"La Tilma Guadalupana" is Mexico's "Shroud of Turin" in that the image of La Virgen was mysteriously imprinted on Juan Diego's indigenous mantle that he was wearing on December 12, 1531. As in the "Shroud of Turin", the best scientific minds have been analysing the mantle for decades but have been unable to explain the miracle. The lighting of the "torch" was done during a mass officiated by the Cardinal of Mexico City Norberto Rivera and by Bishop Josu Iriordo of the Archdioceses of New York.
The first runner to carry the torch was Ana Gabriela Guevara, Mexico's Olympic Gold Medalist in the 400 meters and who, this year, almost broke the world record by clocking at 49.16, a mere 1.56 second off the world record set by Marita Koch of East Germany in 1985.
The relay and pilgrimage has already transgressed 9 Mexican cities and will continue another 3,300 miles to Saint Patrick’s
The first runner to carry the torch was Ana Gabriela Guevara, Mexico's Olympic Gold Medalist in the 400 meters and who, this year, almost broke the world record by clocking at 49.16, a mere 1.56 second off the world record set by Marita Koch of East Germany in 1985.
The relay and pilgrimage has already transgressed 9 Mexican cities and will continue another 3,300 miles to Saint Patrick’s
Cathedral in New York City to arrive on December 12, the day that marks the anniversary of the apparition of La Virgen de Guadalupe . Immediately after crossing the border, the runners will proceed to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in downtown Brownsville. Here they will be received by Texans conducting a candlelight vigil in honor of the thousands of undocumented workers who have died attempting to cross into United States.
The relay and pilgrimage originates from the ancestral Mexican religious tradition of bringing a torch from Tepeyac ( The Sanctuary of Mother Tonatzin), to the places where her daughters and sons live.
The relay and pilgrimage originates from the ancestral Mexican religious tradition of bringing a torch from Tepeyac ( The Sanctuary of Mother Tonatzin), to the places where her daughters and sons live.