Our Lady of Guadalupe

Please read this brief post for background information.

As planned, last Wednesday I made it to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the most visited pilgrimage site in the Americas.  How many basilicas have been built over the years to house Juan Diego's cloak?  I don't know, but it's cool seeing a cloak that's been revered for almost 500 years.  In this video you can see the carillon, an old convent building, the old basilica, and the new basilica:

I've been told that this "version" of the Virgin Mary for the Americas is darker skinned than the "European version".  Well, I've always heard that Our Lady of Guadalupe is darker skinned, but she doesn't seem so to me after looking at Diego's actual cloak.  I doubt miracles fade, so that can't be an explanation.  In the first picture you can see the cloak hanging on the wall, framed, behind the altar, and in the second picture you can see it closer up:

click to enlarge

What do you think?

While I can respect some of the work that the Catholic saints performed, I'm not sure I accept the idea of a "saint".  Having said that, though, here's one saint who deserves to be revered:

 

I love the statuary throughout the complex, and I respect the devotion of those who created it and who make pilgrimages to it:

It was a contemplative couple of hours.