Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe
The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, or Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, is a deeply significant part of Catholic and Mexican culture.
It centres around a series of miraculous events in 1531, barely 10 years after the brutal Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, near present-day Mexico City, involving a humble indigenous man named Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin.
The Apparitions of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary
A poor 57-year-old Mexican Aztec native named Cuauhtlatohuac, a widower who lived in a small village near Mexico City, was baptized and given the name Juan Diego.
On Saturday morning December 9, 1531, he was walking on a hill called Tepeyac (now within Mexico City) to a nearby barrio to attend Mass in honour of Our Lady.
He heard beautiful music like the warbling of birds. A radiant cloud appeared, and within it stood an Indian maiden dressed like an Aztec princess.
Juan Diego’s Unlikely Mission
The lady spoke to him in his native language Náhuatl and revealed herself as the Virgin Mary, the true mother of Jesus. She asked Juan Diego to deliver a request to the local Spanish bishop Juan de Zumárraga, a Franciscan: that a shrine be built on Tepeyac Hill in her honour in that same spot, where she said, “I will show and offer all of my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to my people.”
Obediently, Juan Diego went to the Spanish bishop, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, and conveyed the Virgin’s request. The overwhelming odds against a poor peasant successfully delivering such a powerful mandate to a Bishop, somehow did not stop, Juan. Not surprisingly, the bishop was dismissive and sent Juan Diego away, asking to bring back proof of this vision.
The Miracle of the Roses
At about this same time, Juan’s uncle, Juan Bernardino, became seriously ill. When his uncle, appeared to be in his final hours, on the early morning of December 12, Juan left the house to find a priest but he avoided going near Tepeyac Hill so as not to meet the most Blessed Virgin Mary. However, not to be outsmarted, she still appeared to him.
The Blessed Virgin asked where he was going, and he explained that his uncle was ill. In response to Juan’s lack of understanding of her great love for him, the Blessed Virgin asked him, “Am I not here, I who am your mother?” She then told him that his uncle had, in fact, recovered.
According to EWTN.com, these were the words spoken by our Lady, "My son, I love you. I desire you to know who I am. I am the ever-Virgin Mary; mother of the true God who gives life and maintains its existence. He created all things. He is in all places. He is Lord of Heaven and Earth and I desire a church in this place where your people may experience my compassion. All those who sincerely ask for my help in their work and in their sorrows will know their mother’s near in this place. Here I will see their fears and I will console men and they will be at peace.
Know for certain that I am the perfect and ever Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God. … Here I will show and offer all my love, my compassion, my help and protection. I am your merciful Mother, the Mother of all who love me, of those who cry to me, of those who have confidence in me. I will hear their weeping and their sorrows … their necessities and misfortunes. … Listen, and let it penetrate your heart. … Do not fear any illness or vexation, anguish or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?"
Juan Diego reported the Bishop’s hesitation, and the Virgin instructed him to climb to the top of the barren hill and gather flowers - the ground here was an infertile place where only cactus and thistles grew. Despite being winter, Juan Diego found a blooming garden of unfamiliar roses, a variety not native to Mexico. He gathered the roses in his tilma (a poncho-like cloak made of cactus fibres) and brought them to the bishop.
When Juan Diego presented the tilma of exotic flowers to the Franciscan Bishop Zumárraga, a Spaniard, the flowers fell out and he recognised them as Castilian roses, which are not found in Mexico.
What was even more significant, however, was that the tilma had been miraculously imprinted with an image of the Virgin herself, imprinted in vivid colours.
The Bishop needed no further proof to believe Juan Diego’s mandate and agreed to construct the shrine as requested.
Juan returned to his uncle and found him completely recovered, as the Virgin had said. His uncle Juan Bernadino reported that Mary had appeared to him and requested to be known under the title of “Santa Maria de Guadalupe.”
The immense significance of the Appearance
Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego as one of his people is a powerful reminder that Mary—and the God who sent her—accept all peoples.
In the context of the rude and cruel treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards, the apparition was a rebuke to the Spaniards and an event of vast significance for the indigenous population.
According to a contemporary chronicler, nine million Indians became Catholic in just seven years - without shedding a drop of blood! Remarkably, this amounts to an average of over 3000 people a day, every day for seven years. This is the number who were converted on Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2:41.
