Sarah Goldsmith- Modern Pilgrimage (Student Choice)

In a class that discusses pilgrimage, I think it is fitting to discuss how COVID is impacting modern pilgrimage. This past Saturday was the Feast Day of our Lady of Guadalupe. Traditionally many pilgrims travel to and from Guadalupe to celebrate mass at the site where the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, an Aztec. The bishop wanted proof that Mary was appearing to Juan Diego, so the next time Mary appeared to him, she told him to collect some roses. When presented to the bishop, he recognized the roses as roses from Spain and on Juan Diego's tilma was an image of Mary imprinted on the cloth.

Many pilgrims travel to see the tilma with the image of Our lady of Guadalupe on it, however, this year it was not safe for such a mass pilgrimage. This pilgrimage, along with others results in a plenary indulgence, the removal of a punishment due to sin. This year Pope Francis granted such an Indulgence to anyone who built a shrine to our lady, streamed mass from the Basilica of Our lady of Guadalupe, received communion and went to confession (when safe to do so), and prayed for the pope's intentions on Saturday, 12th of December. 

While this is not a traditional pilgrimage in the slightest, many of the catholic faithful take this feast day very seriously. Especially in the Americas, as Our lady of Guadalupe in the patroness of the Americas. it is interesting, how all of the components of what occurs as a part of a traditional catholic pilgrimage can be performed elsewhere, but the true reason for all of these actions are due to the story of the location.

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