Millions of pilgrims at Our woman of Guadalupe. It's a attendance record

The capital of Mexico established a fresh pilgrimage evidence during the celebration of Our woman of Guadalupe, which ended on Sunday 15 December. According to a study published present by the city authorities on safety operations "Operativo Basilica 2024", around 13 million people arrived in the Basilica in the City of Mexico on 6-15 December.

The portal "cronica.com.mx" pointed out that despite immense crowds, there were no major incidents. Over the last decade, the influx of pilgrims has steadily increased, with the exception of the interruption due to exacerbations during the "Coronavirus pandemic".

A full of 18,000 public safety officers and 4101 waste disposal workers were deployed around the sanctuary in the capital, which collected a full of about 500 tons of garbage.

But the feast of Mary from Guadalupe is celebrated not only in the capital: pilgrimages, processions and peculiar services around the anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin, which in the form of a methian female appeared to Juan Diego from 9 to 12 December 1531, are held throughout the country. In almost all cities and larger towns there are parish churches at the call of Our woman Queen of Mexico. The most celebrated include Guadalupian sanctuaries in Guadalajara, Monterrey, Zacatecas, Morelia, Patzcuaro, Tlaltenango and Tijuana.

Outside Mexico, the "dark-skinned virgin" ("Morenita") is worshiped besides in another Latin American countries and the Philippines, whose patronship is Our woman of Guadalupe, and in addition, wherever there are crucial Mexican communities on emigration, specified as Los Angeles, Chicago, fresh York and Miami, USA, Toronto, Canada, Spain, and the Latin American communities in Austria and Germany.

The Mexican vacation and the place of pilgrimage come from the apparitions of the Virgin Mary. As the message says, to the shepherd Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548), who had previously switched to Christianity, for 4 days the parent of God appeared as a pregnant Metyska speaking in his native language nahuatl and left roses from which on a tilm, Juan Diego's extended shepherd coat, woven from thick and rough agave fibers, formed her image. At the request of Our Lady, at the place of her apparitions at the ft of Tepeyac Hill, a large church was built, in which the wonderful image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe is worshipped. At the place of the apparitions, the chapel was originally erected, then the church, and later – in 1974-76, the basilica was built according to the plan of the well-known Mexican architect Pedro Ramirez Vasquez, who is present the largest church in the planet – has 22,000 seats.

In 1895, Leon XIII proclaimed the parent of God of Guadalupe patron saint of Latin America, and in 1945 Pius XII established her Patroness of all America. John Paul II, on his journey to Mexico on July 31, 2002, was canonized by Juan Diego, the first Saint Indian in the past of the Church. Our woman of Guadalupe is now the patron saint of Mexico, the full American continent, the Philippines, and the unborn life.

The celebrations of Our woman of Guadapupe celebrated on 12 December attract millions of faithful to her sanctuary in Mexico City each year.

In 2031 the 500th anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions in Guadalupe will be celebrated. Therefore, the Catholic Church in Mexico began in 2022 a nine-year-old novena preparing for this large Jubilee. It aims at deepening the knowing of the “Gadalupe Events” (Acontecimiento Guadalupano).

KAI/work. FA