Shrine co-founder Pat Chouinard, on the floor, enters "into the spirit" after a recent gathering as her husband, Jerry, upper right, and volunteer Cristy Felix keep watch. One of those present at the Mass and rosary service at the Cochise County shrine reported that Pat received a message from the Virgin Mary.

James Gregg / arizona daily star

More Photos (5):

Related articles:

Pilgrims come to Southern Arizona to hear Virgin Mary 'speak' Message from Our Lady of Sierras

Other articles by Tom Beal:

Wildfire proves useful UA scientist sees sun power in new lightClouds raise big monsoon question: Are we there yet? Study boosts solar as an investment State in 'bull's-eye' for changeCity breeds ideal climate for virus-carrying pestsUA's goal for Biosphere 2: self-sufficient science hubBiosphere 2 seeks to answer questions about how life affects worldTwo Tucson weather records fallToday's storm brings record low, rainfall amount for Tucson

Health Care
Sierra Tucson
Eating Disorders Program Coordinator Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Health Care
Dependable Health Services
Physical Therapists Construction
West-Press
Printing Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President

HEREFORD — The pilgrims began arriving at Mary's Knoll early Friday afternoon for a rosary and Mass scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

Dan Moody, a volunteer at the shrine to Our Lady of the Sierras in the Huachuca Mountains south of Sierra Vista, coordinated a crew that crammed about 100 vehicles into three small parking lots.

Then he stopped to tell an old Catholic joke.

It seems St. Peter, guardian of the heavenly gates, had a complaint for God: "Somebody's been letting people in through the back door."

"Well, stop it," God says.

"Can't," says St. Peter. "It's your mother doing it."

The joke illustrates the special connection many Catholics have to the Virgin Mary and the reason why shrines to her spring up on mountains and roadsides, in grottoes in the woods and the backyards of the faithful.

Mary is the approachable, human face of the religion. She is an intercessor, someone who can whisper your entreaties directly into God's ear because who, after all, won't do what his mother tells him to do?

Build a shrine to Mary and they will come, especially from Mexico, even without the accompanying tales of miraculous cures and messages delivered directly from the Virgin to Pat Chouinard.

They came Friday from as far away as Iowa and Monterrey in Mexico, a 15-hour drive for Gustavo Guerra and his family.

Guerra, who works in the automotive field, said he came primarily to pray for the health of that industry and for those who face hard times in this economic downturn.

Shrine volunteer Tom Felix counted 303 people in and outside this converted home on the hill beneath the 75-foot cross and 31-foot statue of Mary.

That would be 300 pilgrims and we three journalists. All three of us, coincidentally, were raised Catholic and have various remaining connections to the faith.

Mariana Alvarado's main connection is the phone as we drive toward the shrine.

Her mother, calling from Guadalajara, is excited that we are going to see the Virgin. She knows her daughter doesn't share her devotion but has a request. "Say a prayer for me."

The parking lots are full when we arrive. Many of the license plates are Sonoran, and Spanish is the principal language spoken.

When Pat and Jerry Chouinard, who have spent the past two decades creating this shrine, arrive, they are greeted first by a young woman who embraces Pat and says, "My brother's cancer has been cured."

Rosalba Escalante Peñuñuri, from Hermosillo, said her brother, Julio Escalante Peñuñuri, 30, had recovered from colon cancer after a prayer session with Pat.

"Hallelujah, hallelujah to God," Pat says, smiling.

The faithful have brought items to be blessed by the Virgin and by the three Roman Catholic priests who will sprinkle them with holy water before celebrating Mass here this evening.

Mary's possible visitation is listed on the schedule. If she comes, she will come at the end of the rosary, directly after recitation of the prayer known by its Latin name, "Memorare."

It begins: "Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary that never was it known, that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession was left unaided."

If she comes, bells will sound and blue candles will be lit. We will all pray silently while her message to Pat Chouinard is delivered.

Photographer James Gregg is stationed in the room at the back of the chapel where Pat, in partial seclusion from the crowd, sits on the carpeted floor in prayer, rosary in hand.

As the prayers end, Pat releases the rosary and begins to collapse onto the floor — going "into the spirit." The Rev. Daniel Millán Lanz of Hermosillo leaves his chair to kneel beside her.

The bells sound, candles are lit and silence is observed, interrupted only by dogs barking in the canyon, some stifled throat clearing, a few sobs and one voice, a toddler who twice says, "Mommy."

After 15 minutes, the bells sound again. The message is completed. Mary has left the premises.

The message Pat says she received has been recorded but will not be released this evening. It will be published later on the Web site, if it is found acceptable when Pat consults with her spiritual adviser.

Father Millán visits the various rooms in the house where chairs have been set up and confirms, in English and Spanish, that Mary and some angels visited and delivered "a lengthy message."

We three journalists can confirm nothing — no visions, no messages, no Mary, no angels, no sense of the supernatural, no rekindling of faith.

James did find himself mouthing the words to the Mass as he photographed the event. These things are ingrained.

Mariana, as directed by her mother, said a prayer and she took Communion during the Mass.

I thought about those I love during the 15 minutes of silence, my version of prayer.

For Pat and Jerry Chouinard, whose faith led them to build this place, the hills above Ash Canyon are populated by angels and favored by the Virgin Mary. For others, it is simply an interesting roadside attraction, a nice view, a place to find serenity, or a nuisance that ruined the serenity of Ash Canyon.

It's a question of belief.

Mariana questioned Father Millán about the certainty with which he confirmed Friday night that "the Virgin Mary and her celestial court were here among us." How does he know such a thing?

"This is just an act of faith," Millán said. "There are times when the keyboard, a pen or a computer cannot explain an experience with God."