FAITHFUL INVITED TO WRITE PRAYER INTENTIONS TO BE BLESSED BY ARCHBISHOP GOMEZ AND TAKEN TO BASILICA OF GUADALUPE IN MEXICO CITY
May 3, 2024  |  By:   |  Press Releases  |  

—A box for the prayer petitions will be placed at the Chapel of the Relic of the Tilma of St. Juan Diego inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels starting on Mother’s Day through Father’s Day —

Faithful are invited to send prayer intentions to be blessed by Archbishop José H. Gomez and presented at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City during a pilgrimage Mass where hundreds will join from different parishes in the Archdioceses of Los Angeles. Petitions will be collected in person at the Chapel of the Relic of the Tilma of St. Juan Diego at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels beginning this Mother’s Day (May 12) through Father’s Day (June 16).

“It’s great to be going back to Guadalupe,” said Archbishop Gomez. “I hope that many people will be able to join me for this pilgrimage of love and joy to pay homage to Our Blessed Mother, who is the cause of so many blessings in our lives. ¡Que Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!”

The Cathedral is home to the only relic of the tilma outside of Mexico City. The relic is a small piece that was detached from the original tilma in Mexico City and given to Archbishop John Cantwell of Los Angeles by the Archbishop of Mexico City, Luis Maria Martinez in 1941.

Petitions will also be collected at all 11 locations of the Catholic Cemeteries & Mortuaries on Saturday, May 11 during the Mother’s Day Rosary at 2 p.m. Petitions can also be submitted online at https://lacatholics.org/pilgrimage/ by June 20, 2024.

This is the second year in a row that hundreds of faithful led by clergy are joining parochial groups who will

travel to Mexico City on different dates, with most departing on July 4 and returning July 9, with stops at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe that houses the original tilma (or cloak) of St. Juan Diego, which holds the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that appeared in 1531. They will also visit Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral, where Archbishop Gomez will celebrate a Mass on Friday, July 5 at 9:30 a.m. PST (11:30 a.m. CST). Some of the parochial groups will also visit other Mexican landmarks such as Teotihuacan Pyramids, the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, and Catholic churches in the cities of San Miguel Allende (Guanajuato) and Cholula (Puebla) nicknamed “the city of the 365 churches.”

The eight Archdiocese of Los Angeles parishes represented during the July pilgrimage include the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, St. Rose of Lima and Our Lady of Rosary in Paramount, St. Lorenzo Ruiz in Walnut, Incarnation in Glendale, St. Augustine in Culver City, Our Lady of the Rosary of Talpa in East LA, and Presentation of Mary in LA.

For nearly 500 years, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been the symbol of hope, peace and love, uniting peoples around the world as one family of God. The Basilica at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world.

The Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe with Archbishop Gomez at 11 a.m. PST and 1 p.m. CST, will be livestreamed for those who would like to join virtually at https://lacatholics.org/pilgrimage/.  

NOTE: Members of the media are invited to cover the Mass on-site at the Basilica or remotely using the livestream at https://lacatholics.org/pilgrimage/. Photos of the pilgrimage will be available here.

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