Patroness of the Americas
Catholic Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe
Climb the hill where Heaven touched the New World — and come home by a different way.
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe | Mexico City, Mexico
30+ Years Guiding Catholic Pilgrims
Daily Mass at Sacred Sites
Catholic/Christian Guides
Shrines of Guadalupe & Mexico
The Invitation
A Catholic Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe
A Catholic pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe is a journey into the heart of the faith in the Americas. At the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe — the most visited Marian shrine in the world — you stand before the miraculous image sealed on Saint Juan Diego's tilma, the same image that drew millions of indigenous people to Christ in a single generation. Traveling to Guadalupe is like walking into layers of history, art, human drama, and deep faith, where the remains of ancient civilizations mingle with living devotion.
Over eight days you will pray where Our Lady appeared, celebrate daily Mass at sacred sites, and venerate saints and miracles across Mexico City, Puebla, and Cholula. This is not a tour of monuments. It is a pilgrimage — a journey home to the Blessed Mother who calls each of us, as she called Juan Diego, by name.
Over eight days you will pray where Our Lady appeared, celebrate daily Mass at sacred sites, and venerate saints and miracles across Mexico City, Puebla, and Cholula. This is not a tour of monuments. It is a pilgrimage — a journey home to the Blessed Mother who calls each of us, as she called Juan Diego, by name.
You do not come home from Guadalupe with souvenirs.
You come home knowing her image as the face of a Mother who called you by name.
You come home knowing her image as the face of a Mother who called you by name.
Her Words to Juan Diego
"Am I not here, I who am your Mother?"
¿No estoy yo aquí que soy tu Madre?
Our Lady of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego · Tepeyac, 1531
The Heart of the Pilgrimage
Our Lady of Guadalupe & the Basilica
In December of 1531, on the hill of Tepeyac, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a poor indigenous convert named Juan Diego, asking that a church be built on the site. As a sign for the doubting bishop, she filled his tilma with roses blooming in winter — and when he let them fall, her image remained imprinted on the rough cloth, an image "not made by human hands."
That tilma has survived nearly five centuries and still hangs above the altar of the Basilica today. Within a few years of the apparitions, millions across the New World were baptized. Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared Patroness of the Americas, and her shrine at Tepeyac is honored to this day as the holiest place in the Western Hemisphere. On pilgrimage you will visit the Basilica twice: an introductory visit to the old Basilica, the Church of the Well, and the Monument of the Offerings, and a second visit to the church atop Tepeyac Hill, where Juan Diego gathered the roses, with time set aside for prayer and private devotion.
That tilma has survived nearly five centuries and still hangs above the altar of the Basilica today. Within a few years of the apparitions, millions across the New World were baptized. Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared Patroness of the Americas, and her shrine at Tepeyac is honored to this day as the holiest place in the Western Hemisphere. On pilgrimage you will visit the Basilica twice: an introductory visit to the old Basilica, the Church of the Well, and the Monument of the Offerings, and a second visit to the church atop Tepeyac Hill, where Juan Diego gathered the roses, with time set aside for prayer and private devotion.
Where We Go
Catholic Pilgrimage to Mexico City
A Catholic pilgrimage to Mexico reaches far beyond the Basilica, leading pilgrims to walk in the footsteps of saints and venerate miracles across Mexico City, Puebla, and Cholula. The journey begins in the capital, where soaring cathedrals and ancient monuments surround the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the city's heart.
The Metropolitan Cathedral
Built over the ruins of the Aztec temples and crowning the Central Square for five centuries, this is one of Latin America's largest and oldest cathedrals — sixteen chapels, each dedicated to a saint. We celebrate Mass here in the seat of the Archdiocese of Mexico.
Plaza of the Three Cultures
Here, beside the ancient ruins of Tlatelolco, Saint Juan Diego was baptized — the humble convert to whom Our Lady would appear at Tepeyac. Three eras of Mexico meet in one square: the indigenous, the Spanish colonial, and the modern.
Photo: Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped
Church of the Holy Family
The resting place of the relics of Blessed Miguel Pro, the Jesuit priest who ministered in secret during Mexico's persecution of the Church and went to his execution in 1927 with arms outstretched, crying "Viva Cristo Rey!"
Photo: Katia Flores Torres, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped
Cultural Sites in the City
Between times of prayer, the city's history opens up. Depending on your itinerary, these sites may also be included.
- ◆The ZócaloOne of the world's largest public squares, the historic and ceremonial heart of Mexico City.
- ◆Templo MayorThe excavated ruins of the principal Aztec temple, at the center of old Tenochtitlan.
- ◆National Museum of AnthropologyThe largest collection of ancient Mexican art, tracing the nation's pre-Hispanic civilizations.
- ◆Floating Gardens of XochimilcoColorful trajinera boats winding through the lush canals known as the "Venice of Mexico."
