Are you a pilgrim?

I guess we're all headed someplace, in this journey of life, how poetic. August 2 marks the celebration of Our Lady of the Angels, Costa Rica's patron virgin. And pilgrims are what it's all about, for days, even weeks before. The idea is to walk from wherever you live to the city of Cartago, pretty much in the center of the country. But you want to arrive on or before August 2, when they have the mass at the basilica. They said they were expecting around 2 million visitors this holiday, in a nation with a population of just over 4 million. Here's how it works.

The brief history of the virgin (also known as "La Negrita") in Costa Rica is that the little black statue (about 20cm high) appeared to a young lady in 1635 on a rock in a forest. Afterv the statue was moved a number of times, always reappearing in the place later, a shrine was built for it. The first pilgrimage was made in the 1650's after it cured a serious illness. La Negrita replaced Costa Rica's original patron saint in 1824.

So now, if you have a sickness or a problem, or just need to be more prosperous, you can make the journey to the shrine, which will involve much suffering and inconvenience. When you arrive, however, you will have some merit with which to ask favors of the virgin, especially after you go the final distance up the aisle to the altar on your knees. If your petition is granted during the year, you'll want to repeat the journey, called the "romería", the next year to give thanks. There have reportedly been numerous cases of answered prayers and healings attributed to Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles, and you can see many gifts and offerings to the effect housed in glass cases in the Basilica.

There are also a number of deaths and injuries attributed to the journey itself, which can be more than 180 miles if you come from the northwest province of Guanacaste. As the pilgrims crowd the shoulders of the roads (where they exist), there is great risk from inattentive or drunk drivers, and many are killed by cars each year. You can see entire families, and mothers carrying babies in the hot sun, and lots of vendors take advantage of the opportunity to sell water, food, hats, rain gear, etc. Street vendors are not permitted once into Cartago, however, and they won't accept pilgrims who come on bicycles or skateboards either. The Costar Rica Red Cross has more than 1500 volunteers ready, and the police force is increased and on alert.

One other tradition is connected with el Día de la Virgen, and that is new clothes for La Negrita. More than 1000 little dresses were submitted to the Catholic Church here, each hoping to be chosen by the Archbishop as the clothing for the virgin for the coming year. With the fitting of clothes and the gold decorations all around, only about 4cm of the statue can actually be seen. But of course the whole thing has to do with what people believe concerning the statue. While many Costa Ricans express their devotion and affirm the validity of the object of their faith, many others consider that the whole system simply allows people to live in any way they wish during the year, and then make up for it all with a visit to the virgin in August. If you read Spanish, check http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2006/agosto/02/ultima-cr5.html for a brief summary of this year's event.