Although the Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on Dec. 12, the Confederación Guadalupana of the San Diego Roman Catholic Diocese works very hard throughout the year to raise funds for the celebration.

It is through food sale, dances, and picnics, among other events, at all the parishes in San Diego, that Catholics raise the necessary funds to run the annual procession through the city’s streets.

Every two months, the Confederación’s board meets to plan the event, under the spiritual guidance of Father Peter Navarra, who works at the St. John of the Cross Parish in Lemon Grove.

This year the traditional procession of Guadalupe will be on Saturday, December 8 starting at 10 a.m., at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, located at 1528 4th Ave in downtown San Diego. The procession, now in its 47th year, ends at the San Diego Concourse. There at noon, Bishop Robert Brom, Bishop Cirilo Flores, and Bishop Gilberto Chavez, will celebrate a Marian Mass.

That same day, at 5 p.m., there will be a banquet at the Town & Country, in Mission Valley (the banquet has a cost of $40 per person). “Everyone is invited to both celebrations,” Felix said.

The president of the Confederación Guadalupana said that they expect at least 1,000 people to participate in the procession, which commemorates the aparition of the Virgin Mary to Saint Juan Diego near Mexico City almost 500 years ago.

“We would love to see all the Catholic people in San Diego to come and celebrate our Lady,” she said. “The virgin is the Queen of the Americas. As immigrants, she brings us a lot of good memories about our traditions. It is a way to evangelize people.”

Felix said that although other Christian denominations accuse Catholics of idolizing Mary, Felix clarified that the virgin is not a goddess.

“In no way do we consider a goddess,” she said. “Mary is the intercessor mother between our people and her Son, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. What can a mother ask of her son that He wouldn’t concede? The virgin helps us to get to Jesus.”