Every age attempts to remake the past to suit its needs. Virgil’s magnificent “Aeneid” was at heart a propaganda mission on behalf of Caesar Augustus; Parson Weems’ “Life of George Washington,” apocryphal or not, served to reinforce Americans’ faith in their new nation; the “1619 Project” speaks more to the day of its authorship than the history it discusses; and so also with disputes over holidays and statues: Columbus Day holds a silent placemark in the Arlington County Public Schools calendar, calling it merely, “No school” (other holidays are duly labeled). Advocates for the name “Indigenous People’s Day” want it as an apology for and not celebration of Columbus, even though his arrival to the Americas in 1492 marked an inevitable clash of peoples, not a deliberate one.

But that’s how history works: sudden, violent and destructive cultural diffusion (mixing of people) is the primary agent of human history. Since the fall and scattering of man, it has always been so, and its expression in the Americas is unique only for its proximity to the present time and for the large record of it created by its perpetrators.

Remarkably, I, an historian and former high school history teacher, was until this past year entirely unaware of the history of Guadalupe. A typical high school textbook that I might have used in the classroom, “World History: Patterns of Interaction,” mentions Guadalupe twice: once under “World religions” section as an example of worship in “northern Mexico,” and again regarding the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War. No mention that Hildago, a Catholic priest who is considered the founding father of Mexico, led the Revolution while waving a banner with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe). From the textbook:

Each year, hundreds of thousands of Christians from all over the world visit the Basilica of Guadalupe in northern Mexico City. The church is considered the holiest in Mexico. It is near the site where the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, is said to have appeared twice in 1531. Out of deep respect for Mary, some pilgrims approach the holy cathedral on their knees (p. 286)

Can’t even get the number of appearances right: she appeared to Saint Juan Diego and his uncle a total of five times, actually — not counting her perpetual appearance on the Juan Diego’s “tilma” that Terry and I are blessed to have experienced at La Basilica de Santa María de Guadalupe.

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Conversion of the Aztec — and the Spanish

Teachers and students who read high school textbooks and other mainstream sources, including Wikipedia, will remain ignorant of the plain historical fact that Our Lady of Guadalupe converted millions of people to Catholicism. Ironically, historians don’t need to admit to the miracle at Guadalupe to appreciate its effects, which are plain and before us in the historical record. Yet, when they do mention Guadalupe, it’s with a secular hedge. Historian Patricia Harrington observes in an academic journal that the conquered Aztecs “needed something to fill the void and make sense of New Spain” and “the image of Guadalupe served that purpose.” Can’t argue with the analysis, if far from complete, as it happened that way: the Spanish conquered the Aztecs, dismantled their religion, and left them dislodged from their past.

There’s not much to understand here, as such displacement is common across history — and to devastating effects. We can see in the leadup to both world wars, the French Revolution, the Roman civil wars, or the collapse of various ancient and modern dynasties, moments of resentment, disorder and fear. As Sir S. Radhakrishnan wrote of the world on the eve of its collapse in 1939:

Modern civilization with its scientific temper, humanistic spirit, and secular view of life is uprooting the world over the customs of long centuries and creating a ferment of restlessness. The new world cannot remain a confused mass of needs and impulses, ambitions and activities, without any control of guidance of spirit. The void created by abandoned superstitions and uprooted beliefs calls for a spiritual filling.

Such times are fodder for evil, which all too often fills that “void” with more, not less, restlessness and human ambition.

We cannot know what would have happened had the Virgin Mary not visited “northern Mexico” in 1531. We do know what happened after she did: the restlessness and ambitions of both conquerors and conquered were filled by her spiritual call home to Christ our Lord.

Still, these historians rationalize the sequence of Marian apparitions and miracles across Latin America by indigenous peoples that followed Our Lady of Guadalupe: the Virgen de Copacabana in Bolivia in 1583 (a miraculous carved image of Saint Mary), La Vírgen de la Caridad del Cobre in 1612 in Cuba (a statue of Mary that saved the “three Juans,” two Native Americans and an African slave), the Virgen de los Angeles of 1635 in modern Costa Rica, also known as “the Black Virgin” (a miraculous statuette of Mary appearing as an indigenous woman), or Our Lady of Aparecida in 1717 in Brazil (a miraculous wooden statue of Our Lady caught in the nets of simple fishermen).

