Thousands of parishioners gathered from the early hours of the morning on Dec. 14 at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington to participate in the Walk with Mary 2024 pilgrimage, which concluded with a special Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wilton Gregory at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
“Even with all the uncertainty, anxiety and fear we experience as immigrant people, and despite our pain over the suffering of innocent victims of senseless war and violence, as people of faith, we can proclaim to the world that Christ is our hope. And our hope does not disappoint,” Washington Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar said from the steps of the Shrine of the Sacred Heart before starting the procession.
Sponsored by the Office of Cultural Diversity and Outreach of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, Walk with Mary is held to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and honors her as the patroness of the Americas.
“This year, our pilgrimage holds great significance, because it takes place as we stand on the threshold of the Holy Jubilee Year 2025, which has the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope,’ a theme chosen by the Holy Father, who invites us to walk together in love as a Church toward Christ,” Bishop Menjivar said.
Bishop Menjivar recalled that it was the late Bishop Mario Dorsonville who defined this procession as “an expression of solidarity with immigrants” and an “opportunity to evangelize.” Bishop Dorsonville, who died in January 2024 while serving as the bishop of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, had earlier served as an auxiliary bishop and priest in Washington, and he often echoed Pope Francis’s call to encounter and accompany people in need, including the poor and immigrants.
In his welcoming remarks, Bishop Menjivar also remembered another auxiliary bishop of Washington, Bishop Francisco González, who served for many years in the archdiocese and died in March 2024 in his native Spain. “I earnestly ask you to pray for the eternal rest of these two good shepherds,” Bishop Menjivar asked the parishioners.
The faithful were accompanied on the journey to the National Shrine by priests, deacons, seminarians, nuns and monks, and parish priests from different churches of the archdiocese, including Capuchin Franciscan Father Emilio Biosca Agüero, pastor of the Sacred Heart, who thanked Bishop Menjívar, the religious communities, and the participants “for joining us on this very special day.”
After the priests welcomed the pilgrims, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, placed on the platform donated by the Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles, set out toward the basilica through the streets of Washington. Along the way, the procession made five stops to represent the apparitions of the Virgin and to hear the reflections of the priests and special guests who participated in the celebration.
“Mary, mother of the Church, mother of all peoples, you cover with your mantle all who seek refuge in you. Help us see in every person of every race, nation, and tongue a brother and a sister. Mary, the Immaculate Conception, help us to see, defend and respect the innate dignity of every human being, from conception to natural death, and everywhere in between, in all circumstances of life,” said Mar Muñoz-Visoso, the executive director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, during her reflection on the first apparition.
The apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego in 1531 impacted the history of the Americas in significant ways. For centuries, the miraculous image of Our Lady and her story has inspired Catholics to come back to the faith and moved others to embrace the faith.
Dressed in traditional outfits, waving flags of their countries of origin, and carrying banners of their respective parishes, the faithful participating in the Walk with Mary procession braved the intense cold that morning to renew their faith and seek Our Lady’s intercession.
“I am very motivated by this pilgrimage because ‘La Morenita’ has done many things in our lives and as a good Mexican, I am ‘guadalupana,’ and these celebrations allow us to continue evangelizing,” said Alfonsina Díaz from Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, who has been participating in the Walk with Mary for 10 years.
Diaz, a member of St. Mary’s Parish in Landover Hills, added, “There’s no need to be afraid. If we are with our Lord Jesus Christ and His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, nothing can happen to us. If our faith is firmly rooted in our soul and heart, we have no reason to be afraid.”
Oscar Rendón from Puebla, Mexico, the husband of Alfonsina Díaz who is also a member of St. Mary’s Parish, said that faith “keeps us united.” He noted that humans sometimes feel discouraged, but “if we remain steadfast in our faith and pass it on to our children,” so they can continue these Catholic traditions through the years, “it is the best inheritance we can leave them.”
Many of the archdiocese’s parishes were represented at this year’s Walk with Mary, and long-time local ministry workers also made the pilgrimage.
“This pilgrimage is very important because the Virgin is the role model, she and her family were the first immigrants. We must have faith in the Virgin Mary and in Jesus Christ who tell us not to be afraid, because they are here with us,” said Fatima Aybar, the coordinator of Spanish faith formation at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington.
Years earlier, Aybar became ill with lupus and asked God to heal her through the then-beatified Pope John Paul II. Faithful to her Catholic beliefs, Aybar prepared a prayer that she prayed for nine days to ask God and John Paul II for a miracle, and four years later she was diagnosed free of lupus.
"It helped me grow in my faith, to believe in the intercession of the saints, as well as the goodness of the Virgin Mary, who has sheltered me with her mantle since my mother passed away when I was 10 years old," Aybar noted.
Another parish with a significant representation in the Walk with Mary was Our Lady Queen of the Americas Parish in Washington, and Reina Baires, a Salvadoran pilgrim from that parish, said, “We are honoring our Mother who is in heaven, who intercedes for us, for the life of our people, for our communities that bring hope to this country that welcomes us, and showing our gratitude for the opportunities and blessings we have received.”
She added that “we cannot achieve anything on our own,” and that the intercession of the Blessed Virgin is necessary, which is why “we feel very happy celebrating this great spiritual feast.”
“We want to tell our brothers and sisters that Christ lives and that He came to this world thanks to our Mother Mary, that is the faith of our Church that we are proud to profess. It is a very beautiful moment in which all the parishes unite, and we can pass this message on to all the people who want to join this procession and our Church,” Baires said.
