Wave Wire Services
EAST LOS ANGELES — The 93rd edition of Los Angeles’ oldest religious procession drew more than 20,000 people to East Los Angeles Dec. 1 to commemorate the 493rd anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Mexican peasant Juan Diego, organizers said.
The procession and Mass honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego began at Our Lady of Solitude Catholic Church then went through the streets of East Los Angeles. Its theme was “Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the Eucharist.”
The procession’s lineup included Guadalupano parish groups, 37 groups of Aztec dancers and 35 “andas,” decorated carts used by students from Catholic schools and representatives of other ministries in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to carry images of the Virgin of Guadalupe during the procession, according to organizers.
Guadalupano parish groups are groups of men and women who are responsible for promoting devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her title of Guadalupe.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Catholic title of Mary, the mother of Jesus, associated with a series of five Marian apparitions to St. Juan Diego and his uncle, Juan Bernardino, that are believed to have occurred in December 1531.
“[This] procession gives us the opportunity to think about the journey of our Christian life,” Archbishop José H. Gomez said during his homily in a Mass at East Los Angeles College Stadium following the procession.
“Our lives are a pilgrimage through this world. We are on a journey towards Our Father’s home — the kingdom of heaven. We take Our Holy Mother’s, Our Lady of Guadalupe, hand and she guides us in following the footsteps of her son Jesus.”
The celebration was established by Mexican Catholics who fled persecution by the Mexican government during the Cristero War in 1931.
The annual celebration commemorating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe recalls the miraculous apparitions of the Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego at Tepeyac Hill, Mexico City, in December 1531 when she left her image on his cloak. Her image has been a symbol of unity, peace, compassion and hope for people around the world.
