Currently, Olivares said, “we’ve got 5,500 images produced. 2,750 in houses, 2,750 on the street.”
One of the things that has most surprised the team carrying out the project is how quickly they manage to overcome the goals and challenges proposed at the beginning of 2021 and 2022.
“Whenever we set goals, we reach the goal ahead of time,” he noted. "Last year it was to reach all of Mexico, and in September we had already reached all of Mexico, and the goal was for December."
This year they aim to have images of Our Lady of Guadalupe on 40 highways in Nuevo León. So far this year, there are already 13 highways with the presence of the Mother of God.
In addition, they had planned by the end of 2022 to place the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe on 60 mountain peaks in Nuevo León, and 15 have already been installed.
Olivares also highlighted the respect given to Our Lady of Guadalupe on the walls that were previously completely painted over. After painting each wall, he said, "you put the Virgin there and they don't tag her with graffiti anymore, they don't mark up the wall anymore."
This devotional work has also made it possible to give work to people in Monterrey during the most difficult months of the pandemic, when many found it difficult to find a job.
The project works with five installers. Each one receives 400 pesos, around $20, for each image they place in Monterrey.
It’s these installers who often gather the testimonies of the people who see their lives touched by the placement of the images in the streets.
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On many occasions, Alejandro noted, the arrival of the Virgin of Guadalupe coincides with special moments, such as that of a person whose mother was getting out of the hospital for COVID-19 that day.
Another day, he recalled, a young woman came before the image to pray because she had lost her job. "It was a Wednesday," he said.
"On Friday the girl arrives smiling: 'I come to thank the Virgin because I already have a job,'" Alejandro related.
Many people are moved and "cry when they see the image," he said.
Graduated in Communication Sciences from the Universidad Privada del Norte in Trujillo, Peru. I have been part of the ACI Prensa team for more than 10 years. I have covered Pope Francis' trips to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Peru. I covered the beatification ceremony of today's Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 2015. Special envoy for investigation in Honduras in 2016. Head of the ACI Prensa Office in Mexico since 2018.