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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212;As they deftly prepared<em> tostadas, tamales</em> and other savory foods for a Mexican Breakfast fundraiser on a recent Sunday morning, Guadalupe Flores, of Wilkes-Barre, Maria Victoria Castro, of Plymouth, and other volunteers explained the reason they were working so hard.</p><p>Their efforts will support a festive religious devotion, filled with music and roses &#8212; so many roses, more than you can easily count &#8212; to be celebrated Dec. 12 at St. Nicholas Church in honor of <em>Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, </em>or Our Lady of Guadalupe.</p><p><em>&#8220;Es una tradici&#243;n de los padres,&#8221;</em> one of the workers said, explaining the celebration is a tradition handed down from the older generation.</p><p>As the conversation became more complex, we were fortunate Roberto Colin, 37, of Wilkes-Barre, who works for Luzerne County Head Start, was on hand to translate:</p><p>&#8220;People bring roses, almost as offerings, like a thank you for blessings received, or it could symbolize a promise,&#8221; Colin said. &#8220;It could be a different, personal reason for everyone.&#8221;</p><p>Celebration organizers also purchase many roses in bulk, as a group, and plan to fill the church with colorful blossoms. on Dec. 12. The roses remind people of the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe who, according to Catholic tradition, appeared to a peasant named Juan Diego one December morning in 1531.</p><p>The lady told Juan Diego she wanted a church to be built there on Tepeyac Hill, just outside Mexico City, and asked him to relay this message to the local bishop. The bishop did not believe the humble man at first, not until a subsequent visit, when Juan Diego opened his <em>tilma, </em>or cloak, to reveal exquisite roses that had bloomed despite the cold and frost.</p><p>Perhaps the out-of-season flowers would have been enough to convince the bishop to believe Juan Diego, but the farmer&#8217;s cloak contained another, even more amazing sign &#8212; a picture of the lovely apparition herself was imprinted on the cloth.</p><p>That fabric is still on display, more than 400 years later, at the site where the bishop built a church to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe, whom Pope Pius XII declared &#8220;Patroness of the Americas&#8221; in 1946. Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego a saint in 2002.</p><p>And, all the breakfast customers who sampled the <em>tostadas la tinga</em>, featuring chicken, refried beans and lettuce, or the <em>tamale rojo</em>, made with spicy pulled pork steamed inside corn husks, or the hominy soup called <em>pozole, </em>contributed to help the local celebration.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s wonderful,&#8221; said Peter Forbes, of Plains Township, who said he especially enjoyed the <em>tacitos dorados,</em> or tiny rolled tortillas.</p><p>&#8220;I like the <em>sopes</em>,&#8221; said volunteer helper Columba Degante, 16, of Wilkes-Barre, who recommended that dish, a tortilla filled with steak and cheese, to customers Ed Staab, of Wilkes-Barre, and John Latishon, of Kingston.</p><p>The two men said they enjoyed their breakfast, with Staab praising a spicy sauce he had tried and Latishon saying he enjoyed the sweet bread he had sampled.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s terrific to see so many young people helping,&#8221; diner Nancy Verespy Forbes, of Plains Township said, glancing at a trio of teenagers who were taking orders in the basement of St. Nicholas-St. Mary School.</p><p>Behind them, in the kitchen, 11-year-old Yara Saldivar was wearing a hair net, just like the grown-up volunteers, as she assembled layers of shredded chicken and refried beans on <em>tostadas</em>.</p><p>&#8220;We start them young,&#8221; Colin said.</p><p>As older workers flattened tortillas with a presser and removed steaming tamales from a pot, Colin said each cook was in charge of one dish and would typically contribute all the ingredients for that dish.</p><p>Flores, who has been in charge of the four Mexican Breakfasts this year, said the celebration on Dec. 12 usually starts with Las Ma&#241;anitas, or morning prayers before dawn at the church. Later in the day a procession makes its way through several city blocks, ending at the church. Then, following a <em>Misa</em>, or Mass, a reception will be held in the school hall.</p><p>Next year, Colin said, it will be someone else&#8217;s turn to be in charge of the fundraising. Knowing it will be his responsibility, Daniel Tapia, of Wilkes-Barre, said he wants to continue the breakfasts, and is also thinking about another fundraiser, called <em>mohigangas.</em></p><p>&#8220;Men will dress as women,&#8221; Colin explained, &#8220;and they&#8217;ll go to different houses or businesses to dance and make music. Their performance gets tips.&#8221;</p><p>As for the next Mexican Breakfast, the workers said, it will likely be held in early 2017.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Maria Victoria Castro, of Plymouth, makes a tortilla that will be filled with steak and cheese for a dish called <em>sope</em> during a recent Mexican Breakfast held at St. Nicholas Parish in Wilkes-Barre. The fund-raiser, one of four similar breakfasts, supports the Dec. 12 celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL102516breakfast1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Maria Victoria Castro, of Plymouth, makes a tortilla that will be filled with steak and cheese for a dish called <em>sope</em> during a recent Mexican Breakfast held at St. Nicholas Parish in Wilkes-Barre. The fund-raiser, one of four similar breakfasts, supports the Dec. 12 celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL102516breakfast2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Yara Saldivar, 11, adds shredded chicken to a tostada that will be served at the Mexican Breakfast. &#8216;We start them young,&#8217; translator Roberto Colin said of several youthful volunteers. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL102516breakfast2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Yara Saldivar, 11, adds shredded chicken to a tostada that will be served at the Mexican Breakfast. &#8216;We start them young,&#8217; translator Roberto Colin said of several youthful volunteers. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL102516breakfast3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Volunteer Miguel Balbuena carries a tray of food from the kitchen to the dining area during a recent Mexican Breakfast held in the cafeteria of St. Nicholas-St. Mary School. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL102516breakfast3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Volunteer Miguel Balbuena carries a tray of food from the kitchen to the dining area during a recent Mexican Breakfast held in the cafeteria of St. Nicholas-St. Mary School. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL102516breakfast4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A sample of <em>sopes</em> was on display at the Mexican Breakfast, showing customers what that dish looks like. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL102516breakfast4-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>A sample of <em>sopes</em> was on display at the Mexican Breakfast, showing customers what that dish looks like. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL102516breakfast6-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_TTL102516breakfast6-1.jpg</photo4><caption4></caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_break.steak_-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A sample of <em>sopes</em> was on display at the Mexican Breakfast, showing customers what that dish looks like. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_break.steak_-1.jpg</photo5><caption5>A sample of <em>sopes</em> was on display at the Mexican Breakfast, showing customers what that dish looks like. </caption5><photoCredit5>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_break6-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">This sample dish of <em>Tostadas con Tinga</em> was on display to show unfamiliar customers what that popular dish looks like. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_break6-1.jpg</photo6><caption6>This sample dish of <em>Tostadas con Tinga</em> was on display to show unfamiliar customers what that popular dish looks like. </caption6><photoCredit6>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit6></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Fundraiser supports Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration at St. Nicholas Parish</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Volunteers serve Mexican Breakfast at St. Nicholas Church in Wilkes-Barre