CrucisOur Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe refers to the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a humble native convert, St. Juan Diego, on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City in December 1531, only a decade after the Spanish conquest. Appearing as a young woman with the features and dress of the native peoples and speaking to Juan Diego in his own Nahuatl tongue, she asked that a church be built on that spot, and made herself the tender mother of the newly evangelized peoples of the New World.
When the bishop asked for a sign, the Virgin caused Castilian roses to bloom out of season on the barren hilltop, which Juan Diego gathered in his tilma, or cloak; when he opened it before the bishop, the flowers fell out and there appeared, imprinted on the rough cloth, the miraculous image of the Virgin that is venerated to this day in the great basilica of Guadalupe. The apparition led to the conversion of millions of the native peoples of Mexico. Declared Patroness of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on 12 December.
Selected quotes
“I ardently desire that a temple be built here, that in it I may show and offer all my love, my compassion, my help, and my protection to the people.”
“Know for certain, dearest of my sons, that I am the perfect and ever Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God through whom everything lives.”
“Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?”