Thousands expected to join in downtown Houston procession honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe
December 4, 2009
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Dec. 4, 2009
Contact: Jenny Faber, Director of Communications
Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
jfaber@archgh.org
713.652.8223
Thousands expected to join in downtown Houston procession honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe
HOUSTON - Mariachis, singers and scores of indigenous dancers known as matachines will be among the thousands of Catholic faithful expected to pay homage to the Virgin Mary in a procession in downtown Houston this Sunday. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston's festivities honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe will start at noon on Dec. 6.
The participants will turn out to commemorate the apparition of Mary to an Aztec Indian man named Juan Diego on a hill near Mexico City in 1531. (The official feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is Dec. 12.)
The event is sponsored by the Guadalupana Association. This annual, joyful celebration testifies to the widespread devotion to the Virgin Mary throughout the Archdiocese and the universal Church.
WHAT: The Guadalupana Association of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will sponsor festivities commemorating the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
WHERE: A colorful procession will begin at the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston's downtown Chancery, 1700 San Jacinto, and end at the George R. Brown Convention Center about a mile away.
WHEN: The procession will begin at 12 noon.
VISUALS/AUDIO:
• 28 groups of matachines — folk dancing troupes — are slated to perform in the procession.
• Mariachis, other singers and families are among the thousands expected to participate. Last year, the event drew 5,000. Parishes around the Archdiocese send representatives each year to the event.
• Please contact Jenny Faber, Archdiocesan Communications Director, at 713-652-8223 for more details.
The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston serves 1.5 million Catholics in 10 counties. It is the largest Roman Catholic diocese in Texas and the 11th largest in the United States.