Our Lady of Guadalupe

Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe Day is a story of miracles and faith that marks an important shift in the history of Mexico. The Spaniards, after they conquered Mexico, wanted to convert the indigenous Indians to Catholicism. But the Spaniards encountered many difficulties because the Mexican had their own faith and spirituality in which they strongly believed. However, indigenous people started to become fascinated with Catholicism when the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Juan Diego came to the fore.

According to tradition, Mary, mother of Jesus, appeared to Juan Diego, who was an Aztec convert to Christianity, on December 9 and again on December 12, 1531. Juan Diego was a young indigenous Indian who was walking toward the Hill of Tepeyac when he was stopped by an appearance of the Virgin Mary. According to Diego, the Virgin Mary was a young woman with black hair and dark skin who looked more like the women in his community. She ordered Diego to go to the Bishop and ask him to build a church at the Hill of Tepeyac. Diego then ran to the Bishop to tell him what the Virgin Mary had told him. The Bishop did not believe Diego at first and disregarded his request to build a church at the Hill of Tepeyac, demanding a sign before he would approve the construction of a church.

Mary then appeared a second time to Juan Diego and ordered him to collect roses. In a second audience with the bishop, Juan Diego opened his cloak, letting dozens of roses fall to the floor and revealing the image of Mary imprinted on the inside of the cloak — the image that is now venerated in the Basilica of Guadalupe.

Although the traditional view has been questioned by various scholars, defenders of the Virgin of Guadalupe — including Pope John Paul II, who canonized Juan Diego and declared Our Lady of Guadalupe the patroness of the Americas — accept the authenticity of the early documents and the various oral accounts of the apparition. Since 1556, a shrine devoted to the Virgin has existed in Tepeyac Hill.

Veneration of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been particularly strong among women, especially in Mexico, and since at least the early 18th century the devotion was spread throughout the world by the Jesuits and other religions. However, it’s not only limited to religious matters.

Our Lady of Guadalupe’s role has also played an important role in Mexican nationalism and identity. For example, in 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla promoted her as the patroness of the revolt he led against the Spanish.

During a religious revival in Mexico in the late 19th century, preachers declared that the foundation of Mexico could be dated to the time of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe because she freed the people from idolatry and reconciled the Spanish and indigenous peoples in a common devotion. Her continuing significance as a religious and national symbol is attested by the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who visit her shrine every year.