Historians see them as Christian “cooption” of indigenous culture, inversely analogous to what today’s popular culture calls “cultural appropriation,” whereby Catholicism is presented to indigenous populations in their own language, as it were, in order to trick them into Christian belief. Well, duh, the Virgin Mary was speaking to the native populations, so the image she imprinted upon Juan Diego’s “tilma,” a peasant cloth made of rough fiber, depicted indigenous symbols they immediately understood, symbols of virginity, motherhood, pregnancy, and divinity. In fact, so abruptly did the conversions happen following Mary’s appearance that priests were baptizing the Amerindians in mass, first by the tens, then hundreds and at times thousands a day (some days the priests’ arms tired like Moses struggling to hold up his staff during the fight with the Amalekites).

So deep did the image enter the hearts of the people that the miraculous image became an object of celebration as well as reverence, of penitence as well as joy, that Our Lady of Gaudalupe and Mexico became one. Not all the Spanish, nor all the clergy understood. The key symbols upon the tilma were alien to them, and jealousy must have struck the hearts of certain priests and magistrates who resented a power directly before them but beyond their comprehension or control.

Nevertheless, as the Indians took on exemplary Catholic life, embracing the Sacraments (especially marriage and confession — polygamy disappeared), the next significant effect of the appearance of our Lady of Guadalupe was conversion of the Spanish themselves towards acceptance of the peaceful conversion of the native populations. We can trace Mexico’s deep sense of ethnic commonality straight to that wondrous image on Juan Diego’s tilma.

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Confused Conquest

Early Spanish rule of Mexico, called New Spain, consisted of overlapping authorities, secular and religious, that were conflicted in purpose and jealous of one another.

Cortés had fully conquered the Aztec in 1524, renamed the capital “Mexico City,” and personally ruled it for three years. While King Charles had accorded him with full sovereignty as governor, captain general and chief justice of New Spain, he also sent his own officials to assist in that governorship, much to Cortés’ distress. But he got there in the first place through insubordination. His original invasion of Mexico was against orders from the seat of colonial Spain in Cuba, performed in rebellion, essentially (which is one of the reasons he famously burned his ships at arrival to the Mexican coast to keep his troops from mutinying and returning to Cuba).

Christian evangelization was a primary purpose of exploration, and Cortés took that mission seriously. But the Lord distinguishes the secular from the spiritual for a reason. A good part of Cortés’ reward came in land which was worked under harsh conditions by the people he conquered. The Church, too, had crossed purposes, especially in the face of the Protestant revolts and the possibility of its export to the Americas under the Dutch and the English. Worse, Spanish King Charles I was engaged in expanding the Holy Roman Empire (as Emperor Charles V), as well as to fending-off encroachments to eastern Europe by the Ottomans.

Still, clergy entirely dedicated to the saving of souls were at work in the new lands, including in Mexico City under the new bishop, a Franciscan, Fr. Juan de Zumarraga. Where the Crown and its temporal agents were more concerned with conquest than conversion, Bishop Zumarraga took seriously pastoral duties to the conquered. Fr. Zumarraga had arrived to Mexico in late 1528 as control of Mexico was exercised by magistrates, known as “oidores,” who were imposing strict rules against good treatment (yes, “good” as in “treating them well”) of the Indians. The year before Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared, the oidores attacked a priest in church and quartered him for helping natives. The Franciscans were forced to move across the lake. Zumarraga, not yet officially Bishop because allies of the oidores were slandering him to the King who withheld his papal authorization, imposed an interdict upon the entire city. Halting of the sacraments made its point, and the King sent new magistrates to replace the ones the Bishop had excommunicated.

Such were the conditions in Mexico City as Our Lady visited with a simple, local man in December of 1531,on a barren hill north of the city.

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“Guadalupe”

Guadalupe is a barrio in Mexico City, called either Villa de Gaudalupe (founded 1563), or La Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo (renamed in 1828 after the hero of Mexican Independence, Fr. Miguel Hildago), that encompasses a hill called by the Aztec, “Tepeyac”. The name “Guadalupe” comes from a river in Spain, along which lies a shrine to the “Black Madonna,” a carving of Our Lady by Saint Luke the Evangelist that depicts the Virgin Mary. In the early 14th century, the Virgin Mary appeared to a herder, Gil Cordero, who was looking for a lost animal. She told him to tell priests to dig into the ground where she had appeared, whereupon they found a statue of her, the “Black Madonna,” so called due to her dark skin. The statue was buried along the banks of the river in the 700s after the Moorish (Islamic) invasion. The statue had been presented to Saint Leander of Seville by Pope Gregory I (590-604).