Mary’s appearance also ended the worship of stone gods and the ritual of human sacrifice. and it helped the Indians to embrace Christianity and it helped the Spaniards to treat the Indians with respect and as human beings.
The Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the original Tilma
In 1936, biochemist Richard Kuhn – who later won the Nobel Prize – said that the source of the image was unknown (not animal, mineral, or vegetable).
Dr. Philip Serna Callahan photographed the tilma under infrared light and said that the image of the Virgin Mary had been formed without brush strokes. Other researchers have described its character as closest to a photograph, yet created 300 years before the invention of photography.
This actual tilma now over 470 years old is preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe since that date, this is remarkable because similar garments also made from agave thread typically disintegrate in 20-40 years.
The tilma clearly shows the familiar image of the Virgin Mary with her head bowed and hands together in prayer, representing the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The symbolism of the miraculous image on the Tilma
How Our Lady appeared on the tilma was very significant to the Aztec Indians. She was dressed in a way that the locals would understand who she was.
She was dressed in royal clothes that showed that she was very important, perhaps a queen.
She also had the symbol of the cross at her neck which was the same symbol the Spaniards had on their ships and in the churches they built.
She had a sash tied around her waist which meant that she was with child, for this was the way the Aztec women dressed when they were pregnant.
And on her beautiful dress were all sorts of designs and flowers. But there was one flower on her dress that was very significant. It had only four petals. To the Aztecs, the four-petal flower was the symbol for the true God, the God above all gods. This flower was located on her abdomen, right over the place where Jesus was growing inside of her. The Aztecs immediately understood that this was the mother of the true God!
The Virgin Mary is depicted as a mestiza, with features blending European and indigenous characteristics, reflecting the unity of cultures.
Her blue-green mantle represents divinity, her sunburst background connects her to the Aztec sun god and the crescent moon under her feet symbolizes victory over darkness.
Her gaze is cast downward in humility, emphasizing her role as a loving, approachable mother.
Legacy and Devotion
The shrine, now known as the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the world. The tilma, still miraculously intact after nearly 500 years, is on display there.
It remains perhaps the most sacred object in all of Mexico and 20 million pilgrims visit it annually, making it the most visited Catholic pilgrimage destination on earth.
Two different events threatened the image: an acid spill in 1784 and a bomb in 1921. The tilma remained unscathed!
Our Lady of Guadalupe is not only the patroness of Mexico but also the Empress of the Americas and a symbol of unity, hope, and faith for millions of people. Her feast day, December 12, is celebrated with vibrant festivities, pilgrimages, and Masses, drawing faithful from all over the world.
In 1990, Pope Saint John Paul II visited Mexico and beatified Juan Diego. And 12 years later, in 2002 Pope Saint John Paul II declared Juan Diego a Saint.
Special prayer for the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mystical Rose,
Make intercessions for the Holy Church,
Protect the Sovereign Pontiff,
Help all those who invoke you in their necessities,
And since you are the ever-Virgin Mary
and Mother of the true God,
Obtain for us from your most holy Son
the grace of keeping our faith,
of sweet hope in the midst
of the bitterness of life of burning charity,
and the precious gift of final perseverance.
Amen.
References
- Vatican News, & Merlo, F. (2018, December 12). The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Vatican News. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2018-12/our-lady-of-guadaloupe-feast-day-mexico-americas.html
- Franciscan Media. (2024, August 6). Our Lady of Guadalupe: Experience of Cuauhtlatohuac. Franciscan Media. Retrieved December 12, 2024, from https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/our-lady-of-guadalupe/
- The Story of our Lady of Guadalupe. (2017). Archdiocese of Baltimore. Retrieved December 12, 2024, from https://www.archbalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/gTHE-STORY-OF-OUR-LADY-OF-GUADALUPE.pdf
- EWTN Missions. (2024, December 9). Our Lady of Guadalupe. EWTN. Retrieved December 12, 2024, from https://missions.ewtn.com/seasonsandfeastdays/ourladyofguadalupe/
Beautifully put together. Thank you for all your efforts in blogging and looking forward to more
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