Pilgrims flock to honor the 'mother of Mexico'

Edivaldo Hernández Villar crawled on his knees toward the Basilica of Guadalupe, wincing and whispering prayers.

- KATE LINTHICUM

PEOPLE sing in front of an altar to the Virgin of Guadalupe at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City on Wednesday as pilgrims seek her help.

It was the final stretch of a punishing four-day pilgrimage to Mexico's most venerated shrine, where Catholics believe the Virgin Mary miraculously appeared nearly 500 years ago.

Hernández, his wife and their teen son had trekked 100 miles from their rural village to the nation’s capital, walking with heavy backpacks all day and sleeping under the stars at night. As with an estimated 10 million other Mexicans who will make their way to the basilica this month, their journey had been an act of faith, of penitence, and of thanks.

"You endure cold, you endure hunger, you cross mountains," said Hernández, a 34-year-old farmer. "All for her."

GUADALUPE Ascencion of Huamantla, Mexico, crawls up Tepeyac Hill to thank the Virgin for favors he asks.

There is no figure more central to Mexican religious, cultural and national identity than the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Her serene gaze is ubiquitous, adorning T-shirts, trucks and the walls of most homes. People name their children after her and tattoo their skin with her likeness: a queenly woman surrounded by sunbeams, her head bowed in prayer.

Ada Carrillo, one of the devout who crowded the basilica this week, said she unites all of Mexico, transcending political, geographic and class divides.

Even President Claudia Sheinbaum, who is Jewish, has worn clothes emblazoned with the image of Guadalupe.