Hundreds of people gathered at the corner of Eigleberry and 10th streets in Gilroy Sunday afternoon to kick off a procession to celebrate the Virgin Mary that ended at St. Mary's Church on First Street.
The celebration, named by St. Mary's as the Feast of Our Lady, is normally celebrated with flowers and music on Dec. 12 in Mexico and many churches across the United States and Central America.
Giroy resident Maria Torres said she and her family went to Eigleberry Street Sunday afternoon to pay their respects.
"We are here to give praise to the Virgin Mary," Torres said. "I brought my children out here to show how strong our Catholic community is and how beautiful it can be when a community comes together for a common good."
The parishioners started the day with a regular Sunday Mass, then met for the celebratory procession at 10th and Eigleberry streets and ended back at the church for a 2 p.m. Mass.
At 6:30 p.m., parishoners gathered for "Noche Guadalupana" in the church gym and then finished the evening with a mariachi serenade in the chapel.
According to tradition, on Dec. 9, 1531, in Mexico, a young indigenous man named Juan Diego saw an image of the Virgin who told him to tell the Catholic bishop to build her a church. The bishop didn't believe him and asked for proof.
When Juan Diego saw the Virgin again and gave her the bishop's message, she told him to return to the hill where he first saw her and bring the flowers there to the bishop as proof that she exists. In winter, the hill of Tepeyac Hill didn't have flowers in bloom, but when Juan Diego arrived, he saw flowers, just as the Virgin promised. He gathered them in his cloak and took them to the bishop.
On Dec. 12, when Juan Diego returned to the bishop and opened his cloak, the flowers fell to the floor. On the cloak remained the image of the Virgin. The cloak now hangs in the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
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