Monday was All Saints’ Day, which is celebrated every Nov. 1, and to mark the occasion, the students at St. Mary’s Central Catholic School held a reverse parade on campus.
Students at St. Mary’s Central Catholic School typically have a processional dressed as their favorite saints before having mass.
However, last year, due to COVID protocols, the students and staff were forced to improvise and instead did a reverse parade, where the children stood outside, lined up, around the school as parents and family members drove by.
This year, the reverse parade idea was brought back.
“St. Mary’s Central Catholic School has always honored All Saints’ Day,” St. Mary’s Catholic School Principal Pat Salcido said. “We came up with the idea to follow COVID protocols and keep everyone safe. We kept the tradition. We’re still under COVID protocols but not as strict so it gives the parents a good opportunity to see all the children. Because many of our parents, we have a mass after our parade and many of our parents can’t attend that mass this allows them to come for a little bit, see the kids and celebrate this occasion.”
While bringing back the reverse parade was partly because of the COVID restrictions, Salcido didn’t rule out doing it that way in the future, regardless of the pandemic.
“I like this and I think we’re going to keep it this way as a tradition, whether we’re under COVID or not,” Salcido said. “It allows the parents get to see all the children, not just their own.”
Salcido says that each child at St. Mary’s Central Catholic gets to choose a saint and then study that saint, depending on the grade level before dressing up as him/her.
“It gives them a n opportunity to learn about what each saint symbolizes and stands for,” Salcido said.
Fifth grade student at St. Mary’s Central Catholic School Jolena Mansanales went as St. Agnes.
“I chose her because she’s the saint of young girls and her story is really inspiring because she’s a martyr….and she was so young and died for her faith,” Mansanales said.
Eighth-grader Andrew Randolph went as St. Francis of Assisi.
“I chose him because I love animals and that’s what he’s the patron saint of,” Randolph said.
Salcido was very thankful of all who helped out with this year’s All Saints Day reverse parade including the parents.
“One of the reasons why we’ve always been able to do this and why it’s been successful has been because of the support from the parents,” Salcido said. “They buy costumes and make costumes and they’re so creative. With their support, we’re able to be successful and this is one unique school where the education and religion come together beautifully and gives the student an opportunity to learn more about their Catholic faith.”
