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MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Images of the Virgin of Guadalupe<\/a> on their backs, devotees of Mexico\u2019s patron saint flooded streets on the north side of the capital overnight, converging with music, bottle rockets, candles and prayers on the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some say that every Dec. 12, all roads in Mexico lead to the enormous circular Roman Catholic house of worship where the faithful come to show their devotion on the anniversary of this apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1531, one of the largest Catholic pilgrimages in Latin America.<\/p>\n By midnight, before the masses began to sing the traditional Mexican birthday song \u201cLas ma\u00f1anitas,\u201d thousands of people already covered the expansive esplanade outside the basilica even as streams of people continued pouring in.<\/p>\n Images of the Guadalupana, as she is popularly known, were everywhere, including the taco stands where pilgrims stopped to regain their strength.<\/p>\n \u201cWe came to ask for health,\u201d said Gladys L\u00f3pez, who walked with her teen daughter from San Felipe Teotlalcingo, some 62 miles (100 kilometers) east of the capital in Puebla state. \u201cWe wanted the girl to see her and we all came from our town,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The exhaustion, sleeping on the ground and the effort were worth it, L\u00f3pez said, as she prepared to cover the last few yards of their journey.<\/p>\n Some waited for a priest to come out and bless their Virgin figurines. Some tearfully lit candles, overcome with emotion.<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Luis Gonz\u00e1lez Paredes, 82, carried an image of the Virgin adorned with flowers. He has been making the pilgrimage for more than three decades to receive the blessing.<\/p>\n \u201cI am only going to ask for next year, that I\u2019m allowed to bring her and have the health to be able to endure the journey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n According to church tradition, in 1531, the dark-skinned Virgin appeared to the Indigenous peasant Juan Diego and her image was imprinted on his cloak, which is on display inside the church. Juan Diego was made a saint in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n