The parish church on the north side of the Plaza Monumental holds a reclining wooden image of San Francisco Javier (St Francis Xavier) that is one of the most venerated religious objects in northwestern Mexico. The statue is the focus of two enormous annual pilgrimages: one in early October for the saint's feast day, and a second in May for Padre Kino himself.
The Tohono O'odham and Pascua Yaqui people from the Tucson area have made the journey to Magdalena for generations, traditionally on foot. During festival days the square fills with stalls, music, and devotion that is genuinely moving. Outside festival season the church is quiet and unhurried; the original eighteenth-century mission building survives in part within the later structure.