‘It Brings Me Joy’: Hundreds Gather on Horseback to Honor the Virgin of Guadalupe

Wrapped in layers of puffy winter coats and adorned ponchos, over 900 Catholics converged on a frigid Saturday to honor the Virgin of Guadalupe. The crowd, which included people from across the country, made their way on horseback through the Forest Preserves of Cook County to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, Illinois.

Many carried Mexican flags and wore images of the Virgin Mary on garments and banners. Some held on to tamales and hot chocolate that supporters gave away to the crowd as participants prepared for their journey. 

Cristina Godinez, 19, who participated for the third time, said the event is a peaceful way to worship the Virgin of Guadalupe. “It’s like therapy,” she said.

For many Catholics, the procession has become a symbol of faith, particularly among the Latino community. The more than six-mile walk honors the patroness of the Americas, who appeared to Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac in 1531. Across the U.S. and Mexico, special Masses, processions, and other events are held each year leading up to her Dec. 12 feast day. 

Jesus Gonzalez, 61, led the pilgrimage, riding his horse, Catrin. Since he immigrated to the U.S. when he was 14, he’s kept his passion alive, starting a club of horseback riders in Illinois and cofounding one of the world’s largest pilgrimages dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Catholics from Mexico worship the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which can be seen on everything from children’s backpacks to restaurants and, of course, local churches. It is the image many participants wore during their pilgrimage to her shrine — the image they bowed before at the end of their journey. 

Many of the participants are immigrants or first-generation Americans who learned to ride horses in their native Mexico and grew up with a devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe and see the event as an opportunity to keep the tradition alive.

“It is important not to lose our traditions as Mexicans,” said Alejandrina Gandara, a Mexican native who dropped off her husband and two daughters at the forest preserve for the fourth year in a row. 

Her daughter, Eva Muñoz, 12, started learning how to ride a horse from her father when she was four years old. “It brings me joy to see all the horses and to have that tradition,” said Muñoz.

Gandara has noticed more women and children participating in the pilgrimage each year. 

Eleven years ago, organizers Gonzalez and his wife, Maria Anguiano, helped start a pilgrimage on horseback with about 80 participants. Gonzalez and Anguiano live on a ranch in Wadsworth, a town in Northeastern Illinois. At their home, they taught their four children, ages 14 to 28, to ride horses — a tradition they work to keep alive, along with their faith and commemorating the Virgin of Guadalupe. 

“Teaching my kids our traditions is very important to me so that they learn their origins, value them and feel proud of them,” said Anguiano, a Mexico native who grew up in Chicago’s Southwest Side. 

Gonzalez said the family coordinates and participates in the pilgrimage each year. They’ve seen the procession grow significantly since its founding, with about 100 new participants coming each year. People drove from across Illinois and the Midwest. A group drove with their horses from New York to participate in the event.

Gonzalez’s horseback riding club has held other horseback riding events in Illinois, but “this is beyond a social event,” said Anguiano. 

The event they cofounded is now one of the largest of its kind outside of where it originated in Mexico City. Gonzalez said it is particularly special because of how close participants get to the image of the Virgin, something unattainable in Mexico’s City pilgrimage that draws in millions of people. 

“It is kind of unique, something marvelous that you can step up to on horseback and see the Virgin, offer her a rose, cross yourself,” said Gonzalez. “It is something very special that I want to continue doing.”