One of Dallas’s biggest religious events of the year is now impacting far beyond North Texas. The Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral has been named a national shrine. NBC 5’s Keenan Willard is in downtown Dallas, where the church hosts its annual feast day celebration.
Catholics across the country and in Mexico are observing the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tuesday with mass, blessings, dancing and music. In North Texas, tens of thousands are expected to take part in the daylong celebration at Cathedral Guadalupe in Dallas.
The annual celebration of faith, culture, and tradition is a little more special than usual this year in Dallas because the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas, was recently designated a national shrine by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops.
"To raise the dignity of this cathedral to the status of a national shrine, because of all the people that we have seen who have come here, now we believe more will come," said Dallas bishop Edward Burns.
Over the last two days thousands of people have visited the National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in downtown Dallas.
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The historic National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been a longstanding figure among the local Latino community and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrations in Dallas began more than a century ago, according to our partners at The Dallas Morning News.
On December 12, the Catholic faithful celebrate the ‘Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe’ to honor the Virgin Mary and her message of love and unity.
The feast celebrates a vision of the Virgin Mary to a peasant, Saint Juan Diego, in Mexico in 1531. During the visitation, the apparition expressed "her maternal love and care for all humanity, especially for the people of Mexico and the Americas."
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"I feel like it’s tradition," said Dallas resident Gabriel Gonzalez. "For the most part, culture, Mexican culture."
The Catholic Diocese of Dallas expected 50,000 visitors for this year’s celebration, larger crowds than in the past after the historic church was elevated to a national shrine.
“This place gives compassion, gives blessings,” said Father Jesus Belmontes. “It’s an honor for our diocese.”
Belmontes said he’s greeted visitors from across Texas and surrounding states. Many spent Monday night waiting in line to get inside the sanctuary.
“I was just so overwhelmed and full of joy,” said Belmontes.
For the Gomez family of DeSoto, it’s a time to celebrate their faith and heritage.
“It’s a family tradition passed down from my mother and grandmother and I’d like to keep that alive for my daughters,” said Veronica Gomez of DeSoto.
People bring roses to place at the altar and enjoy mariachi serenades and matachines dances.
Pedro Muniz has participated in the dances for over 20 years to celebrate his faith and Mexican heritage.
“We have no words to say ‘thank you’ so we express our thanks by dancing,” Muniz said.
The designation of the cathedral as a national shrine held additional significance to North Texas residents who have moved to the area from Mexico.
"So now it’s here, it’s going to be like the same thing," said Margarita Romero. "So now we have from our country, we have something that belongs to us to remind us where we come from."
Bishop Edward Burns led the celebration mass at 5 p.m. Tuesday followed by music and dancing on the cathedral plaza.
A blessing of the flowers to close out the festivities was held at 8:30 PM.
"Her appearance serves as a powerful reminder of faith, unity, and the enduring cultural and spiritual connection between Catholics and the Mother of God. Every year, tens of thousands of people make a pilgrimage from all over the world to the Dallas Cathedral between Dec. 4 and 12 in remembrance and celebration of this extraordinary event," officials posted on the cathedral's website.
The Dallas Diocese said roughly 30,000 people celebrated the observance at the Dallas cathedral last year. The Dallas Diocese is made up of more than 1.3 million Catholics attending more than 70 parishes and 30 schools in nine North Texas counties.
Diocese leaders said they're already anticipating the crowds that will be drawn to Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2031, when the global faith community will mark the 500th anniversary of the appearance of the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary.