A shrine was duly built, and attracted pilgrims, thus playing a significant role in the Reconquista of Spain from Muslim control. In the 14th century, Alfonso XI of Castile ordered construction of a monastery there after he repelled the last significant Islamic invasion from North Africa. He credited his victory over the Marinid Sultan at the Battle of Rio Salado to the Virgin Mary’s intercession. There, Ferdinand and Isabella formally authorized Columbus’ 1492 exploration, and Columbus and subsequent conquistadores venerated the Our Lady of Gaudalupe and, including Hernan Cortés, conqueror of Mexico. The name “Guadalupe” appears on maps across the Americas.

“Tepeyac” may come from a combination of the Nahuatl words for mountain, tepetl, and nose, yacatl,, indicating the top of a hill or ridge, or some building there. It had been the site an Aztec temple, which the Spanish destroyed, dedicated to Tonantzin Coatlaxopeuh, the mother goddess of the Aztec — which would make it the logical place for Our Lady’s appearance. Some have proposed that “Coatlaxopeuh”, which means “She who crushes snakes” (variously translated), was misunderstood by the Spanish as “Guadalupe,” a name most important to any Spanish who had ventured to the New World. The original narrative, however, written in Nahuatl, states that Mary herself named her image, “THE PERFECT VIRGIN, HOLY MARY OF GUADALUPE.” It seems to me that both stories are accurate, as Our Lady at Guadalupe presented herself independently and coincidentally to both Amerindian and Spanish, using Aztec elements as a bridge to the Word of the Lord.

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San Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin and the appearance of Our Lady at Guadalupe

Born in 1474 and thus having spent most of his life under Aztec rule, Cuauhtlatoatzin and his wife were baptized by Franciscans in 1524, three years after the final conquest by Cortés and certainly amidst the Spanish dismantling of Aztec temples and, thus, way of life. It is unclear how many baptisms were conducted prior to the appearance by Our Lady to him in 1531, but the explosion of conversions after her appearance is well documented, so by extension there were relatively few beforehand.

Cuauhtlatoatzin, whose Aztec name means, “He who speaks like an Eagle”, took the Spanish baptismal name, Juan Diego. He was of no particular status, and did not speak Spanish. His conversion allowed him access to the priests and the Church, but without privilege. Whatever the reason for his conversion, It came amidst the sorting out of the new and old. The chronicle, “Nican Mopohua,” describes the scene in 1531:

Ten years after the City of Mexico was conquered, with the arrows and shields put aside, when there was peace in all the towns.

Juan Diego was a “humble but respected Indian, a poor man of the people,” says the chronicle, certainly not someone who could get an audience with the Bishop, even under instructions from the Mother of God.

At dawn that Saturday December morning, Juan Diego was on his way to his weekly catechism instructions at Tlatilolco, over a ten mile walk from his uncle’s house where he had stayed the night, when, passing Tepeyac Hill, birds began to sing “the song of many precious birds,” unlike any he had ever heard. The song stopped, replaced by a voice calling, “JUAN, DEAREST JUAN DIEGO.”

He followed the voice to the top of the hill, where Our Lady, radiant and beaming from within and without, said,

LISTEN, MY DEAREST AND YOUNGEST SON, JUAN. WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” 

Lying prostrate, he replied,

My Lady, my Queen, my Little Girl, I am going as far as your little house in Mexico-Tlatilolco, to follow the things of God (everything that makes God be God) that are given to us, that are taught to us by the ones who are the images of Our Lord: our priests.

As you will read in the narratives, Our Lady then instructed him to tell the Bishop to build a church dedicated to her on top the hill:

Juan Diego carried the message to the newly installed Bishop, Don Fray Juan de Zumárraga, a Franciscan who was much concerned for the welfare of the Amerindians. After waiting all day for an audience, he was sent away in shame and disbelief. He reported back to The Virgin who awaited him and told him to go again the next morning:

AND I BEG YOU, MY YOUNGEST AND DEAREST SON AND I ORDER YOU STRICTLY TO GO AGAIN TOMORROW TO SEE THE BISHOP.

