Catedral de Santa Catarina Juquila

I returned from El Pedimento to fulfill the purpose of this pilgrimage, to find the original Juquila. The enormous cathedral sits in a valley, the whole town is built up around her. The blue tents of vendors selling souvenirs, all of Juquila, fill the narrow streets that wind up the mountainside. Wafting incense, white lilies, prayers, bells, and mystery fill the cathedral as the tiny Virgin of Juquila, surrounded by gold, levitates high above Jesus on the altar.

A family on a pilgrimage poses at the entrance of the cathedral. A Juquila doll, a recuerdo, sits on a pew next to a sleeping child. Juquila is everywhere, in every posada, comedor, and tianguis. Everywhere you turn is Juquila. She is childlike, but not a child. She is simple and majestic, tiny and powerful. She is made of fabric and wood, yet fills the earth and sky.