Santo Niño de Atocha — a holy religious icon — arrived Saturday, May 25, for its 17th visit to Santa Paula from its home sanctuary in Plateros, Zacatecas, Mexico.
Hundreds of people followed the icon, as it was carried on a bed of flowers on the back of a white Ford Ram 5500 in the Welcoming Procession from Las Piedras Park to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 427 N. Oak St. It will remain there until a Farewell Procession and Mass on June 9.
Archbishop José H. Gómez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles presided at the May 25 Mass and procession.
On June 9, Bishop Sigifredo Noriega Barceló of the Diocese of Zacatecas, Mexico, will preside at the Farewell Mass.