Hundreds of thousands of believers made their way to New Mexico, some crawling on their hands and knees, to celebrate the revered Virgin of Guadalupe Wednesday, in one of the world's grandest annual pilgrimages.

This past year has been marked by friction between New Mexico’s Catholic Church and the country’s leftist government, with the latter legalizing traditionally controversial issues such as gay unions and abortions.

Despite such tensions, hundreds of thousands of people gathered from across the country at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, to join in prayer before the image of the dark-skinned virgin which appeared to the Mexican peasant Juan Diego nearly 500 years ago.

Catholic accounts of the Virgin’s apparition tell how a Mexican peasant called Juan Diego saw a vision of a Virgin on the outskirts of Mexico City, at the Hill of Tepeyac, during a walk. The dark-skinned Virgin told him to build a church for her in that place, but when Juan Diego told a Spanish bishop of his vision, the priest asked for a sign.

The story goes that Juan Diego returned and the Virgin told him to gather roses from the hill. He gathered roses and placed them in his cloak. When he unfolded the garment before the bishop, the flowers fell and the icon of the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared imprinted on the fabric.

The Virgin’s apparition to Juan Diego 476 years ago was essential in the Catholicization of Mexicans. The Virgin of Guadalupe, also called Our Lady of Guadalupe, is the patron saint of all the Americas, while Juan Diego was named the first Indian saint in the Americas by the late Pope John Paul II in 2002.

The Virgin’s image on Juan Diego’s cloak attracts millions of devotees each year. The basilica itself is said to stand on the site of the original church the Virgin asked Juan Diego to build for her.

Believers crawled to the basilica as an homage and as a sign of humility Wednesday. Many carried the Virgin’s image to be blessed inside the basilica. The celebration also included ethnic dancers from around Mexico.

Some devotees have been making the pilgrimage for many years now, such as a 70-year-old native of New Mexico who told the Associated Press he had been coming to the basilica since 1949.