Quinceañera at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church

“Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Sevy Lopez distributes communion at quinceanera.”

In Mexican and Latin-American culture, quinceañera celebrations happen on a girl’s 15th birthday and symbolize her passage into adulthood. The celebration includes a mass that highlights the spiritual dimensions of the transition. The mass is followed by a party. The young woman is accompanied by a court of honor that includes 15 individuals or couples, one for each year of her life. She wears flat shoes at the start of the ceremony and changes into high heels at the end to mark the transition. This photo of a quinceañera is on loan from the Claretian Missionaries Archives and took place at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in South Chicago.