AND IN MY NAME MAKE HIM KNOW, MAKE HIM HEAR MY WISH, MY WILL, SO THAT HE WILL BRING INTO BEING, HE WILL BUILD MY HOUSE OF GOD THAT I AM ASKING HIM FOR.

AND CAREFULLY TELL HIM AGAIN HOW I, PERSONALLY, THE EVER VIRGIN HOLY MARY, I, WHO AM THE MOTHER OF GOD, AM SENDING YOU.

Another long walk home, then back to the Cathedral for Mass Sunday morning, and another long wait for an audience, he was again rebuked, if politely. He returned to Our Lady at Tepeyac Hill with apologies and begging her to find someone more worthy who will be believed. The chronicler continues,

The Perfect Virgin, worthy of honor and veneration, answered him:

LISTEN, MY YOUNGEST AND DEAREST SON, KNOW FOR SURE THAT I HAVE NO LACK OF SERVANTS, OF MESSENGERS, TO WHOM I CAN GIVE THE TASK OF CARRYING MY BREATH, MY WORD, SO THAT THEY CARRY OUT MY WILL;

BUT IT IS VERY NECESSARY THAT YOU, PERSONALLY, GO AND PLEAD, THAT MY WISH, MY WILL, BECOME A REALITY, BE CARRIED OUT THROUGH YOUR INTERCESSION.

He agreed to try again and returned to his home some miles away. However, when he learned that his uncle had become ill, rather than seeing the bishop he went to his uncle, whom a native healer he brought to him failed to cure. Into Monday night, his uncle’s condition worsened, so early Tuesday morning he headed back to the city to find a priest to administer last rites. Knowing he had violated his instructions from Mary, he deviated from his normal path over Tepeyac, which took him well out of his way. (Mexico City was still a series of causeways and channels, so he would normally take a bridge at the foot of the hill.)

The chronicle notes,

He thinks that where he made the turn, the one who is looking everywhere perfectly won’t be able to see him. He saw how she was coming down from up on the hill, and that from there she had been looking at him, from where she saw him before. She came to meet him beside the hill, she came to block his way; she said to him:

WHAT’S HAPPENING, YOUNGEST AND DEAREST OF ALL MY SONS?
WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE ARE YOU HEADED FOR?

The CNA article referenced above skips what I find to be one of the most beautiful exchanges between Our Lady and Juan Diego — and lessons from the entire event:

And he, perhaps he grieved a little, or perhaps he became ashamed? Or perhaps he became afraid of the situation, he became fearful? He prostrated himself before her, he greeted her, he said to her:

“My little Maiden, my smallest Daughter, my Girl, I hope you are happy; how are you this morning? Does your beloved little body feel well, my Lady, my Girl?

No wonder she chose him, so tender, so human, so childlike. She gently ignored his diversion, and replied,

(And at that very moment his uncle became well, as they later found out.)

AM I NOT HERE, I, WHO AM YOUR MOTHER? ARE YOU NOT UNDER MY SHADOW AND PROTECTION?

AM I NOT THE SOURCE OF YOUR JOY? ARE YOU NOT IN THE HOLLOW OF MY MANTLE, IN THE CROSSING OF MY ARMS? DO YOU NEED SOMETHING MORE?

LET NOTHING ELSE WORRY YOU, DISTURB YOU; DO NOT LET YOUR UNCLE’S ILLNESS PRESSURE YOU WITH GRIEF, BECAUSE HE WILL NOT DIE OF IT NOW. YOU MAY BE CERTAIN THAT HE IS ALREADY WELL.

The “Heavenly Maiden” then instructed him to gather flowers — this is December — from the top of the hill and bring them to her:

Then she put them all together into the hollow of his ayate again and said:

MY YOUNGEST AND DEAREST SON, THESE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLOWERS ARE THE PROOF, THE SIGN THAT YOU WILL TAKE TO THE BISHOP;

YOU WILL TELL HIM FROM ME THAT HE IS TO SEE IN THEM MY DESIRE, AND THAT THEREFORE HE IS TO CARRY OUT MY WISH, MY WILL.

