I made my first religious pilgrimage today in Salta, Argentina. In 1995, a woman was said to have a conversation with the Virgin Mary. For 5 years, the only people that knew about it were her friends and family. The Virgin told her to build a statue on top of the mountain. She described exactly how she should look. 14 years old (the age she was pregnant), white cloak, kneeling and with aquamarine eyes. Now, tour buses, upon tour buses make their way up the hill. Of course, I went the hard way and took a public bus and walked.
It was very beautiful. There were people offering water on the walk up, a priest taking confessions and lovely guitar music being played. It made the one hour wait not so bad. Many people brought notes, lots of people brought pictures and there were alot of old people. People were also hanging plastic rosaries in the trees. The Virgin is housed in a little sanctuary. We walked in 2 by 2 and got to see her for probably 1 whole minute. No pne was rushing people out, but there was a long line. She was a beautiful site, alot of people walked out crying. It was a moving experience.
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