Catholic Nerd Pilgrimage: Shrine of Our Lady of Guadupe (three days late)

I’ve been trying to give priority to shrines when they’re an option, so for Our Lady of Guadalupe, I drove up to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe which claimed on its website that it would be holding a 7p Mass.

As near as I could discover on arrival, there was no Mass taking place, or at least nowhere that I could find it.

Not surprisingly, this was a heavily populated event with traffic into the shrine backed up for about half a mile in either direction. I’m guessing that parking is a major fund raiser for the shrine.

I followed the crowds and ended up in a line that led to a small artificial hill with a statue of Juan Diego encountering the Virgin of Guadalupe. Nearly everyone else had an offering (usually flowers) to be placed before the shrine which also included a reproduction of the cloak on which the miraculous image of the virgin appeared. Afterwards I found my way to the Marian shrine at which a prayer service was being held before an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.