Thousands are gathered in Downtown Dallas celebrating The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It’s one of the biggest religious events of the year. NBC 5’s Meredith Yeomans reports from The National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Thousands gathered in downtown Dallas on Wednesday night to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
It's one of the biggest religious events of the year.
During this 24-hour celebration, tens of thousands are expected at the National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe to honor a significant figure in the Catholic faith.
Aztec dancing brought streets by Cathedral Guadalupe alive for Our Lady of Guadalupe, or the Virgin Mary, which holds a special place in the lives of many Mexicans and Mexican Americans.
This year's celebration comes with heightened attention to the Cathedral which was named a national shrine one year ago.
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The church, it says, is becoming a pilgrimage destination.
“Now that it's a national Cathedral, that part of the attraction, that we're going to recruit more people than last year,” said Father Jesús Belmontes.
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe honors when the Virgin Mary miraculously appeared to a peasant on a hilltop in Mexico City on December 12, 1531.
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Her shrine in Mexico is one of the world’s most-visited holy sites.
“Tradition. You just feel it like you need to be here,” said Isabel Elizondo.
Elizondo lives in Dallas but is from Mexico and like many, says being at Wednesday’s event connects her to home.
“I'm happy. I just love how our community goes together,” said Andrea Martinez of Dallas.
People also left flowers by her shrine, sang and prayed inside the standing-room only Cathedral.
