Maricela Torres laid a bouquet of flowers before a life-size sculpture of the Virgin Mary and knelt to the ground at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines.

“I pray to her almost every night,” she said.

The 4-foot-8 statue, known as the Pilgrim Mother , arrived Wednesday from the Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City. Ahead of the 500-year anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s apparition in Tepeyac, Mexico, the sculpture is embarking on a worldwide tour, with visits scheduled to Colombia, Puerto Rico and the Philippines, among other places.

Its first stop is Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, where the statue will remain until Sept. 30.

Torres, who said she was excited to learn the Pilgrim Mother was coming to the United States, called it a “blessing” for the stat

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