PILGRIMAGE OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE AND ST. JUAN DIEGO IMAGES CONTINUES IN LOS ANGELES THROUGHOUT OCTOBER

October 7, 2016  |  By: newsroom  |  Press Releases  |  

 

Kicking off early this year, the pilgrimage of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, known as La Peregrina, visited Catalina Island on Sept. 27 where hundreds of locals attended special Masses and processions. The pilgrim images of La Peregrina and St. Juan Diego will continue the journey to parishes in the Archdiocese throughout October as spiritual preparation for the faithful community leading up to the 85th annual Guadalupe Procession in East Los Angeles.

This weekend, faithful will have an opportunity to venerate the pilgrim images at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Whittier (7215 Newlin Ave., 90602) on Friday, Oct. 7 through Saturday, Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. Then they will travel to Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Downey (10727 South Downey Ave., 90241), where special Masses in English and Spanish will be held on Sunday, Oct. 9, starting at 6:30 a.m. On Monday, Oct. 10, St. Dominic Savio in Bellflower (13400 Bellflower Blvd., 90706) will receive the images with a special Mass at 6 p.m. and a Rosary at 7 p.m. The icons will remain at that church through Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m.

The pilgrimage will then make its way to Los Angeles, where the images will be welcomed and venerated by 15 church communities during the rest of October, including Our Lady Queen of Angels (La Placita) on Oct. 21-22. (Click here for full schedule).

This year, proclaimed by Pope Francis the Jubilee Year of Mercy, marks the 485th anniversary of the miraculous apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego, thus the pilgrim images are scheduled to visit most of the designated mercy pilgrimage churches in all five pastoral regions of the Archdiocese, including Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral (555 W. Temple St., 90012). The October leg of the pilgrimage will conclude with a visit to the Cathedral, where the images will be present for the Mass of Installation of the Cathedral’s new pastor, Father David Gallardo, on Sunday, October 30 at 10 a.m.

The annual pilgrimage of the images will conclude on December 4 at the 85th Annual Procession and Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in East Los Angeles. The Guadalupe Procession is the oldest religious procession in L.A., as it 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 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.

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. A decade ago, the image was hand-delivered as a gift to the Archdiocese by Monsignor Diego Monroy, then Rector of Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City.

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