August 2, not a day of rest.

 We live very close to a main road, since last Saturday devout Catholics have begun their trek to Cartago to arrive at the basilica in Cartago. It is a very fascinating thing to watch as an evangelical. They walk for hundreds of miles. All the way from Guanacaste which is three hours away by car, up on the Nicaraguan border. Vendors began setting up stations along our road last week. They sell fruit, pipa water, drinks and snacks. We have seen more police presence as well. My question remains, How do they sleep after the dark hours come upon them? Where do they stop and rest? These are not just young people, persons from every age walk to do their penance. It is just amazing. When they arrive at the church they get to their knees and slowly make their way to the altar........on their knees.

However when we leave the office today our road nearer to our house will be a wall of people. We will have to find another way to go home. Tomorrow will be the same. It is estimated that since last Friday till tomorrow, three million people will find their way by foot to Cartago. Just incredible. It makes me evaluate my deepest devotion to my Savior.  My heart devotion runs very deep, what about my outward devotion? What sacrifice am I truly willing to make? If He asks, do I obey? If He calls, am I listening? Although a Catholic holiday, it moves me to ponder.

I saw this brief description in Wikipedia.
The Virgen de los Angeles (the Virgin of the Angels) is Costa Rica's patron saint, also known as La Negrita.

According to tradition, La Negrita, the Black Virgin, is a small (less than a meter tall), probably indigenous, representation of the Virgin Mary found on this spot on August 2, 1635 by a native woman. As the story goes, when she tried to take the statuette with her, it miraculously reappeared twice back where she’d found it. The townspeople then built a shrine around her.

In 1824, the Virgin was declared Costa Rica’s patron saint. La Negrita now resides on a gold, jewel-studded platform at the main altar in the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles in Cartago. Each August 2, on the anniversary of the statuette’s miraculous discovery, pilgrims from every corner of the country (and beyond) walk the 22km from San José to the basilica. Many of the penitent complete the last few hundred meters of the pilgrimage on their knees. This basilica is equally visited by tourists and locals.

Virgen de los Angeles Day is a Costa Rican holiday celebrating the Virgen.