AND YOU, YOU WHO ARE MY MESSENGER, IN YOU I PLACE MY ABSOLUTE TRUST;

AND I STRICTLY ORDER YOU THAT YOU ONLY OPEN YOUR AYATE ALONE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE BISHOP, AND SHOW HIM WHAT YOU ARE CARRYING.

AND YOU WILL TELL HIM EVERYTHING EXACTLY, YOU WILL TELL HIM THAT I ORDERED YOU TO CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE LITTLE HILL TO CUT FLOWERS, AND EVERYTHING THAT YOU SAW AND ADMIRED,

SO THAT YOU CAN CONVINCE THE GOVERNING PRIEST, SO THAT HE WILL THEN DO WHAT LIES WITHIN HIS RESPONSIBILITY SO THAT MY TEMPLE WHICH I HAVE ASKED HIM FOR WILL BE MADE, WILL BE RAISED.

One can only imagine the trepidation with which Juan Diego carried the roses down the rocks and ravines, over the bridge, along the causeway, the miles to the Bishop’s house, where, of course, he waited for hours for, while the Bishop’s staff angrily watched over him, yet wondering what he was holding there in his “ayate” (tunic, called a “tilma”):

For a long, long time he waited for his request to be granted. And when they saw that he was simply standing there for a long, long time with his head down, without doing anything, in case he should be called, and that it looked as if he was carrying something, as if he was bringing it in the hollow of his tilma – then they came up close to him to see what he was bringing and thus satisfy their curiosity.

He “gave them a little peek” and, astonished at the sight and smell of the heavenly flowers,

They dared to try to grab them three times, but there was no way in which they could do it, because when they would try, they could no longer see the flowers, they saw them as if they were painted or embroidered or sewn on the tilma.

Now they summoned the Bishop. Juan Diego explained how he brought to “my Mistress, the Heavenly Maiden, Holy Mary, the Beloved Mother of God” the Bishop’s request for a sign, and how she told him to go to the top of the hill and cut the roses and bring them to him, and “with her holy hands” arranged them in his “ayate” to bring to the Bishop, and only to the Bishop.

here they are; please receive them.

And then he held out his white tilma, in the hollow of which he had placed the flowers. And just as all the different precious flowers fell to the floor, then and there the beloved Image of the Perfect Virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God, became the sign, suddenly appeared in the form and figure in which it is now, where it is preserved in her beloved little house, in her sacred little house at Tepeyac, which is called Guadalupe.

And as soon as the Governing Bishop and all those who were there saw it, they knelt, they were full of awe and reverence. They stood up to see it, they became sad, they wept, their hearts and minds were in ecstasy. And the Governing Bishop weeping and with sadness begged and asked her to forgive him for not having immediately carried out her will, her holy breath, her holy word.

And when he got up, he untied Juan Diego’s garment, his tilma, from his neck where it was tied. On which the Heavenly Queen appeared, on which she became the sign.

Here for a higher resolution image of the Tilma (wikicommons)

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Some Commentary:

Saint Juan Deigo the Walker

First of all, there’s a lot walking here.

Juan Diego not only walked 20+ miles a day by map, those miles were up and down, which, as any hiker can tell you, adds vertical miles to the horizontal. To get to Tepeyac Hill from his home at Cuatitlan, Juan Diego had to walk some ten miles before crossing the mountain passes of western reaches of the Sierra de Guadalupe, which reaches 10,00 feet at its highest further to the east. Once crossing its lower, western descent, he would have another 5 or so miles to get to the shores of Lake Texcoco, near to where Tepeyac Hill arose. Thereafter, he would have to cross several miles of causeways and islands over Lake Texcoco to get to Mexico City, or Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, which, built up amidst the water, the Venice of the Americas:

Additionally, during the visitations, Juan Diego visited his sick uncle who lived on the eastern slope of the Sierra de Guadalupe, some ten miles from his home and seven or so from Tepeyac.

During his encounters with the Heavenly Maiden, Juan Diego referenced the laborious walk, one he took at least twice a week: once for catechism classes on Saturdays, and for Mass on Sundays. While promising the Holy Mother during his second encounter that he would do her bidding, he promised,

My Lady, Queen, my Little Girl, let me not give you anguish, let me not grieve your face, your heart. I will most gladly go to carry out your breath, your word; I will absolutely not fail to do it, nor do I think the road is painful.