- ◆Palacio NacionalThe seat of Mexico's government, home to Diego Rivera's sweeping murals of the nation's history.
Shrines & Miracles
Beyond the City — Puebla, Cholula & the Shrines
Leaving Mexico City, the pilgrimage journeys through some of the most remarkable sites of grace in the Americas — apparitions of Saint Michael, a statue left in a burning tree, an incorrupt body, and a town said to hold a church for every day of the year.
Shrine of San Miguel del Milagro
Where Saint Michael the Archangel appeared to Diego Lázaro in 1631 and revealed a spring of healing waters. Pilgrims pray the Saint Michael prayer and visit the miraculous well.
Photo: Isaacvp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped
Our Lady of Ocotlán
Here Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego Bernardino in 1541, leaving her miraculous statue within a burning tree — a shrine of quiet beauty above the city of Tlaxcala.
Photo: Ggerick88, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped
The Church of the Fifth Apparition
Built over the home of Juan Bernardino — Saint Juan Diego's uncle — at Santa María Tulpetlác, site of the fifth Guadalupan apparition, where Our Lady healed him. A well of holy water still flows beneath the altar.
Photo: Catedrales e Iglesias, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped
Cholula
Famous for its 365 churches, one for every day of the year. We visit the Iglesia de Santa María Tonantzintla and the Iglesia de Los Remedios, built atop the great pyramid of Cholula.
Puebla & Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio
In Puebla we pray at Santo Domingo and the dazzling Capilla del Rosario, and venerate the incorrupt body of Blessed Sebastian of Aparicio — the "Angel of Mexico" and a patron of travelers.
Photo: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped
Cuernavaca & Taxco
South of the capital, Cuernavaca's fortress-like cathedral preserves rediscovered frescoes of the martyrdom of Saint Philip of Jesus — the first canonized saint of Mexico. Nearby, above the silver town of Taxco, rises the rose-stone baroque church of Santa Prisca, its nine gilded altarpieces a soaring glory of the faith.
Photo: Frankmx, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped
The Teotihuacán Excursion
North of the city lie two of Mexico's great historic sites, often visited on the same day.
- ◆Former Monastery of AcolmanA 16th-century Augustinian monastery, now a museum, prized for its Plateresque façade and some of the earliest murals painted in the Americas.
- ◆Pyramids of the Sun & MoonThe vast pyramids of Teotihuacán, a city that once held some 200,000 people, north of Mexico City.
The Tekton Difference
Why Pilgrims Travel to Guadalupe with Tekton
Over 30 Years in Ministry
More than 20,000 pilgrims served across over 1,000 groups since 1996 — leading the way to Tepeyac and the shrines of Mexico.
Daily Mass
Mass at a side altar of the Basilica, at the church atop Tepeyac Hill where Saint Juan Diego gathered the roses, at the Metropolitan Cathedral — just a few of the prayerful places we may celebrate the liturgy on our pilgrimage.
Knowledgeable Catholic/Christian Guides
Local guides who carry the story of Guadalupe as their own bring the apparitions and the shrines to life, while your priest celebrates daily Mass and leads the group spiritually throughout.
Properly Paced Itineraries
Time built in for prayer, private devotion, and confession at the shrines — never a forced march from one church to the next.
Custom-Crafted Itineraries
Guadalupe alone, or extended through Puebla, Cholula, and Tlaxcala — built around the needs and pace of your specific parish or group.
Prayerful Pre-Pilgrimage Prep
Spiritual resources to ready your heart before departure, so you arrive a pilgrim and return changed — seeds of grace, not souvenirs.
Pilgrim Voices
They Returned by a Different Way
"My favorite moment was praying before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe."
Fr. John G.
Guadalupe Pilgrim Leader from Greensburg, Indiana
"I highly recommend this pilgrimage. Americans would be well served to take more interest in Our Lady of Guadalupe & St Juan Diego. The whole story & the various miracles involved are really awesome & will boost one's faith."
Judith J.
Guadalupe Pilgrim from Indianapolis, Indiana
"The guide was friendly and flexible — and having the driver was really convenient. It was great to understand the history of the country, which put the religious aspects in context. My family really enjoyed it."
John V.
Guadalupe Pilgrim from Bellaire, Texas
Pilgrim Questions
Questions About a Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe
Practical answers for planning a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
How long is a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe?
A Tekton pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe is typically eight days, including round-trip airfare, daily Mass, and a gently paced itinerary through Mexico City, Puebla, and Cholula with time for prayer and reflection built in.
What cities and shrines does a Guadalupe pilgrimage visit?
When is the best time to go on a Guadalupe pilgrimage?
Is a Guadalupe pilgrimage suitable for older pilgrims?
Will we celebrate Mass each day?
Read Before You Go
Mother of the Americas
Our Lady of Guadalupe Beckons You
Like Juan Diego, you go up the hill with empty hands — and are sent back changed. Begin the journey home to the Mother who calls you by name.
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