TYLER, TX (EAST TEXAS NEWS) – On December 12, Mexican Catholics celebrate the birthday of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Hundreds of people gathered at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Tyler in the early hours of Friday to sing “Las Mañanitas,” as has long been a tradition in Mexican families for centuries.
The celebration commemorated the 1531 apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill, near Mexico City.
At 4 a.m., a group of matachines performed their dances in her honor, followed by the traditional Mexican birthday songs and other melodies composed for the Virgin over the years.
Following this, Pastor Jesús R. Arroyave led a Mass to which many attended bearing roses and flowers as offerings. Children were seen dressed in Juan Diego’s attire, wearing ponchos and ribbons bearing the image that appeared on Juan Diego’s tilma.
The echo of hundreds of people singing the choir’s songs could be heard from outside.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish is one of several local churches that keep this tradition alive in the Hispanic community of East Texas.
