Guadalupe Day Procession Taxco ~ Mexico
by Stephen Dyer Wells.
Using digital photography techniques to photograph the Guadalupe procession.

With serenades in Spanish, candlelight vigils and late night processions, thousands of Latino Catholics kick off the Christmas season by celebrating the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe -- the patron saint of Mexico -- on December 12th each year.

While the tradition of the Virgin of Guadalupe has no direct link to Christmas traditions, her feast day on the 12th is often regarded as the start of the Christmas season, and is followed by almost nightly celebrations called posadas beginning on the 16th and continuing until Christmas Eve. It is a big holiday for Mexicans, even as big as Christmas.

According to Catholic tradition, the Virgin Guadalupe appeared to Indian peasant Juan Diego in 1531 atop a small hill outside what is now Mexico City. The tradition has it that the Virgin was dark-skinned and spoke to Diego in his native Indian language, and appeared many times thereafter. The Church has recognized the apparitions, and Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego earlier this year.

Early devotion to the apparitions is often cited by scholars and historians as one of the most important factors in the massive conversion of Mexican Indians to the Church and their subjugation under the Spanish Empire and their later inclusion as citizens of Mexico.