Archdiocesan Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration set for Dec. 6

Photo by James Ramos/HeraldAs the sun rises on Dec. 6, music, traditional dance, and prayer will fill the streets of downtown Houston, celebrating the appearance of the Virgin Mary to a humble peasant, Juan Diego, in 1531 on the Hill of Tepeyac in Mexico. 
  
The Archdiocesan procession begins at 7:30 a.m. at the corner of Austin Street and Walker Street in downtown Houston, then south on Fannin Street, ending at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1111 St. Joseph Parkway, for 9 a.m. Mass with Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez as the main celebrant and Bishop Italo Dell’Oro as concelebrant. 
 
“The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important for Catholics because she is a symbol of hope, unity, and compassion, who appeared as a mestiza woman, affirming the dignity of all people,” said Priscella Marquez, president of the Archdiocesan Association of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “Our Lady of Guadalupe promises to heal all sorrows, hardships, and sufferings. She also inspires trust in God’s providence and encourages a life of care for one another with love and humility.” 
 
The procession will include hundreds of traditional dancers from parishes throughout the Archdiocese dressed in Azteca feathered head pieces and elaborately colored costumes, performing to the beat of drums as a form of prayer in honor of the Virgin Mary and her son Jesus. 
  
Mass will be followed by mariachis, a reenactment of the apparition, and some 20 traditional dance presentations from various Catholic church groups performed across the street from the Co-Cathedral at the Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza Plaza. 
 
“Many of our brothers and sisters from different cultural backgrounds reach out to Our Lady of Guadalupe for consolation, intercession, and refuge,” said Lázaro Contreras, director of the Archdiocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry. “When she appeared to the Christian peasant Juan Diego, she told him that she wanted a church to be built for her where she would welcome everyone in this world, where she would listen to them, console them, and show them her love in the person of Jesus Christ.” 
 
This tradition honors the first apparition on December 9,1531 of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego at a place called the Hill of Tepeyac, now a northern borough of modern-day Mexico City, as he was walking to Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. She appeared to him several times through December 12 and instructed him to ask the bishop to build a church on that hill in honor of her Son. 
 
The apparitions include an image of the Virgin Mary that was miraculously imprinted on Juan Diego’s cloak, which convinced the bishop of her request. Known as the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, it still exists and is exhibited in Mexico City.