Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe & St. Juan Diego continue last leg of Pilgrimage throughout LA Archdiocese

The annual pilgrimage of the images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles kicked off in mid-September and will have visited 51 parishes in total, including cemeteries and a convent, when it culminates on December 7 at the 94th Annual Procession and Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego on December 7 in East Los Angeles. The full schedule for the pilgrimage is available at https://angelusnews.com/local/la-catholics/guadalupe-image-2025/.

Today, Friday, November 7, the images are visiting the Mission Basilica San Buenaventura where they are present for veneration until 5 p.m. followed by a candlelight procession at 7:30 p.m. The images will then head to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque Catholic Church in Lomita for the weekend before traveling to St. Gregory the Great Church in Whittier from November 10-11. The images will then visit St. Dominic Savio in Bellflower, St. John of God in Norwalk and St. Philip Neri in Lynwood on November 15-16 where the images will be welcomed with a Mass and traditional Mexican dancers.

The annual pilgrimage of the images serves as spiritual preparation for the 94th Annual Procession and Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 7 in East Los Angeles. This year’s procession and Mass theme, “Our Lady of Guadalupe: Cause of Our Joy and Hope,” is especially meaningful as it reflects the challenges and aspirations of our time, particularly among the immigrant community. Our Lady of Guadalupe stands as a beacon of hope, compassion, and solidarity, and reminds us of her maternal presence among those who seek justice, dignity, and a better life.

From November 17-18 the images will visit St. Rose of Lima in Maywood, and St. Martha parish in Huntington Park from November 19-20. The images will then return to Whittier visiting St. Mary of the Assumption before they are off to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles where the images will be present for Sunday Masses on November 23.

The images will visit the parishes of Blessed Sacrament in West Hollywood, St. Paul’s in Los Angeles and then head to St. Lawrence of Brindisi on Thanksgiving Day where the community will gather in the morning for a rosary procession and Thanksgiving Mass at 9 a.m. The images will then head to Nativity in Los Angeles, St. Columbkille in Los Angeles, and St. Augustine in Culver City.

The December 7 procession in East Los Angeles holds a storied history being the oldest religious procession in Los Angeles. It was originally started by Mexican Catholics who fled persecution by the Mexican government during the Cristero War, commemorates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which recalls the miraculous apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Saint Juan Diego at Cerro del Tepeyac (Tepeyac Hill), Mexico City, in December 1531, when she left her image on his “tilma” or cloak. Her image has been a symbol of unity, peace, compassion, and hope for people around the world.

La Peregrina, a pilgrim image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, is an exact digital reproduction of the original image in Mexico City’s Basilica, which was blessed and touched to the original image. The image of the Virgin and one of St. Juan Diego were gifts hand-delivered to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2024 by Monsignor Diego Monroy, former Rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

For more information, visit https://lacatholics.org/guadalupe/.

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