Our Lady of Guadalupe Day celebration kicks off in downtown LA

Every year on Dec. 12, Catholic believers across the United States and Mexico celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe 

Worshippers fill churches and cathedrals to partake in religious celebrations paying homage to the Virgin Mary, Jesus's mother. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels in downtown Los Angeles offers several mass services and celebrations throughout the day.

This year's gathering will include Indigenous dancers, a mariachi performance and other live events. Celebrants typically gather for the event the night before or early in the morning and sing "Las Mañanitas," a traditional birthday song.

People place flowers near photos of the Virgin Mary and light candles to dedicate prayers to her. Our Lady of Guadalupe plays a significant role for many Mexican people, representing hope and guidance.

According to the Catholic Church, the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe begins with her appearance before Saint Juan Diego on the hillside of Tepeyac near Mexico City in 1531, where she asked to have a church built in her name. When Juan Diego told the local bishop that Mary had appeared, he wasn't believed.

The story continues with Juan Diego returning to Mary to tell her of the bishop's disbelief. She placed roses in his cloak, or tilma, and instructed him to go back to the bishop and give him the flowers. When Juan Diego opened his tilma, an image of the Virgin Mary appeared.

Inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has placed on display a relic that it says is a piece of the tilma gifted by the Archbishop of Mexico in the 1940s.