Maricela Torres laid a bouquet of flowers before a life-size sculpture of the Virgin Mary and knelt to the ground at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines.

“I pray to her almost every night,” she said.

The 4-foot-8 statue, known as the Pilgrim Mother, arrived Wednesday from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City. Ahead of the 500-year anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s apparition in Tepeyac, Mexico, the sculpture is embarking on a worldwide tour, with visits scheduled to Colombia, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, among other places.

Its first stop is Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, where the statue will remain until Sept. 30.

Torres, who said she was excited to learn the Pilgrim Mother was coming to the United States, called it a “blessing” for the statue to be on display so close to her Arlington Heights home.

“We need her,” Torres said.

The Archdiocese of Chicago welcomed the statue at an event that included music and a Mass. Believers from across the Chicago area came to visit the Pilgrim Mother, which was blessed by Monsignor Efraín Hernández Díaz, rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

“This veneration experience will awaken a renewed sense of devotion and will build the ties between our nations,” Diaz said in a statement.

Created by Mexican artist Jorge Ismael Rodríguez, the Pilgrim Mother couldn’t have come at a more perfect time, said the Rev. Esequiel Sanchez, the suburban shrine’s director.

“As things have ramped up for the life of so many people, (the statue) comes as a very beautiful and welcomed repose,” said Sanchez, who led Mass on Wednesday in both Spanish and English.

The Pilgrim Mother is a hyperrealistic sculpture that Sanchez called a “three-dimensional” symbol of love. Although the sculpture is at the Des Plaines shrine temporarily, Sanchez said the two-year initiative to have the statue stop there symbolized “togetherness.”

The faithful attend a Mass before the unveiling of a life-size sculpture of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Aug. 27, 2025, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Guadalupe is a name that represents “two things that come together,” he said.

“We’ve had enough of separation and divide,” Sanchez said. “Tonight is about reconciliation, hope and love.”

The celebration began with Danza Azteca Guadalupana, an Indigenous dance group, wearing vibrant copillis and moving to the beat of drums. A band and choir also performed at the inaugural Mass.

The Lady of Guadalupe is one of the most famous icons in the Catholic faith. Believers say that in 1531, St. Juan Diego saw multiple apparitions from Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac Hill in Mexico.

People celebrate a Mass before the unveiling of the Pilgrim Mother sculpture on the first stop of its international tour on Aug. 27, 2025, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
People take photos at the Mass before the Pilgrim Mother sculpture unveiling at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Aug. 27, 2025, in Des Plaines. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Devotees of Guadalupe often wear her name and image on jewelry and scarves, which was apparent among visitors to the shrine this week. They also carried enlarged photos of the Virgin Mary, candles and rosaries.

Jackie Morales, who grew up praying to the Lady of Guadalupe with her mother, brought her 3-year-old son to the shrine. She said she saw the Pilgrim Mother pass through customs on TV earlier this week, and knew many friends who said they would visit the sculpture.

“She’s from Mexico. She’s very important,” said Morales. “But she’ll be here for a little bit, so people can see her.”

The statue will be in the St. Joseph Chapel at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines until Sept. 30, where it will then move to St. Gall Parish in Chicago from Oct. 1 to 14. The statue will make its final Illinois stop at Mother of the Americas Catholic Church in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood from Oct. 15 to 28.

“It’s not just the statue,” Sanchez said. “It’s an entire exhibit that is meant to be very heartwarming and touching.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/28/pilgrim-mother-lady-guadalupe-des-plaines/