A long running tradition of some graduates at Western Beauty Institute has been to celebrate Catholic mass the day preceding their graduation. This service is performed at the request of those students for whom Catholicism is a big part of their lives and their families’ lives, both spiritual and physical. This year mass was held at St. Didacus Church in Sylmar on Friday, February 6th at 7:30PM. Mass was given by Father Norm Supancheck and the graduates and their families were in attendance. This year, mass was greeted with near torrential rain in the San Fernando Valley, but everyone made it with babies, Mom’s, Dad’s and family in tow. The mass was held without a snag and everyone came through a bit wet but for the better. Rachel Reynoso facilitated the event and photography was provided by Director of Marketing, Randy Fugate.

As reference from the church, “St. Didacus was a Spanish Franciscan Friar, a lay brother, who lived from 1400 to 1463. His life is depicted in the stain glass of the church. The first panel shows him in his Franciscan habit leaving his native Spain crossing the sea as a missionary to the Canary Islands. On one occasion it is told he rescued a young boy who was playing in an oven when his mother, inadvertent to his being inside, lit it. On another occasion he cured someone’s sight by anointing his eyes with oil. It is also a part of the stories concerning Didacus that he and a companion were lost in the wilderness and an angel ministered to them by providing them with bread and water. In his later year, Didacus became the Guardian of the Franciscan Monastery at Alcala, Spain, hence his title, St. Didacus of Alcala – in Spanish San Diego de Alcalá.