A man holds a lighted cross draped with an image of the Virgin Mary and bubble float from a child's toy as thousands gather at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines on Monday for the annual celebration and Mass to pay homage to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to Saint Juan Diego on Dec. 12, 1531.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Traveling by car, bus, bicycle and even on foot, hundreds of thousands of Catholics arrived in Des Plaines on Monday night for the annual celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Held at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the campus of Maryville Academy, the two-day celebration commemorates reported visions of Jesus' mother, Mary, in Mexico City in 1531.
The year's feast - with the theme "Peace and Unity" - also marks the 10-year anniversary of the shrine's dedication. The shrine is authorized by the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City to receive devotees and pilgrims who can't get to the basilica in Mexico.
"What a fitting theme for prayer and reflection for all of us at this moment in history," Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of the archdiocese of Chicago, said Monday in a written statement about the celebration. "The discord, isolation, and disunity experienced by the human family around the world has also touched our own neighborhoods, faith communities, and even households. During this season of Advent, and especially during the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, let us pray to set aside our prejudices, resentment, and differences with others to live in peace and unity."
The celebration features several Masses, the first of which took place Monday night and included a blessing for a chapel at the shrine that was damaged in a May fire.
Pilgrims make the annual journey to the shrine to fulfill or make "mandas" or promises to Our Lady for a specific need or concern.
Thousands make the pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines for the annual celebration and Mass to pay homage to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to Saint Juan Diego on Dec. 12, 1531.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Thousands gather at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines for the annual celebration and Mass to pay homage to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to Saint Juan Diego on Dec. 12, 1531.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Volunteers arrange and light the hundreds of candles brought by pilgrims Monday.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Flowers are handed to volunteers to put at the foot of the shrine as thousands gather at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines for the annual celebration and mass to pay homage to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to Saint Juan Diego on Dec. 12, 1531.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Flowers begin to cover the base of the shrine as thousands gather at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines for the annual celebration and Mass to pay homage to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to Saint Juan Diego on Dec. 12, 1531.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
People stop briefly to look at the hundreds of rosary beads, photos and cards hung on a fence at the base of the shrine as thousands gather at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines for the annual celebration and Mass to pay homage to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to Saint Juan Diego on Dec. 12, 1531.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com