So he felt the need to tell His Lady that “the road was painful.” Indeed it was, and long. She already knew, and knew that was part of his service to her, for which she promised him great rewards. God knows our crosses.

I nominate Saint Juan Diego as the patron saint of blisters.

Our Lady of Geography

As I noted in the Side Trip to Gaudalupe post, on his way towards Tepeyac from his home, Juan Diego likely passed by or near to the massive Aztec pyramid at Tenayuca, the base of which was ringed by a “wall of serpents” and was thus called “El Pueblo de los Serpientes”, or, “The Town of the Serpents,” by the Spanish (see Pyramids of Tenayuca – Tlalnepantla, Mexico – Atlas Obscura). Tenayuca was a site of “New Fire” rituals by Aztec priests marking a particular calendar combination every 52 years. Murder, of course, was essential to the ceremony, as it was needed to encourage the sun to rise the next day. (The Lord wasn’t kidding when he said the Heavenly Father “makes his sun rise on the bad and the good”; Mt 5:45).Leading up to the final day of the cycle, people would fast, repent, self-immolate and otherwise throw out certain household items, especially hearths, and the night before every fire was extinguished. (see New Fire ceremony (WIkipedia). That night priests would start a new fire in the chest cavity of a sacrificial victim, from which all new fires were started. According to the article, (‘Tomb of the Years’ at Tenayuca Pyramid – Tlalnepantla, Mexico – Atlas Obscura), Tenayuca was one of the locations of the “New Fire” ceremony, which took place across Aztec lands, with the principal ceremonies at the Templo Mayor and, as discussed below, the volcano, Cerro de Estrella.

We have twofold purpose here. First, the final “New Fire” year was 1507, when Juan Diego was about 33 years old. he certainly participated in the family renewal rituals, if not at the temple or another public gathering. As defined by his location, he lived far enough away from the capital to not be involved in its public religion and politics, yet close enough to know them. It makes him the perfect mediator between the cultures.

Secondly, the image of Our Lady of Gaudalupe contains seemingly random-placed flowers. One of the heroes of the scientific interpretations of the Tilma, Fr. Mario Rojas Sanchez, wondered that the placement wasn’t random. When he placed the central flower, a “quincux” for “flower of the sun,” on Our Lady’s womb, at the location of Tepeyac Hill over a parallel-sized map, some of the other flowers corresponded to the locations of volcanoes. Later, our next hero, Prof. Fernando Ojeda Llanes, recognized that the correspondence of flowers to geographic sites was about 70 percent. Using satellite imagery, he recalculated the “map” by setting the quincux at Cerro de Estrella, “Star Hill”, and found that the lineup of flowers to volcanoes yielded a precision of 92.9 percent, well beyond coincidence, as well as the ability of any 16th century fraudster. Most significantly in this discovery (“dis”+ “cover” = uncovered, thus a “discovery” is the finding of something that already exists) is that Cerro de Estrella, a small volcanic peak at the southern peninsula in Lake Texococ overlooking Tenochtitlan. “Star Hill” was considered sacred by the Aztecs who built temples and a pyramid on it and there performed the “New Fire” ritual. Volcanos, we can easily imagine, played a large role in the Aztec consciousness (see In Mexico City, Exploring a Volcano Sacred to the Aztecs – (nytimes.com). Our Lady, thereby, was not just claiming Aztec religion, but its geography.

The Least Among Us

God chooses the least because those at the top are not disposed to listen, and the faith of the humble towers over their pride.

Saint Juan Diego didn’t ask for it, didn’t want it, and didn’t feel up to the task given him — which is precisely why Our Lady chose him. Had she gone straight to the Bishop, who had been praying for God’s help to convert and care for the poor Aztec souls, no one would have changed – he was already doing what he could. She had to go through Juan Deigo, the perfect vehicle for her message, as his very simplicity, amplified by his sincerity, was the required catalyst to change the hearts of both Spanish and Indian.

Forgiveness of sins

On the third day, Juan Diego defies Our Lady’s command and attends to his uncle’s needs instead of hers. God constantly reminds us of the spiritual priorities, yet continues to forgive our misguided attention to our physical demands over them.

