standing before the crowd with the bishop

As we entered the main plaza in front of the shrine, a man gestured and whispered, “Father.” I went toward him. He pointed. Another man gestured me on. Then another motioned to come with him. Up the side of the crowd, across the center at a break, and up the aisle between the rows of the sick in chairs and carts on both sides at the very front, he took me to the raised area in front and motioned for me to join the bishop and the other priests. Now I was looking out over the crowd, all with lighted candles. The bishop included the prayer, and invited all the priests to join him in offering a blessing over the sea of faces lighted by the glow of candle flames. But then the best part. The statue-bearers brought the statue up the steps and placed it on a table right next to us. We turned – and here it got as best as it could get – wall of us together chanted the “Salve Regina” in Latin.