COX Newspapers Washington Bureau

Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2006 > December > 12 > Entry

Virgin of Guadalupe miracles

By Jeremy Schwartz | Tuesday, December 12, 2006, 02:40 PM

I was startled awake at 6 this morning and for a second I thought I had been somehow transported to Baghdad. What sounded like mortar rounds exploded with powerful booms from the church down the street. And then I remembered today is the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe and the artillery was in fact fireworks.

An estimated 6 million Mexicans are making the annual pilgrimage to the Basilica of Guadalupe in northern Mexico City to give thanks and commemorate the 475th anniversary of the Virgin’s appearance to Indian peasant Juan Diego. Some have walked for days from outlying villages to arrive in the city, while others finish the trek on their knees, crawling over asphalt and concrete to arrive at the Basilica.

The day’s first miracle occurred about noon, when a 28-year-old woman from Tlaxcala gave birth to a baby in the Basilica’s atrium. No word on the baby’s name, but I’m putting my money on, umm, Guadalupe.

Permalink | Comments (1) |

Comments

By Gabriel

December 13, 2006 8:10 AM | Link to this

Sounds like a great time to be in and experience the faith community in Mexico. If I may add a reminder to folks that ever since his canonization on the 31st of July 2002 at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico by Pope John Paul II, we now refer to Juan Diego as SAINT Juan Diego.