The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the beating heart of Mexico.
One afternoon in May, I traveled with David and his parents to Mexico City’s Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe). When I travel, I enjoy visiting churches and have had the opportunity to visit many famous churches, including the Vatican and Notre Dame in Paris. On this day, though, I was struck by the fact that—unlike other churches that are also well-known tourist attractions—Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is first and foremost and very obviously a place of worship.
A fateful meeting
The Basilica is not your ordinary Roman Catholic church. Well, in a way it is:
- Mass is celebrated on the hour every day of the year
- You can get baptized, confirmed, and married
- You can go to confession
As the spiritual center of the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, though, it is so much more.
It is located in the area commonly accepted to be where the Virgin Mary (a.k.a. the Virgin of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe) appeared to an indigenous man, Juan Diego, in December 1531. Their encounters were foundational to the growth of Catholicism in Mexico.
When they met, the Virgin of Guadalupe asked Juan Diego to gather flowers from the mountaintop in his cloak (tilma) and show them to the bishop, as a sign to build a church at that location. When Juan Diego opened his tilma to show the bishop, the roses poured out revealing an image of the Virgin on the tilma. The bishop accepted the miracle and the building of the church began.
The original basilica still stands where it was built, with several other chapels, buildings, gardens, a large plaza, and the new basilica completing the complex. The new basilica, completed in 1976, houses Juan Diego’s tilma, with the image of the Virgin as clear as ever. The basilica is The National Shrine of Mexico and, with over 20 million visitors a year, is the most-visited religious site in the West.
It is also one of Catholicism’s most important pilgrimage sites.
The faithful
Stepping through one of the seven front doors of the basilica (which represent the seven gates of Heaven), we found ourselves in a circular sanctuary which allowed us to see the image of the Virgin hanging above the altar from anywhere we stood.
Mass was just starting, so we took 4 of the 10,000 seats available. The sanctuary wasn’t full, but there were plenty of faithful in attendance for a midweek, midday mass. While the main service was going on, we could see a baptism taking place in one of the 9 chapels on the upper floor and a steady stream of people heading to the lower level to view the tilma.
Then a few groups of pilgrims entered the sanctuary carrying large images of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I was humbled and inspired by their devotion that carried them so far from home. Pilgrims walking from all corners of Mexico (and beyond) to pay their respects and make their petitions to the Virgin. I later learned that pilgrims:
- Have been coming to the shrine almost continually since 1531
- Arrive all day, every day, with millions arriving on December 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Often crawl the last miles leading up to the basilica as a gesture of humility and sacrifice
Ready to go?
The campus and buildings are open daily. Allow several hours, especially if you want to attend mass. Be aware that it’s quite a climb up to the old basilica; drinks and snacks and benches are available along the way.
Our Lady of Guadalupe – official website (en español)
