BROOKINGS – People of all ages came forward to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe with flowers during a special Mass at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Brookings on Tuesday evening.

The Dec. 12 annual religious feast day – “Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe” – is especially revered by the Catholic population of Mexico. The title is one of several ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In 1945, Pope Pius XII named Mary “Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas” and in 1946 “Patroness of the Americas.” Pope John XXIII invoked her as “Mother of the Americas” in 1961, referring to her as “Mother and teacher of the faith of all American populations.”