Members of the Newman Club, students, and faculty gathered Wednesday in Rosa Parks-D to celebrate the feast of "Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe," "Our Lady of Guadalupe," by serenading her framed image, which was draped in authentic Mexican garments, surrounded by rose pedals and candles.

"It's such a gift to be on campus celebrating this feast together," said Marta Piano, a campus minister of SF State's Newman's Club. "Only she can bring us together. All ethnicities, all different lifestyles, different interests, but because of her we celebrate together and not alone.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is Mexico's most beloved patroness. The story behind Mexico's patron saint is that she appeared one day to a poor Aztec indian named Juan Diego near Tepayac Hill in Mexico. It was here that the Virgen de Guadalupe spoke to Juan Diego and asked "No estoy yo aqui que soy tu madre?" meaning "Am I not hear that I am your mother?" The Lady of Guadalupe asked favors of Juan Diego in which he obeyed. One of her last requests of Juan Diego was to go to the top of the hill and cut the roses that were growing. Juan Diego did what she asked. He cut and gathered the roses placing them in his "tilma"a poncho type of garment made of cactus fiber. The Lady of Guadalupe asked Juan Diego to give the roses to the Bishop and upon Juan Diego's return, as he took out the roses from the "tilma" in his garment was a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A Basilica of Guadalupe was built in Mexico City where the original image is stored.

The Newman club and its members sang a collection of hymns to the soft strums of a guitar. "Mananitas," a Spanish song that closely resembles "Happy Birthday" was sang through out the event to show appreciation to "Our Mother," said Piano.

After two or three songs, different members stood in the front of the room and shared stories of hardship and incidents where a miracle was needed.

"She always gives me the sense that there is hope," said Herman, an SF State student and Newman Club member, "I can just look at her picture and get this sense of relief like everything will be okay."

A special intention and candle lighting ended the ceremony. One by one, each individual approached the image, lit a candle and asked for a special intention of Our Lady Guadalupe.

"From her image you can see that we can always count on her," said Piano. "We need her to know that she can count on us."