PROCESSION OF CHILDREN IN COSTUME BEFORE MASS
The Archdiocese of Baltimore’s annual Mass for Our Lady of Guadalupe will take place Sunday, December 10, 2006 at 3:00 p.m. at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen at 5200 North Charles Street in North Baltimore. Cardinal William H. Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, will preside and Most Rev. Felipe De Jesus Estevez, Auxiliary Bishop of Miami, will be principal celebrant and homilist. Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore and Vicar for Hispanics, will concelebrate the Mass.
The festive Mass will be preceded by music, recitation of the rosary and a dramatization by young adults beginning at 2 p.m. Children wearing traditional costumes that reflect the different countries and cultures which make up the rich diversity of Baltimore’s Hispanic community, will carry flowers in a procession to the altar at approximately 2:40 p.m.
In this colorful celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the local Hispanic community seeks to celebrate the symbolic heart of its own culture and religious experience, to protect the dignity and sacredness of human life, and promote the reconciliation of all people.
Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to an Indian peasant, St. Juan Diego, on Dec. 12, 1531, on Tepeyac Hill, near what is now Mexico City.