CULTURE : Rite of Passage : The <i> quinceanera</i> , a 15th birthday celebration for Latinas, is changing. Church officials want to renew its religious meaning.

Tonantzin Gomez’s 15th birthday celebration was no small affair.

First, she donned a custom-made, floor-length, pearl-studded pink gown to receive the church’s blessing in a special Mass just for her. Then, a banquet with mariachi music was served up for 250 friends and relatives.

For Tonantzin, who attends Hueneme High School, and other 15-year-old Latinas, the birthday celebration, or quinceanera, is a big deal. It’s a 400-year-old Latino tradition, much like a coming-out party for a debutante, but with a sense of religious renewal.

However, Tonantzin’s quinceanera March 7 probably marked the last time St. Anthony’s Church in Oxnard will provide a special Mass for just one 15-year-old girl.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles decided two years ago that quinceaneras were getting out of hand. Church calendars were already busy with baptisms and marriages, which take precedence over the birthday Mass. The Archdiocese published guidelines recommending that the lavishness of quinceanera celebrations be toned down and that girls be blessed as a group during Mass.

Church officials thought the quinceanera had lost its religious significance and was instead an excuse for an expensive party. The event had taken on the look--and price--of a wedding. The birthday girl usually wore a white gown and had as many as 14 attendants and their escorts--one for each year.

“Our experience here is that most of the families whose daughters want a quinceanera can’t afford it,” said St. Anthony’s Father Robert Victoria. “Those young girls who push their parents to celebrate don’t realize the burden on the backs of their parents.”

Most of the Catholic churches in Ventura County no longer do a special Mass for a quinceanera, and instead bless more than one girl at a time--if they still do them at all.

Leaders from 15 Catholic parishes in the county will meet soon, Victoria said, to talk about an “inter-parochial celebration” where several girls at a time would be honored at one church.

“It’s more unified,” he said. “We want out of the pomposity and show.”

The “show” carries a hefty price tag: easily $5,000 to $10,000, according to Tonantzin’s father, Javier Gomez. His daughter’s dress alone cost $350. But there are some things that simply are worth the expense, he said. Tradition is one.

Gomez, a teacher at Oxnard’s Richard Barret Haydock Intermediate School, beats the drum for Latino culture with leadership and involvement in several Latino groups.

Nonetheless, he did not have an easy time finding a church that would provide the traditional Mass solely for his daughter.

“I agree that it shouldn’t be glamorous, but I am a strong believer in tradition,” he said. “I was upset.”

As it turned out, his daughter’s quinceanera did not stick strictly to tradition. Tonantzin did not have the 14 attendants and escorts.

“The churches don’t allow it--it’s too much like a wedding,” she said. “I could have had them at the reception, but I didn’t have them at all. It was less of a hassle.”

Her celebration may have done with fewer frills, but the planning for it still took a year. She searched for just the right dress and finally found it in a San Fernando Valley bridal shop. After two fittings, the custom-made dress was hers.

The day before the quinceanera, she met with church officials to go over what would happen the next day and what was permissible and what wasn’t.

“They didn’t want a bunch of flowers (in the church),” she said.

During the actual Mass, she faced the priest and answered questions about her religious faith. Her parents answered questions as well.

The solemnity turned festive after the Mass at a reception at the Knights of Columbus hall in Oxnard. Girls from the dance group Tonantzin belongs to surprised her with a special dance in her honor. Gomez led a dance with his daughter.

The group dined on steak, but it wasn’t trendy tri-tip. Gomez found someone to prepare birria, marinated goat meat cooked in a traditional way, underground with heated rocks.

“It all went well,” Gomez said. “We had a good time.”

His daughter was glad the Mass was specifically in her honor and she didn’t have to share the spotlight with other girls. She found it more meaningful that way.

“I don’t like to be in groups,” she said. “When I had my Communion, I was in a group and it seemed different.”

Besides, she said, a group Mass would invite a comparison of quinceanera dresses, a problem that Tonantzin’s friend, Aracely Velasco, recent experienced at her ceremony.

“There were two other girls with me,” Aracely said. “My dress caught everyone’s attention.” She wore a white, pearl-studded gown with blue bows on the sleeves and bottom and a bow in the back.

For her, the celebration marked the beginning of a new stage in her life.

“We’re not little girls any more,” she said. “We’re going into womanhood. That takes a lot of responsibility.”

Aracely would have liked it if the Mass had been said just for her and if her court of attendants could have participated.

“I wanted the old-fashioned rules,” she said. “But we can’t do anything about it.”

KID STUFF

* The Huck Finn Fishing Derby for kids will be Saturday at 7 a.m., at Rancho Simi Community Park, 1765 Royal Ave., Simi Valley. For information, call 584-4400.

* Moorpark and the Moorpark Kiwanis International is sponsoring a Cinco de Mayo dance Friday for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at the Moorpark Community Center. On Que Entertainment will be featured. Cost is $3. For information, call 529-6864.

* Thousand Oaks Library is offering a story session Monday for children ages 6 to 10 interested in the mysteries of outer space, 4 to 5 p.m. at the main library, 1401 E. Janss Road. For information, 497-6282.