The Diocese of Gaylord is celebrating the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a special procession and Mass on Sunday, Dec. 12.

This comes just days after the Memorial of St. Juan Diego, the man who was graced with the Marian apparition which is today known as Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“Today is the Memorial of Saint Juan Diego. Let us pray for the obedience to Our Lady demonstrated by Saint Juan Diego,” the Diocese of Gaylord posted on Facebook. 

The procession is being organized by the Catholic Hispanic Ministry. It will begin in Brayant Park and will end at Immaculate Conception Church.

According to tradition, the sighting of the Blessed Virgin Mary was on Dec. 9, 1531. The image that Juan Diego saw is important to the Mexican nation.

According to the Vatican, “His feast day is celebrated on Dec. 9 because on Dec. 9 of 1531, he was visited by the Blessed Mother. She appeared to him as he was on his way to morning Mass, asking him to tell the Bishop to build a shrine at that spot, Tepeyac Hill. The Bishop did not believe Juan Diego and wanted proof that Mary had appeared to him. Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac on Dec. 12, when Mary appeared to him again, instructing him to climb the hill and pick the flowers that he would find blooming there. He obeyed her and found roses blooming, despite the fact that it was winter. When Juan Diego presented the roses to the Bishop, they fell on the ground and, left pressed into his cloak was an image of the Blessed Mother. This miraculous image is now preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.”

Juan Diego was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1990 and was canonized in 2022. He is the first indigenous saint from the Americas.