Dia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe - Our Lady of Guadalupe Day

We were heading back to Mexico City from Puebla after traveling down the Pacific Coast and circling back through Oaxaca. It was morning and when we reached the mega highway returning to The City and there were already pilgrims on the roads. This was not a new sight for us and we weren’t surprised. Throughout our 2 week trip we had seen many people traveling by car, bike or truck all heading to celebrate the Dia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe at the Basilica in the world’s largest city.

Our Lady’s image is everywhere in Mexico and she would be difficult to miss on a trip to this special country. Now decreed as the Patron Saint of the Americas, Our Lady is seen not only in churches everywhere in Mexico, but on flags calendars, business cards T-shirt and the like. The image of the humble mestiza – Mexican woman - clothed in a green mantle has been both a religious and a national symbol for Mexico and has been used throughout Mexico’s turbulent history as an icon for love and sovereignty.

The clerics were indeed sceptical and asked Diego for a miraculous sign that this was indeed the Virgin. Diego was then instructed by the Lady to gather flowers from the hill and present them to the sceptics. Flowers rarely bloom in December but he found roses – Spanish roses at the top of the Hill. He cut them and placed them inside his tilma –an Aztec cloak-like coat.

When Diego appeared before the Bishop, the roses fell from inside his cloak and the image of our Lady of Guadalupe appeared inside the Tilma. The original tilma is now on under glass and display at the Basilica dedicated to the Virgin in Tepeyac. It is here that the millions of pilgrims come on December 12, to worship and honor their very special Saint.

The normally quite boring drive from Puebla to the City was colorful and exciting on this December 11^th. The Highway was partially closed to allow the pilgrims to walk, bicycle and at times crawl along the outer lanes towards the hill. Colorful trucks and decorated cars with families and friends were loaded to the brim. Many had huge pictures of Our Lady strapped to their back as they walked or peddled closer. Many were getting the image blessed for their tiny pueblo or church.

Banners bore the names of their towns and flowers decorated the vehicles. We even spotted a few garbage trucks, dumped and cleaned for the occasion, decorated and filled with pilgrims. Many were dressed in their native costume from the various towns and pueblos they called home. As we drove closer to the city, it became very exciting as more and more people joined the march as their tiny roads joined the highway. Now the pilgrims were 5 to ten across and the procession became a massive train of color and sound.

On December 12 we took the jam-packed subway and visited the Basilica. The current Church is not particularly impressive in terms of architecture; it is new and the design more modern than sacredly inspired. Bill and I entered and felt the atmosphere that day was neither religious nor spiritual. It felt more like going to a concert or a play with line-ups for the doors and onto the escalator. 

Systematically we plodded through the corridors to the escalators where we stepped aboard one of the three of flat moving sidewalks that quickly moved so that we may get a glimpse of Diego’s’ tilma framed and mounted some 20 feet above. It was less of a spiritual experience than expected. We unloaded from the sidewalk and I wondered “Was that it?”

Yet outside the Basilica and onto the massive plaza between the old and new churches, the experience did not disappoint. Dancers in native costume performed their practiced dances to crowds that appreciated their homage to the Lady. Various troops wearing elaborate feather decorations shelled ornaments or embroidered tunics, played danced and sang. Sometimes only one village performed. Other times a number of chants, songs or drums could be heard from various performers within the plaza. It was an amazing event with color, sounds, motion and pure joy and devotion.

There were no collection plates or propina (tip) jars. Each performing group were playing – no honoring – our Lady that day. They were there to thank the Virgin and were not playing for or to the throng of tourists and pack of television cameras. It was a celebration of Mexicans from throughout the country, celebrating their collective spirituality and sense of belonging in this universe. A most beautiful sight to behold.

(Editors note: We have traveled all 31 states in Mexico and have climbed every major pyramid and explored many sacred cenotes. We have visited every capital and have logged many of the highways going to and from Mexico’s colonial heart. We have written about and photographed Mexico for the last 20 years. Dia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is my most favorite day and I wish that the world could share the experience at the Basilica on the hill of Tepeyac)

Local celebrations of Our Lady Of Guadalupe are mostly religious in nature. The canon-like sounds of fireworks mark the 9 days leading up to December 12 and will end today. Mexicans go to church for mass and celebrate with family. In our Area, Sayulita has a special event tonight including parades and fireworks.

Click Here for more photographs of Our Lady's Day in Mexico City

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