OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE AND ST. JUAN DIEGO ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE ENDING IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY IN PREPARATION FOR THE PROCESSION IN EAST L.A DEC. 1
November 27, 2019  |  By:   |  Press Releases  |  

—The last leg of the pilgrimage includes a Thanksgiving Mass and dinner at St. Columbkille Parish in Los Angeles—

The parish communities of St. Columbkille-Nativity (Los Angeles), St. Andrew (Pasadena) and Our Lady of Solitude (East L.A.) will welcome the pilgrim images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego on the last leg of the pilgrimage throughout the tri-county Archdiocese (L.A., Ventura and Santa Barbara counties) in preparation for the annual procession in East Los Angeles that will take place on Sunday, December 1, starting at 10:30 a.m., at the corner of Cesar Chavez Ave. and Ford Blvd.

St. Columbkille Parish (6315 S. Main St., Los Angeles, 90003) will host a welcome Mass at 8 a.m. tomorrow, followed by a Rosary and veneration with songs and worship from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and more hourly activities through 8 p.m., including Aztec dancers at 4p.m. On Thursday, Nov. 28, parishioners are invited to gather for a Thanksgiving Mass and farewell at 10 a.m., followed by fellowship and a Thanksgiving dinner at the church plaza at 11 a.m.

St. Andrew Parish in Pasadena (311 North Raymond Ave, Pasadena, 91103) will receive the images on Friday, Nov. 29 with a procession on the parish’s surrounding streets, followed by a Mass in Spanish at 7 p.m. The month-long pilgrimage will end on Saturday, Nov. 30 at Our Lady of Solitude (4561 E. Cesar Chavez Ave., L.A. 90022), where dancers and parishioners will welcome the images at 5 p.m., followed by a Mass at 6 p.m. Parishioners will then decorate the images’ frames for the Dec. 1 procession. For more details on the remaining visits of the pilgrim images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego, please see full schedule.

The annual pilgrimage of the images around the tri-county Archdiocese serves as spiritual preparation for the 88th Annual Procession and Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Following the procession, Archbishop José H. Gomez, the Auxiliary Bishops of the Archdiocese and local clergy will celebrate Mass at East Los Angeles College Stadium, 1301 Cesar Chávez Ave., Monterrey Park, CA 91754, at 1 p.m.

The Guadalupe Procession is the oldest religious procession in Los Angeles, and this year’s theme is “Our Lady of Guadalupe: Ark of Salvation”. It was established in 1931 by Mexican Catholics who fled persecution by the Mexican government during the Cristero War. The annual celebration commemorates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which recalls the miraculous apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Saint Juan Diego at Cerro del Tepeyac (Tepeyac Hill), Mexico City, in December 1531, when she left her image on his “tilma” or cloak. Her image has been a symbol of unity, peace, compassion, and hope for people around the world.

The procession in East L.A. on Dec. 1, will feature floats decorated by Catholic schools and Parish groups from different ethnic communities within the Archdiocese, which will participate in the yearly float contest, and indigenous dancers will escort the “Virgen Peregrina” and St. Juan Diego images throughout the mile-long walk. The Mass following the Procession will feature mariachis, folkloric dances, hymns and poems typical of celebrations in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Auxiliary Bishop Alex Aclan for the San Fernando Pastoral Region and Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell for the San Gabriel Pastoral Region of the Archdiocese will concelebrate the bilingual Mass with songs in Tagalog by the Filipino Choir from St. Linus Parish in Norwalk.

La Peregrina, a pilgrim image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, is an exact digital reproduction of the original image in Mexico City’s Basilica, which has been blessed and touched to the original image. This year marks the 14th anniversary when the gift was hand-delivered to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by Monsignor Diego Monroy, then Rector of Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City.

For information, please call St. Marcellinus Parish (323) 269-2733, or visit https://guadalupela.com/.

For videos highlighting this event please visit (Spanish) https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1239292476261225 (English) https://www.facebook.com/lacatholics/videos/483806178898239/

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest Archdiocese in the United States with approximately five million Catholics. For the latest news, events and to subscribe for media alerts visit media.la-archdiocese.org. Follow us on social media at LACatholics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Video archives and footage of Masses celebrated by Archbishop José H. Gomez are also available.

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