The moment Isidro Piña hopped out of the taxi, he made a beeline for the woman selling candles on the sidewalk. He asked how much they cost — 25 Mexican pesos each, or $1.50 — and whipped out his wallet. He wanted three: one for himself and one for each of the friends who had accompanied him to the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe.
“I get goosebumps whenever I’m here,” Piña said in Spanish as the group walked through the main church.
In some ways, Piña, Mario Morales and Daniel Nuñez blended into the crowd. They wore plain clothes — jeans, T-shirts and sneakers — and knelt alongside hundreds.