MEXICO CITY (AP) — Images of the Virgin of Guadalupe on their backs, devotees of Mexico’s patron saint flooded streets on the north side of the capital overnight, converging with music, bottle rockets, candles and prayers on the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Some say that every Dec. 12, all roads in Mexico lead to the enormous circular Roman Catholic house of worship where the faithful come to show their devotion on the anniversary of this apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1531, one of the largest Catholic pilgrimages in Latin America.

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said she had spoken with Pope Leo XIV Friday to invite him to visit the country. She wrote on the social platform X that the pontiff had “sent blessings and greetings to all.”

“We agree that beyond the religion that each person professes and the laity of the state, the Virgin of Guadalupe is a symbol of identity and peace for Mexicans,” she wrote.

Leo celebrated a Mass Friday at the Vatican in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The previous night, even before the masses began to sing the traditional Mexican birthday song “Las mañanitas,” thousands of people already covered the expansive esplanade outside the basilica even as streams of people continued pouring in.

Images of the Guadalupana, as she is popularly known, were everywhere, including the taco stands where pilgrims stopped to regain their strength.

“We came to ask for health,” said Gladys López, who walked with her teen daughter from San Felipe Teotlalcingo, some 62 miles (100 kilometers) east of the capital in Puebla state. “We wanted the girl to see her and we all came from our town,” she said.

The exhaustion, sleeping on the ground and the effort were worth it, López said, as she prepared to cover the last few yards of their journey.

Some waited for a priest to come out and bless their Virgin figurines. Some tearfully lit candles, overcome with emotion.

José Luis González Paredes, 82, carried an image of the Virgin adorned with flowers. He has been making the pilgrimage for more than three decades to receive the blessing.

“I am only going to ask for next year, that I’m allowed to bring her and have the health to be able to endure the journey,” he said.

According to church tradition, in 1531, the dark-skinned Virgin appeared to the Indigenous peasant Juan Diego and her image was imprinted on his cloak, which is on display inside the church. Juan Diego was made a saint in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.

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