Walking with the Pilgrims

Today is the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico.  It honors the supposed apparition of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego, a poor indigenous peasant, in 1531 at the hill of Tepeyac on the north side of Mexico City.  The Basilica of Guadalupe, which stands next to the hill, is the second most visited pilgrimage site of the Catholic Church, second only to the Vatican.  In the days leading up to the feast day millions of pilgrims journey to the basilica from all over Mexico and beyond.  (It should be noted that for some residents of Mexico City the December influx of pilgrims is viewed as an annoyance with snarled traffic, closed roads, changes in public transportation routes, trash left along the streets, and nights of fireworks being set off.)

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to observe the pilgrims on their way to the Basilica.  I took the Metrobus that travels along the Paseo de la Reforma and got off where the boulevard runs into the Calzada de Guadalupe, an avenue which runs over two miles directly to the church.  In the center of the "Calzada" is a tree-lined pedestrian strip which is one of the major routes used by pilgrims.  As I walked along with the avenue with the pilgrims, I didn't know if taking photographs would be appropriate.  I surreptitiously took pictures, snapping photos without appearing to be focusing on anything in particular, and using the zoom lens to capture images of the people in front of me.

At first there were not that many people walking along the "Calzada".  I figured that the crowd would increase as evening approached.  Many pilgrims want to be at the Basilica's atrium at midnight.

Many of the pilgrims carried images of the Virgin on their backs.

There were a couple of people who were making the journey on their knees.

All along the route there were people distributing bottles of water to the pilgrims.

There were also people who had set up make-shift kitchens on the sidewalk.  They were serving food to the pilgrims free of charge.  There was a strong police presence, and there were groups of paramedics.  I saw them treating the blistered feet of a couple of the pilgrims.

This group of pilgrims on bicycle had traveled one hundred miles from the state of Morelos.

As I continued toward the Basilica the crowd became thicker.

I was only half-way to the church, and I decided to part ways with the procession of worshippers before the crowd became even more intense.  I walked a couple blocks to the parallel Calzada de los Misterios, and was surprised to find that the Metrobus was running.  I got on and returned to the center of the city.