Lisbeth Choj, a Guatemalan from Jalapa who has been in the United States for 20 years, said: “That’s culture, it’s a celebration that is held with family, the ‘Morenita’ has been part of our tradition, and walking with her here makes us feel protected wherever we go.”
Choj emphasized that in “this Holy Jubilee year, the procession carries even more meaning because the pope invites us to walk together in love as a Church toward Christ, to live and work as a family, and each call is something important to prepare our hearts, especially in this season when Christmas is coming.”
Oscar Lazo from San Miguel, El Salvador who is now a parishioner of St. Mark the Evangelist in Hyattsville, Maryland, said the procession “is something very spiritual” and that it is very beautiful to see “how Catholicism has been growing among Hispanics in Washington.”
On the steps of the basilica, Hermelinda López from Guatemala proudly acknowledged that her country is among the most Catholic nations in the world, “because we have a great devotion to the Lord of Esquipulas, the Virgin of Candelaria, and the Virgin of Guadalupe.”
López emphasized that “because of all the faith, emotion and love” they feel when walking with Mary, they participate with “much love supporting all immigrants, all Catholics, because with the people from all the represented countries, we walk together for love of the Virgin and of God. This walk is to show that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Pablo Merino, from Guerrero, Mexico, said, “Walking with the Virgin is the most beautiful thing there is, and we invite everyone to come closer to the Church, we are waiting for you with much love, just as they did for me once.”
The flags of the Vatican and 42 countries represented in the archdiocese accompanied the pilgrims' journey were carried in a procession to the altar of the basilica where Cardinal Gregory was the main celebrant of the Mass.
The concelebrants at the Mass included Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States; and Washington Auxiliary Bishops Roy Campbell Jr., Juan Esposito and Evelio Menjivar; along with dozens of priests.
After words of welcome from Msgr. Walter Rossi, the rector of the basilica, artists from the folkloric group De Colores danced in tribute to the Virgin before introducing the young man who portrayed St. Juan Diego. Holding a tilma with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, he represented the Miracle of the Roses at the altar. The tilma was hand-embroidered by the nuns of the convent of the Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.
The Mass was celebrated in English and Spanish, and the petitions were read in several of the 23 languages spoken in missions, parishes, and other communities within the archdiocese’s territory.
Bishop Menjivar began his homily with the words believed to have been spoken by Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego, “Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow? Am I not your health? Are you not in my womb? What more do you need? Do not be troubled or worried about anything, my son.”
These words “continue to resonate in our hearts after almost 500 years since they were spoken, because they are the words and the attitude of the brave woman and mother who goes out to meet and defend her children,” Bishop Menjivar said.
In 1531, the Virgin appeared and left her image imprinted on the tilma of the indigenous Juan Diego.
Just as Mary did when she walked to the house of Elizabeth and Zechariah through the mountains of Judea, “We too have made our pilgrimage of hope,” said the bishop, highlighting that this place was only a stop because “we will continue walking as ‘pilgrims of hope’ during the Jubilee Year 2025,” as requested by Pope Francis.
“As I indicated at the beginning of the procession, with the proclamation of the Jubilee Year, the Holy Father invites us to embrace our identity as pilgrims of hope in the world,” Bishop Menjivar said.
“If we raise our eyes toward the main dome of the basilica, we see another pilgrimage of hope, that of the saints,” the bishop said. He added, “In that mosaic, there are 14 million pieces of glass of more than 1,000 different colors, but from down here, the mosaic looks like a single image. Mary, with her arms outstretched as if embracing humanity, leads the procession of men and women of all times, races and walks of life who make their way to the bosom of the Most Holy Trinity.”
Bishop Menjivar emphasized that, “Today more than ever, the Church, which is also a mother, must promote the culture of encounter and accompaniment. We must show ourselves especially close to those who are marginalized and discarded by our society, knowing that ‘Christ himself showed that God is closeness, compassion and tenderness,’ as Pope Francis said.”
The bishop, who is an immigrant from El Salvador, said, “We must all take our pulse, place our hand on our chest, and ask ourselves, in the face of the suffering, fear, and anxiety experienced by our immigrant brothers and sisters, as well as the victims of wars and violence: ‘Do I still have a pulse? Do I have a heart?’” He added, “The good news is that Jesus and Mary have come to meet us, overcoming all distances and barriers. The Virgin of Guadalupe became so close to us that she took our skin color, the features of our faces, and spoke the language of our ancestors to show us that God is Emmanuel, God with us.”
In his homily, Bishop Menjivar also stressed that, “We are no longer strangers or distant, but rather we are companions on the journey and brothers because we are children of the same God and children of the same Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
Minerva Jiménez, who is originally from Mexico, has contributed to the archdiocese by preparing floral arrangements to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe since 1988.
“We represent the parish of Our Lady Queen of the Americas, and together with my husband, children, and now grandchildren, we continue this tradition,” said Jiménez at the foot of the altar of the basilica, which was beautifully adorned with her flowers.
"I offer the arrangements to the Virgin with all my affection and love, regardless of how much the flowers cost or the work they may require,” Jiménez said after the Mass.
She highlighted that the flowers have a dual purpose because they are used at the Mass and then donated to the Oblate sisters, “who also use them in a celebration at their church in their convent.".
The flowers for the Walk with Mary pilgrimage were donated by Ana and Santos Ceron, while Sonia Aquino made the arrangement of flowers on the platform bearing the statue of Our Lady.
“People are dedicated, have affection, devotion and ample motivation to walk with the Virgin in procession,” Jiménez said.
