Catholics Prepare for Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe

[Gauracandra 1]

On December 12, many Hispanic Catholics celebrate the Festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Celebrations take place in many parts of the southwestern United States, as well as in many other cities with large Hispanic populations. According to tradition, the feast day commemorates the appearance of the Virgin Mary to an Aztec Indian named Juan Diego in 1531. Within a short time, Juan Diego and millions of other Aztecs converted to Catholicism. Catholics call the Virgin of Guadalupe the Patroness of the Americas.