Latino Catholic Apostolate Sponsors Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass at St. Paul Cathedral

Pittsburgh—Bishop David A. Zubik is the principal celebrant for the annual Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the evening of Thursday, December 12, 2019 at Saint Paul Cathedral, Oakland.
 
Everyone is welcome to attend the celebration, with liturgy in Spanish, English and other languages, sponsored by the Latino Catholic Apostolate.  A special invitation has been extended to Catholic high schools to encourage young people to come, said Jorge Vela, coordinator of the ministry. Following Mass, everyone is invited to a reception in the cathedral social hall.
 
Ceremonies will begin with Eucharistic Adoration at 5:30 p.m. and Rosary at 6:00 p.m., followed by songs a capella at 6:45 p.m. Confession will be available from 5:30 pm until shortly before 7:00 pm.  The Gospel and readings will be in Spanish and English. Father Jay Donahue will preach the homily in Spanish and English.
           
Bishop Zubik will present roses to Our Lady, represented by a replica of the painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe that hangs in Mexico’s Basilica of Guadalupe. The procession will include a color guard of banners and the flags of many nations, as the congregation sings the traditional Las Mañanitas. 
           
The prayers of the faithful will include petitions in eight languages: Italian, Portuguese, German, Polish, French and Tagalog, in addition to Spanish and English.
 
The celebration marks the thirteenth consecutive year that the cathedral has hosted the Feast of Guadalupe. Concelebrating with Bishop Zubik will be auxiliary Bishop William Waltersheid,  Father Carmen D’Amico, Father Jay Donahue, Father Kevin Poecking, and Father Dan Waruszewski.
 
The Latino Catholic Apostolate includes the churches of St. Rosalia, Greenfield; St. Catherine of Siena, Beechview (St. Teresa of Kolkata Parish); St. John the Baptist, Plum; Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Meadow Lands; and Saints John and Paul, Wexford. Each celebrates a Mass in Spanish, and St. Catherine also offers a Mass in Portuguese.
 
The Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico’s most popular religious image. Devotees believe that her prayers bring healing from sickness. Each year an estimated 10 million people visit her basilica in Mexico City, making it the world’s most popular Marian shrine and the second most visited Catholic church after Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. The feast commemorates the apparition of the Virgin to a Mexican peasant, Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, in 1531. She left a miraculous image of her appearance on his cactus fiber cloak, or tilma, which remains on display for veneration in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.