Among the measures coordinated between the civil and ecclesiastical authorities were the required use of masks and that spending the night in the area surrounding the Marian shrine was prohibited.

The traditional "Mañanitas,” a well-known Mexican song to the Virgin of Guadalupe, was not performed in person with the faithful, but was pre-recorded and shown on social media.

For the celebration of the midnight Mass, the basilica encouraged the faithful to send photographs and candles to symbolize their presence in the church.

The Archdiocese of Mexico said that more than 1,400 photos and more than 1,400 candles were placed in the shrine.

The solemnity commemorates the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Juan Diego, an Aztec convert to Catholicism, in 1531.

Our Lady of Guadalupe made a request for a church to be built on the site where she appeared on Tepeyac, a hill northwest of what is now Mexico City.

As a sign for the bishop, she left an image of herself imprinted miraculously on his tilma, a poor quality cactus cloth. The tilma should have deteriorated within a few decades, yet it shows no sign of decay after over 490 years. To this day it defies all scientific explanations of its origin.

The apparition and its miraculous Marian image led to mass conversions of native American communities to Catholicism.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is the most visited Marian shrine in the world. The annual number of visitors to the basilica is second only to Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.--CNA