SANTA PAULA : Mahony Celebrates Mass to Mark Parish Anniversary
More than 600 parishioners gathered outside Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Paula on Saturday to mark the parish’s 50th anniversary.
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles, celebrated Mass on a flower-bedecked platform in the parking lot next to the stone-walled church, which was built in 1942.
Shading themselves with commemorative folders, parishioners filled row after row of yellow folding chairs and overflowed into the street.
A mariachi band and the church choir accompanied the service.
Speaking in Spanish to the largely Latino congregation, Mahony congratulated them on the parish’s growth and wished them well in an ongoing drive to expand the church building.
Mahony also urged parishioners to look inside and re-energize their faith.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, on Santa Paula’s east side, is one of two Catholic parishes in Santa Paula.
Its name commemorates a vision of the Virgin Mary said to have been seen in 1531 in what is now Mexico City.
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