Mariachis and Free Breakfast in the Presence of a Lady

Now grant you, showing up at church at 4:45 a.m. on Monday is likely to sound like a horrendous idea to nearly anyone is their right mind, but if you have that unnatural quality known as being a “morning person” or you can muster the strength to wrest yourself from bed and walk into the ice bath that is San Francisco as of late than you will be rewarded with one of those opportunities that a lot of city dwellers won’t get to see- the 480th Anniversary of the Appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Every year us frijoleros honour the lady who decided to make herself known all those many mornings ago ferried by a cherubim carrying her on the moon and leaving a parade float’s worth of Damask roses fluttering in the chilly Tepayac wind. So when most of us will still be hours before hitting the snooze alarm, they’ll be having a procession, mass, mariachis and lots of rose petals all over the place down at Mission Dolores. Even if you aren’t on the God squad, the ceremony is very pretty and you’ll get to be part of legitimate Mission tradition beyond the super quesadilla suiza you in inhaled at El Farolito only a few hours before.

AND, just for being good little church mice, you’ll get a pretty tasty spread of tamales, pan mexicano, and probably as many gallons of chocolate, champurrado, or ponche that you can drink.

Las Mañanitas de la Nuestra Señora la Virgen de Guadalupe

La Misíon Basílica de San Francisco de Asîs (Mission Dolores)

3321 16th Street (@ Dolores)

[Inner Mission]

SF