Hundreds of Spanish-speaking Catholics are expected to attend the annual celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec. 9 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Homeland.
Organized each year by the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Office of Hispanic Ministry, the 2007 feast day celebration will begin at Baltimore’s cathedral at 2 p.m. with a procession, music and mariachi band. Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien will celebrate Mass at 3 p.m. and a reception will follow in McGuire Hall at Loyola College in Maryland, Baltimore. Reception tickets are $2.50 and space is limited to 400.
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe – officially on Dec. 12 – celebrates the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill near present-day Mexico City in 1531.
That appearance is considered to be a breakthrough in the Catholic evangelization efforts in Latin American countries, bringing many into the faith.