holy trip: The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City, Mexico

This is another of my favourite sites. One needs to only read up on the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to understand how Mexico converted despite the many failures of the Spanish conquistadors, and how not only is the image completely miraculous (it survived a direct bomb hit, the cactus fibre should have disintegrated hundreds of years ago yet remains intact, the actual image hovers above the fibre, etc etc), but it is also a beautiful image that adds to the many unique and colourful folkloric art that Mexico rightly boasts. My grandma used to have this image framed, and while growing up in California it was a familiar sight, but on coming to Mexico for the first time in the early 2000s, I fell in love and added myself to the many Guadalupeña devotees out there.

The Basilica can be reached by Mexico City’s very user friendly, cheap and clean Metro, it seriously puts several European underground systems to shame. On exiting at La Basilica, you enter a myriad of market stalls, selling lush food, clothing, and then the closer you get to the Basilica, the more you see religious art, rosaries, trinkets, cool mesh bags, and mostly images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, aka La Virgen, or Lupita.

The actual Basilica is a new, circular one, which was built to represent the Virgin, with a crown at the top, a flowing mantle of a roof, and interior lights that represent the roses. As one enters, the focal points are the cross at the altar and the image of Lupita hanging above it. Behind the altar is a set of televators that people move across in zigzags to view the image and pray and cry. There are several daily masses and confession seems to be constant, people are in there for an hour at a time. I was blessed enough to witness a wedding in Nahuatl, the ancient Aztec language, the bride and groom and celebrants were wearing feather headdresses, it was splendid.

I was also granted the special privilege of an interior tour, I entered the Sacristy where former Pope John Paul II prepared for Mass, and even got to go right behind the actual image, which is kept under a strong safe. Outside the Basilica is a square where dances are performed during festivals, and from where one can walk to the original Basilica which is now slightly sinking, and to the other sites where Saint Juan Diego met the Virgin. There are also beautiful park areas and fountains and everything is very well kept, it is an oasis in the middle of the chaos of Mexico City.