Several hundred people came out to march through downtown Morgan
Hill Sunday in a processional honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe that
started at Third and Depot streets and ended at the St.
Catherine
’s Church for Mass.
Several hundred people came out to march through downtown Morgan Hill Sunday in a processional honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe that started at Third and Depot streets and ended at the St. Catherine’s Church for Mass.
There was a celebration the entire way. There was music, dancers dressed in Aztec attire, horses that danced and many people holding flowers and pictures of the Virgin Mary.
The significance of the Virgin Mary to the Hispanic Community goes back the days when the Spanish had just conquered Mexico and converted the native people to Christianity.
In 1531 lived an Aztec man named Juan Diego who, on Dec. 9, began to receive visions of the Virgin Mary. She asked Diego to have a church erected on a hill called Tepeyac. The local bishop demanded proof, so Mary gave Diego roses, which did not grow in Mexico, along with a picture of herself on his cloak.
Ever since, the miracle has been celebrated with religious ceremonies that can last as long as nine days.
The tradition has spread out of Latin America and into the United States where there are countless processions that go on every year.
As people walked down the streets, many caring flowers or pictures of the Virgin Mary or of Jesus, some Morgan Hill residents came out to video tape the event or just watch everyone go by.
When everyone arrived at Saint Catherine, there was more music leading up to a 12:15 p.m. Mass. Later that day there was a fiesta featuring music, dance groups and plenty of food.
