Thousands attended Easter Mass Sunday at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. 

"Almost every Easter Sunday, we come to pray and thank God for all the things he gives us, and be happy because he's resurrected and gone to heaven,” McAllen resident Christina Vasquez said.

Every pew was packed across the seven Easter Sunday masses the Basilica held, and several late comers were left standing.

Despite the rain Gabriela Alcaraz traveled from New Mexico to be one of the nearly 20,000 parishioners made their way to mass at the Basilica. 

“It could be a great storm on the way, but we were not going to miss this,” Alcaraz said. “I have heard great things about this Basilica, it's very famous."

Many people came to church to pray for loved ones. 

“I'm praying for my family, my sisters as well, and for everything to be good in this world would be nice,” Mission resident Bonnie White said.

Others prayed for those affected by last month’s heavy rain event that flooded hundreds of homes across the Rio Grande Valley.

“The people that need something, may God give it to them and with a little patience… everything gets solved,” Vasquez said.

Father Jorge Gomez, the rector at the Basilica, said now is also the time to pray for world peace.  

“But we cannot have peace in the world without having peace in ourselves,” Gomez said. “I invite the whole community to start by being beacons of home and light in the community, and be people of peace."

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