Hispanic Community Finds Numerous Ways to Honor Blessed Mother

Hispanic Catholics in the Diocese of Brooklyn celebrate various Marian devotions, including the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12. Each year, thousands of people gather at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights for Mass before participating in a procession led by torchbearers to return to their local churches.

The devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe originated in Mexico following reported apparitions to an indigenous peasant named Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, 1531. According to the tradition, the Blessed Mother spoke to Diego in his native language and requested a shrine be built on the hill.

These celebrations reflect the growing presence of Hispanic Catholics, who represented 36% of the U.S. Catholic population in 2025. In the Diocese of Brooklyn, a 2024 survey from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops reported that 68 of the diocese's 172 parishes celebrate Mass in Spanish.