, but also to theier parents, grandparents, godparents and the entire parish calling them to prayfully join with youth in making a committement to God and to the …show more content…

Behind her are seated her parents and siblings, as well as her godparents and her "chambelanes" or escorts, who are going to dance the waltz with the birthday girl during the party. At the end of the Mass, one or two little girls will give some kind of souvenirs to the attendees to help them remember the day.
This is also the moment when the girl gives thanks to the Virgin Mary, her parents and others who have been the sponsors of her faith and beliefs throughout her life. The Catholic ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate with family and friends, but especially to glorify God for the gift of life and love. Many Protestant religions have adopted their own variations of the quinceañera festival, however, these celebrations are usually less extravagant than the Catholic version and may or may not be held during a

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