Why 400,000 Roman Catholics will converge on Des Plaines next week
More than 400,000 Roman Catholics are expected to gather in Des Plaines early next week for the annual celebration at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The pilgrimage is set for Monday and Tuesday at the eponymous shrine on the campus of Maryville Academy, 1170 N. River Road. It commemorates reported visions of Jesus' mother, Mary, in Mexico City in 1531.
Admission is free.
The theme of this year's event is "peace and unity."
"We are praying for the peace of our world, and we are praying for the peace of our homes," the Very Rev. Esequiel Sanchez, rector at the shrine, said during a news conference Thursday.
The first of several Masses is set for 8 p.m. Monday. It will include a blessing for a chapel at the shrine that was damaged during a May fire police said was deliberately set. It's since been renovated.
Masses and other activities will be said overnight and through the next day. They include a fireworks show at 9:30 p.m. Monday, a midnight Mass and a closing Mass at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Parking at the sanctuary will cost $15.
Free off-site parking with shuttle-bus service will be available at: Palwaukee Plaza, 664 Milwaukee Ave. in Prospect Heights; Oakton College, 1600 East Golf Road in Des Plaines; and St. Emily Parish, 1400 E. Central Road in Mount Prospect.
Central Road near the Maryville campus will be closed to all vehicles except the shuttle buses from 5 p.m. Monday to approximately 9 p.m. Tuesday. People walking to the shrine should use a marked pedestrian lane along River Road, Des Plaines police Cmdr. Matt Bowler advised.
For a full schedule of events and rules for visitors, visit solg.org/en/ or solg.org for the same information in Spanish.
More information also will be available at facebook.com/desplainespolice.