Quake-hit Mexico church with iconic Virgin image gets rehab

MEXICO CITY — Under a white tent on the street outside Our Lady of the Angels on a recent Sunday, the Rev. “In the midst of the floods, with all the evil they caused,” Berruecos wrote, “against that background of darkness and desolation, the image of Our Lady of the Angels appears in full light as a rainbow in the midst of the storm.” Izayoque was so taken by the image on the badly damaged canvas that he had a chapel built in the Virgin’s honor with the painting reproduced on an adobe wall. While there’s still no fixed end date for the restoration, Vázquez said the church is already showing signs of rebirth: On Aug. 2, the feast day of Our Lady of the Angels, at least 900 people packed the celebrations on the street outside. Corona, who first set foot in the sanctuary half a century ago, has moved several times since but always found herself drawn to return — including in 1985, when she moved back from the United States after an even more devastating quake that killed tens of thousands of people and first put cracks in the church’s walls. “Let us sing,” the priest beseeched them, “for the Virgin.” ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.