'Something is calling them'; Pilgrims flock to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe for annual celebration

Thousands of Catholic pilgrims flocked to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines over the weekend to commemorate a 16h-century miracle.

Many hoped to come away with one of their own. And some could attest to miracles performed.

The occasion was the annual celebration honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe, who appeared in a vision to St. Juan Diego, an Aztec convert to Christianity, in Mexico City in December 1531.

Masses were offered throughout the day on Sunday and were to continue into Monday, including a bilingual Mass Sunday with Cardinal Blase J. Cupich as celebrant.

Many of the pilgrims made the trek to Des Plaines by foot. They could be seen walking along Central Road, which was closed to vehicle traffic by the shrine Sunday.

The Very Rev. Esequiel Sanchez, rector of the shrine, said about 2,000 people were expected to walk to Des Plaines from Chicago for a 5 a.m. Mass Monday.

"Something is calling them, and they're coming," Sanchez said. "And so what we do is try to make it as comfortable and enjoyable an experience for them as we possibly can."

Among the volunteers welcoming them was 23-year-old Alondra Pacheco of Bolingbrook, whose family comes from Mexico.

"Everyone comes with a purpose," she said. "They're here because they have a message. Something to pray for," Pacheco said, "I was just praying for a better life."

It is especially important to Mexicans, she said. "A lot of people say, 'The Virgin Mary chose a Mexican,' she said."

Within the grounds Sunday, the chilly air was infused with the aroma of votive candles.

"Each candle represents an intention, what they are praying for," Sanchez said.

Chicago resident Daniel Patino said he has visited the shrine six straight years after pledging to make the pilgrimage by foot every year - he said he walked 17 miles in seven hours Sunday from Chicago's Belmont-Cragin neighborhood - when his daughter Daniela was suffering from a kidney ailment that put her on a path to dialysis.

Now Daniela is a healthy 19-year-old college student.

"To me it is a miracle," Patino said. "It went away. Every lab is clean."

Sanchez said accounts like that are common.

"This is not a rock concert. This is not the Academy Awards. This is people with deep faith looking for a place to exercise it," he said.

But Sanchez said, "I am also a devotee," pointing out that he was among 103 survivors of a 2018 crash of an Aeromexico plane during takeoff from an airport in Durango, Mexico, emerging alive but with a broken arm.

"The name of the airport, by the way, was Guadalupe Victoria (General Guadalupe Victoria International Airport)," he said.