On Sept. 20, more than 1,800 people of faith will gather in prayer to celebrate their Catholic faith from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Downtown L.A. Despite the early hour, the attendance numbers for the annual Los Angeles Catholic Prayer Breakfast (LACPB) have continued to increase from year to year.

Now in its 12th year, the gathering initially began with 800 members after Tom Romano, the co-chair of LACPB, was inspired to start the event after attending the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. With the support of his wife Margie, Allen and Kathie Lund, and more than 50 generous donors, the L.A. prayer breakfast has become an annual tradition.

Participants will gather at the cathedral to pray the rosary and celebrate Mass. Afterward, they will proceed to the cathedral plaza to enjoy breakfast while listening to the guest speaker.

This year’s speaker will Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, who will speak about the challenges facing Christian families in the modern world.

Romano said he hopes the cardinal’s message will resonate in a special way with high school students. Each year, many high schools participate in the breakfast gathering, and this year students representing 27 high schools will be in attendance.

“We let the speakers know that there is a multitude of high schools attending,” Romano said. “And so every speaker has taken that into account and directed part of their talk to the high school students.”

The students are also involved in reading the prayer intentions and the offering of the gifts during Mass, and about 12 students from Sacred Heart Academy in La Cañada Flintridge will volunteer as ushers.

The overall purpose of the breakfast is to bring together Catholics from across the archdiocese to pray and celebrate our Catholic faith, he said.

Archbishop José H. Gomez describes the breakfast as a blessing to the city of Los Angeles. In a press release, the archbishop said to Los Angeles Catholics, “I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, joining your fellow Catholics in a morning of prayer and community.”