Inicio del Camino de San Casimiro

The start of the Pilgrimage to Saint Casimir

(pictures first, words later) (imágenes primero, las palabras más adelante)

 before dawn in the parking lot of a shopping center in Mentor Ohio
  Rosario Chavez, Juana Sanchez, Veronica Dahlberg, San Juana Montes, Ivonne Pinera

 dawn begins, the 7.30 a.m. start will be a few minutes late

 the leaders of the pilgrimage Marisela, Veronica, and Elizabeth stand before the HOLA banner
(HOLA, defines itself as a "small, grassroots Latino organization based in NE Ohio focusing on Latino Outreach, Advocacy and Community Organizing")

 part of the local press corps, with members of the Ramos family and friends

The patroness of all Mexico, and all her children is Our Lady of Guadeloupe, Mary, the Mother of God. A statue of her accompanies the pilgrims. La patrona de todo México, y todos sus hijos es la Virgen de Guadalupe, María, la Madre de Dios. Una estatua de ella acompaña a los peregrinos.

Route 20, Mentor Avenue (which becomes Euclid Avenue) is not completely bordered by sidewalks. Originally, the pilgrimage route was to be along the freeway, and therefore longer. This would have made for some more problems. The path they chose is of some local historical note. Just a wee bit east before the start, in Mentor, is the home of James Garfield, who had been president for a few days in 1881. The road becomes Euclid Avenue, at that time Euclid was Millionaire's Row. Catholics and the poor were forbidden there, unless they were servants or other workmen. The Cleveland city limits had been at E.79th at one time. That is where the turn north of the pilgrimage route would be. Back in the Robber Baron/Gilded Age their churches were on Euclid, and no Catholic churches were built there. St. Agnes later was built on E.80th, and now after a fire, only the campanile remains. A little later still, St. Philomena[extant] was built in East Cleveland. While, on a parallel street closer to the Lake, Superior Avenue, there were several Catholic churches (SS. John[extant], Peter[extant], Columbkille, Andrew Svorad, Francis, George, Thomas Aquinas). People were expected to know their place.

Dora Acosta, Laura Mendez, Rosy Ramirez

Laura holds a picture of Saint Toribio Romo González [click, click, and click], a Cristero martyr, and a patron of immigrants. Rosy is carrying a picture of Fr. Nicolás Aguilar Copado of Guadalajara, Jalisco, 2004†.