When he avoids her, she understands and forgives, then corrects. These are the acts and attitude in example for us from the Mother of God herself. Juan Diego accepts the admonishment and admits his error.

We learn from both Mother and Son here, and, wonderfully, it provides a unique glimpse of the Mother Mary’s work in raising Jesus himself.

The far larger story is the intercession of Our Lady upon both Aztec and Spanish alike for salvation. For the Amerindians such as Juan Diego, Saint Paul in Romans 2:14 affirms their salvation, “their consciences also bearing witness.” And so also for the Spanish. Yet, evil abounded, so the Holy Mother came to present a new path for all.

False Gods

While Juan Diego was a practicing Catholic, when his uncle was hill he fell back upon what he knew: a witch doctor.:

He went to get the native healer, who treated him, but it was too late; he was very ill.

Conversion is a process, and the life we died unto the Cross and left sometimes yet trails behind us. Would that Our Lady was there to turn us around and say, “My most beloved, don’t do that…”

God intervenes in order to teach us. So we, seemingly distant from the miraculous, must realize that it is within us every day, as what was and is presented to others is for us, as well.

Perseverance of The Lord

The Perfect Virgin is incapable of impatience and in totality understanding. She exercised both qualities in preparing Juan Diego for his mission. By the time he stood before the Bishop’s house holding those precious roses, he was ready for the Bishop’s men to ignore, deride, and then harass and grab him. Mother Mary knew her child and knew the path he needed for the fortitude he exercised in carrying out her commands.

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Bibliography:

• Maria of Guadalupe: shaper of history, shaper of hearts, by Paul Badde
• Guadalupe Mysteries: deciphering the code by Grzegorz Gorny and Janusz Rosikon

Working sources:

• A thorough history of her appearance | Our Lady of Guadalupe (olg.cc)
• The Story of the Apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe | Catholics & Cultures (catholicsandcultures.org)
• THE APPARITIONS OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE (rmrpi.org)
• What are the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe? (aleteia.org)
• Story of Guadalupe Begins With Little Hill in Mexico City | EWTN
• Our Lady of Guadalupe: Converting the Aztecs – Catholicism Coffee | Catholicism Coffee
• Our Lady Of Guadalupe: The miracle that changed history (denvercatholic.org)
• The Story of Guadalupe: Luis Laso de la Vega’s Huei tlamahuiçoltica of 1649 – Luis Lasso de la Vega, Lisa Sousa, Stafford Poole, James Lockhart – Google Books
• The Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531 – Michael Journal
• The Grand Conversion Story – Our Lady of Guadalupe December 12th (catholicfaithstore.com)
• The Peopling of Mexico from Origins to Revolution (umn.edu)
• Why the Stars on Guadalupe’s Mantle Are Miraculous – Sacred Windows
• The Music in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe:
  • Música en el manto de la Virgen nde Guadalupe | Fernando Ojeda Llanes
    • the video is an interview with a mathematician who analyzed the position of the stars on Our Lady’s cloak on the tilma; he realized that the mathematical relationships were all proportional, thus it can be expressed musically
    • his reproduction of the harmony starts at min. 6:01
  • Incredible: The Beautiful Musical Melody Hidden Within Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Image (churchpop.com)

Wikipedia articles:

• Our Lady of Guadalupe in Extremadura
• Pope Gregory
• Possible Nahuatl etymologies of Guadalupe
• Tonantzin

Secular sources:

• Millions of Pilgrims Gathered to Celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City | Smithsonian Magazine
  • other than that Catholics believe in it, nothing here about the authenticity of the event or Tilma, but we do get a good dose of
    • ““By favoring a representative of those who have been marginalized or oppressed in Mexico, the Virgin became a liberating symbol of freedom and social justice.”
• Every year millions of miracle-seeking pilgrims visit Mexico City (nationalgeographic.com)
  • great article from National Geographic if you enjoy reading about academic and feminist perspectives on how Our Lady of Guadalupe was part of a Spanish the “religious conquest” (see The Virgin of Guadalupe: A Mexican National Symbol on JSTOR), has led to a “double religion” among Indigenous peoples, and has served as “a role model of submissiveness” for Mexican women.