Guadalupe pilgrimage brings Mary with a living flame from Mexico to New York

(OSV News) -- An image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is making its way from Mexico City to New York, accompanied by a living flame and bringing Mary to Mexican communities throughout the U.S.

"A little piece of home comes, and they can visit the image, say prayers and (bring) their intentions to God," Luis Garcia, one of the pilgrimage's local organizers in San Antonio, told OSV News.

Since 2002, the annual Carrera Antorcha Guadalupana pilgrimage has sought to unite families and communities across the U.S.-Mexico border under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the title of a 16th-century Marian apparition to St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in what is now Mexico City.

Appearing as a mestiza, a woman with Indigenous and European heritage, Mary spoke in Nahuatl, the region's native language, calling herself "the one who crushes the serpent." Missionary friars rendered the Nahuatl description into Spanish as "Guadalupe." An image of Mary, imprinted on St. Juan Diego's tilma (or cloak) as proof of the apparition, is now housed at the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe in Mexico City, with scientists still unclear as to the image's origin and lack of degradation after almost 500 years.

The Guadalupe apparition was approved by the Catholic Church in 1555. Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared the patroness of Mexico by Pope Benedict XIV. Pope St. John Paul II, who canonized St. Juan Diego in 2002, also formally named Our Lady of Guadalupe patroness of the Americas and of the New Evangelization, establishing her feast day as Dec. 12.

Because she appeared to St. Juan Diego as a pregnant woman, Our Lady of Guadalupe is also regarded as a patroness of the unborn.

The Carrera Antorcha Guadalupana pilgrimage's 3,000-mile route spans nine Mexican states and 14 U.S. states, with stops at parishes in numerous cities and towns, featuring liturgies, processions, blessings and traditional Mexican dances.

Local groups assist in coordinating the pilgrimage, including the Antorcha Guadalupana San Antonio, of which Garcia is coordinator, and the Asociación Tepeyac de New York, a nonprofit based in New York City which has assisted immigrants since 1997.

As the Guadalupana's image is transported in a specialized trailer -- whose windows allow it to be viewed while it is in transit -- runners carry the torch, which "represents the light of faith and the spirit of resilience among immigrants," local pilgrimage organizers in Texas said in an October press release issued by Antorcha Guadalupana San Antonio.

Garcia told OSV News that the flame is lit and blessed at the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe in Mexico City. During portions of the pilgrimage where safety concerns preclude runners carrying the torch, the flame is transferred to a candle inside the transport vehicle.

He estimated that so far "over 8,000 people have carried" the torch.

"You sense ... belonging and connection" as a result, said Garcia, who began participating in the pilgrimage 16 years ago as a runner.

Organizers work closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to coordinate the pilgrimage's entrance into the U.S., with the Mexican pilgrims transferring the image and torch to a waiting U.S. team, explained Garcia.

During its Oct. 21 stop in San Antonio, San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller celebrated Mass at St. Margaret Mary Parish, whose pastor, Father Jimmy Drennan, said the pilgrimage evoked Mary's model of missionary discipleship.

"We bring the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe for those who cannot visit the image in Mexico," he said in the Antorcha Guadalupana San Antonio press release. "The torch, with its flame, illuminates the hearts of all who are called by Our Lady into the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ."

The pilgrimage eventually reached the state of Delaware by Nov. 28, according to a Facebook post that day by the Asociación Tepeyac.

In New York, the pilgrimage will fold into the Archdiocese of New York's celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec. 12. The 10 a.m. Mass that day will be celebrated at St. Patrick's Cathedral by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, with Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Figueroa Cervantes of the Diocese of Zamora, Mexico, as the homilist.

Antorcha Guadalupana San Antonio noted in its press release that, along with fostering devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the pilgrimage "brings awareness for safety and social justice throughout communities."

Anthropologist Alyshia Gálvez, writing in her 2009 book, "Guadalupe in New York," noted that the Carrera Antorcha Guadalupana pilgrimage and the organizations that sustain it work to strengthen ties within Mexican communities, while enhancing their understanding of their rights as immigrants in the U.S.

Garcia echoed that perspective, telling OSV News that the pilgrimage is focused on both religious devotion as well as social justice.

"It started off as (raising) awareness among people that we're a nation of immigrants, that we need to take care of each other and fight for social justice and having equal rights," he said. "At the same time, for the immigrants that are working or that are afraid to travel, the Virgen de Guadalupe comes and visits her children ... us, the people."