Foot procession slated in Guadalupe

CEBU - The Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Ministry and Parish Pastoral Council will hold the first-ever foot procession to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu Parish.

The event will also serve as reminder for Cebuano Catholic faithful that the Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu has been proclaimed the Patroness of the Archdiocese of Cebu.

The procession, which will be held at 1 p.m. on December 11, will start from Guadalupe Church grounds to V. Rama Avenue. It will turn left to the Barangay Hall road then right turn to Andres Abellana Street before turning left to M. Velez Street.

It will also pass Don Gil Garcia Street then turn left to Escario Street then to Osmeña Boulevard. From Osmeña Boulevard, the procession will proceed to Fuente Osmeña, turn right to B. Rodriguez, V. Rama Avenue and straight back to the church.

The carozza carrying the miraculous and canonically crowned image of Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu will shortly pause at the corner of Escario Street and Osmeña Boulevard for a prayer.

It will also stay a while at the corner of Fuente Osmeña and B. Rodriguez for the prayer petition of Cebu City acting mayor Michael Rama for the city.

The six-kilometer procession is expected to last for three to four hours. Drinking stations have been set up along the route and there will be four first aid stations in case of emergency.

Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal will celebrate a Pontifical Mass at the Guadalupe Church at 9 a.m. on the feast day on December 12. He will also celebrate with this year’s Hermanos y Hermanas Mayores.

The Our Lady of Guadalupe Image was canonically crowned through a solemn rite on July 16, 2006 at the Shrine of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Cebu in barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City.

The coronation, which symbolized the official recognition of Our Lady of Guadalupe as the Patroness of the Archdiocese, was by virtue of a pontifical decree issued on May 3, 2006 by the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. - Jessica Ann R. Pareja/LPM (THE FREEMAN)