Antonio Banuelos of the Diocese of Des Moines' Office of Hispanic Ministry joins the Catholic Morning Show to introduce the Pilgrim Mother statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a life-sized replica of the image on Saint Juan Diego's tilma that is touring U.S. dioceses ahead of the 500th anniversary of the 1531 apparition. He walks through the statue's stop at Saint Ambrose Cathedral in Des Moines and its later visits to parishes throughout the diocese, along with the prayer-ribbon tradition that carries petitions all the way to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Listeners will learn the history of the apparition to Saint Juan Diego, the significance of the tilma, and how to take part in this rare pilgrimage experience close to home.
Meet the Pilgrim Mother Statue Antonio Banuelos, who helps lead the Diocese of Des Moines' Office of Hispanic Ministry alongside his wife, introduces the "Pilgrim Mother" (Madre Peregrina) statue — a natural-sized sculpture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, complete with real hair and glass eyes, that has been touring dioceses worldwide ahead of the 500th anniversary of her 1531 apparition to Saint Juan Diego in 2031.
Where to See Her in the Diocese of Des Moines
Full event details: St. Ambrose Cathedral statue visit | Ankeny statue visit | Waukee statue visit
What to Expect Each stop offers a roughly half-hour "pilgrim experience" covering the story of the apparitions, a decade of the Rosary, and the chance to venerate third-class relics touched to the original tilma in Mexico City. Visitors can write prayer petitions on white ribbons, which are carried to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe for a special Mass celebrated by Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, Archbishop of Mexico City.
The 500th Anniversary In 1531, Our Lady appeared to Saint Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill outside Mexico City, leaving her image imprinted on his tilma — an event Antonio Banuelos calls the most successful missionary moment in the history of the New World. The Church marks the 500th anniversary of that apparition in 2031.
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