This is one of my favorite photographs. It happened on August 2nd, celebrated in Costa Rica as the day of the Virgen de los Ángeles, the country’s patron saint. The people’s fervor for the “Negrita” is incomparable; every year, more than 2,000.000 people make a pilgrimage on foot from their homes to the Basilica of Cartago. According to history, a stone figure of the Virgin Mary appeared at this very spot to Juana Pereira, a mulatto girl who lived in the Puebla de los Pardos in Cartago, which at that time was the capital of Costa Rica’s province.
I took the photograph during the ceremony to change the attire of the Virgen de los Ángeles, which occurs every August 2nd and involves replacing the fabric dress of the original figure. Hundreds of people craft dresses for the Virgin Mary and send them to the Cartago Archdiocese as a token of gratitude for a favor granted by the Virgin—or simply as a demonstration of their Catholic devotion.
Meanwhile, several thousand people gather in the small plaza outside the Basilica of the Angels to witness both the Mass and the attire-changing ceremony. The Mass takes place in a kiosk located in the plaza, around which the event organizers set up a security perimeter with metal barriers. As a result, there may be more than 10 meters of distance between the figure, the priests, and the faithful. Those of us who obtain press permits are allowed to stand in front of this barrier and move freely, while everyone else must remain behind it for security reasons.
Despite the strict security measures, this little dog couldn’t be more unconcerned with the protocol, the police, the barriers, or the private security at the event. Possibly used to wandering around the vicinity of the Basilica of the Angels amid crowds—and happily indulging in the food excesses received during the pilgrimage—he found no better spot or shade than right beneath the priest and the Virgen de los Ángeles, letting out a huge canine smile of joy and satisfaction upon discovering the coolest shade in the entire plaza.