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As the bells began to ring shortly before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, every seat in downtown’s Cathedral Guadalupe was full. Visitors lined the back of the sanctuary and crowded around the side doors, hoping to peer inside. Hundreds more spilled out into overflow seating.
They were there to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a religious holiday honoring the cathedral’s namesake. The annual celebration took on new significance this year, as the cathedral marked its recent designation as a national shrine at a 5 p.m. bilingual Mass.
In total, according to a spokesperson for the Diocese of Dallas, there would be about 50,000 visitors to the cathedral Monday and Tuesday, including buses full of visitors from nearby Texas dioceses.
The Mass began with drums booming through the cathedral’s sanctuary, ushering in traditional matachines dancers in feathered, bright-colored headdresses.
Diocese of Dallas Bishop Edward Burns officiated, speaking in Spanish throughout. Also officiating was Jesús Belmontes, rector of the cathedral, who alternated between English and Spanish during the rituals and the sermon, in which he prayed for peace and the unity of the church.
At the end of the Mass, Burns spoke to the significance of the cathedral’s new national status. “This year we celebrate that the cathedral has been elevated to a national shrine. This is our way of recognizing the faithfulness of the people of this diocese, and the love we have for Our Lady of Guadalupe,” he said in Spanish.
“To the members of the immigrant community: Be strong. Be strong in the faith and welcome to the United States,” Burns added to applause throughout the audience. “The church is your home, and it is an honor to be your bishop.”
Cathedral Guadalupe was granted the national shrine status by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops in late September and is now known as the National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The status is bestowed to Catholic churches and other sacred places that receive large numbers of religious pilgrims.
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Virgin of Guadalupe testimonies
Pedro Muñiz, 45, is part of the Matlachines, a group that dances every year in the festivities of the Lady of Guadalupe.
Born in Mexico, Muñiz emigrated to the U.S. more than 25 years ago. He vividly remembers when he crossed the border.
“She protected me when I was coming to the U.S., looking for a better opportunity, a better life. Actually, I almost lost my life in the border and I prayed a lot. I said, ‘Please, Virgen de Guadalupe, you know me and you know I need this,’” he said. “It’s difficult to express, but I felt she was with me at that moment.”
The Matlachines recreate indigenous dances while wearing traditional costumes. Their performances are one of the most traditional elements of the celebration of the Lady of Guadalupe.
”I’m not very good at praying, but I can move my body, and every time that I dance I say, ‘This is for you, and thank you, Lady of Guadalupe, for everything,’” Muñiz said.
In the same group of Matlachines is Natalie Valencia, 12, who played a drum in honor of the Lady of Guadalupe.
“For me, the Virgin of Guadalupe is so powerful and with so much grace and she is someone that has helped me along the way through life,” Valencia said. “Like when I have difficulties at school or outside school, I just pray to her and I just wait for her to hear my prayers.”
For more than 50 years, Nieves Torres and his wife, Blanca Morales, have attended the celebrations of the Virgin of Guadalupe wherever they are, and this year they did not miss the appointment with “La Morenita” in Dallas, where they are visiting their daughter.
The faith of Morales, 72, had to overcome several obstacles, especially in her youth. When she was young, her father and two male siblings became Mormons, while her three sisters and mother remained Catholic, which was a challenge at the time.
“I always stayed strong with my faith for the Virgencita, and every year I come to thank her and pray for my family,” Morales said before the Mass.
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Torres and Morales live in Monterrey, Mexico, and are in Dallas visiting their daughter, Mayra, who has lived in the city for more than 20 years.
Mayra followed in her parents’ footsteps and is training her two children, ages 11 and 19, to continue the family legacy of faith.
“I was lucky that my two children were interested in coming to church,” said Mayra Torres, 46. “We came to church here just a couple of years ago, before that we didn’t have time to do anything but work, and now that we are more stable we are coming to our faith.”
Faith is an important part of this family’s life. They want their new generation — Hispanics born in the United States — to continue with the tradition their ancestors have followed in Mexico for centuries.
Zoyla Hernández, 46, came to the Cathedral of Guadalupe Tuesday to fulfill a manda made by her family when her grandson, Santiago Esparza, 1, was in a serious condition in the hospital.
Santiago was born premature, 8 months into his mother’s pregnancy, and both were in serious condition in a Dallas hospital. In their prayers, the family promised the Virgin of Guadalupe that if the child was saved, they would dress him as St. Juan Diego and bring him on Dec. 12 to the celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
“I am fulfilling the manda because of the miracle that the Virgencita gave us, and here I brought my grandson to present before our mother so that she would give us her blessing,” Hernández said.
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A manda is a promise made by Catholics to the Virgin Mary or a saint when asking for help in a difficult situation.
Hernández has been visiting Cathedral Guadalupe on this day for the past 25 years, the same number of years she has lived in Dallas since she emigrated from Veracruz, Mexico.
“For those visits I prepare every year. I do a lot of prayer, always at the beginning of the day or a trip or something important, there is always the Virgin of Guadalupe in our life,” Hernández said.
She said she is happy the Cathedral Guadalupe will be recognized as a national shrine, and that only makes her faith grow even more.
“The Virgencita is here with us in the city, and that is because of everyone’s faith.”
Siblings Maria Jesusa Aldana and Maria T. Marquez, who were at the cathedral Tuesday morning, said they are overjoyed that the Cathedral Guadalupe has been designated a national shrine.
“I think it’s an honor for the cathedral, for the district, the community, the church and for Dallas,” Marquez said.
Aldana and Marquez, who also attended events Monday evening, described how the front of the cathedral seemed to be “swarming” with people who came to celebrate the feast day.
“Flowers galore — it was beautiful,” Aldana said.
Aldana said the cathedral has been an important place for her and her family for decades — she was married there in 1992. Additionally, she and her siblings have a personal connection with the Virgin Mary.
She shared a story of how her mother, after losing several of her children, prayed to Mother Mary for the health of Aldana’s older sister and promised to name all of her future daughters after the saint.
“This is the love and the power of Mother Mary for us,” Aldana said.