Millions of Catholic Mexicans paid homage to the Virgin of Guadalupe across North America today to observe the day when, legend has it, Juan Diego opened his cloak and a bouquet of flowers transformed into the image of the Virgin Mary. The Our Lady of Guadalupe feast is now held every year on December 12. Take a look at the massive crowds marching on pilgrimage to the basilica where the icon is kept in Mexico City or dancers spinning through a church in Brownsville, Texas to celebrate the holiday.
Several groups of local dancers dressed in traditional clothing and most barefoot, take their turns as they enter the Virgin of Guadalupe church in Brownsville, Texas, to honor the Virgin of Guadalupe during a celebration of Virgin of Guadalupe’s feast day, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/The Brownsville Herald, Brad Doherty)
Local dancers dressed in traditional clothing take their turns dancing as they entered the Virgin of Guadalupe church in Brownsville, Texas, during a celebration of Virgin of Guadalupe’s feast day, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. (AP Photo/The Brownsville Herald, Brad Doherty)
Teresa Martinez arranges flowers in front of a tree stump believed to have the image of Virgin of Guadalupe as the roadside shrine is decorated on the Virgin of Guadalupe feast day, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, in Passaic, N.J. Catholic Mexicans living in New Jersey pay homage to the Virgin on Dec. 12, to observe what they believe was an apparition of the Virgin seen by Juan Diego, an indigenous man, on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico City on Dec. 12, 1531. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Maricela Cruz, left, holds her 18-month-old son, Henry Cruz, while visiting a shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe during the virgin’s feast day celebration at Our Lady of Fatima Church, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, in Passaic, N.J. Catholic Mexicans living in New Jersey pay homage to the Virgin on Dec. 12, to observe what they believe was an apparition of the Virgin seen by Juan Diego, an indigenous man, on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico City on Dec. 12, 1531. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Joseph Villanueva, 18-months, is dressed in Mexican indigenous clothing during a celebration of Virgin of Guadalupe’s feast day at Our Lady of Fatima Church, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, in Passaic, N.J. Catholic Mexicans living in New Jersey pay homage to the Virgin on Dec. 12, to observe what they believe was an apparition of the Virgin seen by Juan Diego, an indigenous man, on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico City on Dec. 12, 1531. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Worshipers pray at the Our Lady of Fatima Church in front of image of Virgin of Guadalupe during the virgin’s feast day, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, in Passaic, N.J. Catholic Mexicans living in New Jersey pay homage to the Virgin on Dec. 12, to observe what they believe was an apparition of the Virgin seen by Juan Diego, an indigenous man, on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico City on Dec. 12, 1531. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A procession featuring traditional Mexican heritage celebrates the end of a Mexico to New York relay race called Carrera Antorcha Guadalupana 2012, on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, in New York. The relay, which starts at Mexico’s Basilica of Guadalupe and ends with a mass at St.Patrick’s Cathedral, passes through every state where families of migrants reside and symbolizes “two nations and thousands of families divided by the border,” according to the event website. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Runners in a Mexico to New York relay race called Carrera Antorcha Guadalupana 2012, carry a Virgin Mary painting during a procession on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, in New York. The relay, which starts at Mexico’s Basilica of Guadalupe and ends with a mass at St.Patrick’s Cathedral, passes through every state where families of migrants reside and symbolizes “two nations and thousands of families divided by the border,” according to the event website. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
A procession featuring traditional Mexican heritage celebrates the end of a Mexico to New York relay race called Carrera Antorcha Guadalupana 2012, on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Runners in a Mexico to New York relay race called Carrera Antorcha Guadalupana 2012, carry a Virgin Mary painting in St.Patrick’s Cathedral after a procession on city streets, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, in New York. The relay, which starts at Mexico’s Basilica of Guadalupe and ends with a mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, passes through every state where families of migrants reside and symbolizes “two nations and thousands of families divided by the border,” according to the event website. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
A pilgrim sleeps next to framed image of the Virgin of Guadalupe outside the Basilica of Guadalupe, in Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec.12, 2012. Hundreds of thousands of faithful from all over the country converge on Mexico’s holy Roman Catholic site, many bringing with them images or statues of Mexico’s patron saint to be blessed, marking the Virgin’s Dec. 12 feast day. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
A pilgrim places a bouquet of artificial flowers on a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, positioned outside the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Hundreds of thousands of faithful from all over the country converge on Mexico’s holy Roman Catholic site, many bringing with them images or statues of Mexico’s patron saint to be blessed, marking the Virgin’s Dec. 12 feast day. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
A framed image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is propped against a pitched tent as pilgrims sleep on the plaza of the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Wednesday Dec. 12, 2012. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country converge on Mexico’s holy Roman Catholic site, many bringing with them images or statues of Mexico’s patron saint to be blessed, marking the Virgin’s Dec. 12 feast day. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
A child stands amid a mass of sleeping pilgrims next to images of the Virgin of Guadalupe on the plaza of the Basilica of Guadalupe, in Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country converge on Mexico’s holy Roman Catholic site, many bringing with them images or statues of Mexico’s patron saint to be blessed, marking the Virgin’s Dec. 12 feast day. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Pilgrims wait their turn to enter the Basilica of Guadalupe, in Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country converge on Mexico’s holy Roman Catholic site, many bringing with them images or statues of Mexico’s patron saint to be blessed, marking the Virgin’s Dec. 12 feast day. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
From left, Erica Villalba, 9, and Janelly Marquez, 11, take part in the annual Procession of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Durham, N.C. on Wednesday, December 12, 2012. The celebration marks the day the Virgin Mary, la Virgen de Guadalupe, appeared in 1531 to Juan Diego, an Aztec Indian, near Mexico City. (AP Photo/The Herald-Sun, Christine T. Nguyen)
