Our Lady of Guadalupe:

“Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?” Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico

The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a title associated with the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a native peasant named Juan Diego in Mexico, in the year 1531. The feast is commemorated on December 12th every year as it was on this day that the fourth and final vision took place. On this day, Our Lady gave her miraculous portrait on the tilma of Juan Diego, as a sign for the Bishop to believe her messages. In the first and second visions, Our Lady asked that a church be built on the hill where the visions took place.

Today the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico is one of the most popular Catholic pilgrimage sites. The miraculous tilma with the portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe remains preserved from harm till date and is enshrined in this Basilica. Several Popes have visited the Shrine over the years and honoured Our Lady of Guadalupe with several titles "Queen of Mexico", "Patroness of the Americas", "Empress of Latin America", and "Protectress of Unborn Children" and "Mother of the Americas". On 25 March 1966, Pope Paul VI presented a Golden Rose to the sacred image. Pope Francis granted the image a second Golden Rose via Cardinal Marc Ouellet for presentation at the Basilica on 18 November 2013. Juan Deigo was canonized on 31 July 2002 by Pope John Paul II and his feast is celebrated on December 9.

The Apparition:

Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego in a series of four apparitions in December 1531. The first vision took place on December 9, when Juan was hurrying up the Tepeyac Hill to attend Holy Mass. Our Lady called out to him and said “Juan, smallest and dearest of my little children, where were you going?” After he explained our Lady introduced herself as the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and asked for a Church to be built on the hill. Juan went to the Bishop of Mexico, Fr. Juan de Zumarraga and informed about the vision and the message. But he was not taken seriously.

In the second vision, Juan pleaded with Our Lady to send someone else to the Bishop as he was not taken seriously. But Our Lady calmed him saying “Listen, little son. There are many I could send. But you are the one I have chosen for this task. Tomorrow morning, go back to the Bishop. Tell him it is the ever holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God who sends you, and repeat to him my great desire for a church in this place.” Juan again went back to the Bishop but was politely dismissed by him. But he didn’t give up. He again went and tried to convince the Bishop. This time the Bishop felt there was some honesty in him and told him to ask the vision for a sign.

On December 10, the third vision happened. During this vision, Juan informed Our Lady of the request of the Bishop for a sign.

The fourth and final vision happened on December 12th when Juan was hurrying to get a priest for his dying uncle. Our Lady appeared to him and asked him where he was going. When Juan explained she consoled him saying “Listen and let it penetrate your heart, my dear little son. Do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety 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? Do not let illness of your uncle worry you because he is not going to die of his sickness. At this very moment he is cured.”

The Lady then asked Juan to walk up higher the hill and collect the roses found there. The rocky nature of the place was unsuitable for growing any vegetation. Moreover it was the month of December when the weather was hostile to any growth. But Juan humbly obeyed and did as he was asked to and walked up the hill. There he found roses which were not native to the place. He gathered them in his tilma, a cloak made of cactus fibers. Our Lady arranged the flowers and cautioned him from showing the flowers to anybody other than the Bishop.

Juan went straight to the Bishop and opened his cloak to present the flowers to him. To his amazement, he found the bishop kneeling amongst the flowers and looking reverentially in awe at the picture of Our Lady that miraculously appeared on the tilma! Juan confirmed that the vision he saw was exactly like the one that was on the cloak.

Later when he went home, he found his uncle was restored back to perfect health. His uncle too had a vision of Our Lady who appeared to him. This was the fifth and final vision of Our Lady.

The bishop kept Juan Diego's mantle first in his private chapel and then in the church on public display where it attracted great attention. On December 26, 1531 a procession was formed to take the miraculous image back to Tepeyac where it was installed in a small hastily erected chapel. During the course of this procession, the first miracle was allegedly performed when an Indian was mortally wounded in the neck by an arrow shot by accident during some stylized martial displays executed in honour of the Virgin. In great distress, the Indians carried the wounded man before the Virgin's image and pleaded for his life. Upon the arrow being withdrawn, the victim made a full and immediate recovery.

The Miraculous Tilma:

The tilma is made of cactus cloth which usually disintegrates within twenty years. During its many examinations, it has been observed that the weave is so loose that one can see the other side through it. The figure of Our Lady measures four feet, eight inches in height. Artists confirm that the tilma is a fabric wholly unsuited for the painting. The portrait has no brush strokes and the image has had no need for restoration till date. In 1666, 135 years after the apparition, a Painter’s Commission was formed to study the painting and they concluded it as a work of God saying “Who alone is able to produce miraculous effects above all the forces of nature.”

A discovery was made in 1929, when the eyes of the portrait were examined. They found the reflection of a bearded face in the eyes, the likeness of which matches the portraits of Juan Diego. The finding was confirmed in 1951 and 1956. The natives who first studied the image read messages that were in their native language. Since the Lady stood in front of the sun, they understood that she was greater than their sun god Huitzilopochtli. Their moon god, Tezcatlipoca, also lost significance as Our Lady stood upon the moon’s crescent. That she was held up by a child with wings signalled that she was a heavenly being, yet her hands joined in prayer indicated that she was subject to One who was greater. The white fur at the neck and sleeves and the forty six stars were taken as a symbol of royalty. Their interpretations of the image led to whole tribes being converted to the Catholic Faith.

The miraculous tilma is today enshrined in the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

Juan Diego:

Juan Diego lived for 17 years following the apparition. He was appointed custodian of the tilma and lived in a small room attached to the church. He died at the age of seventy four in the year 1548. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Mexico on May 6, 1990 and was later canonized by Pope John Paul II on July 31, 2002. His feast day is celebrated on December 9.

Honors and Recognitions:

Several Popes have honoured the portrait and the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe beginning with Pope Benedict XIV, in the Papal bull Non Est Equidem of 25 May 1754, declared Our Lady of Guadalupe patroness of what was then named New Spain, corresponding to Spanish Central and Northern America, and approved liturgical texts for the Mass and the Breviary in her honor. On 8 February 1887, a Papal bull from Pope Leo XIII granted permission for a Canonical Coronation of the image, which occurred on 12 October 1895. Since then the Virgin of Guadalupe has been proclaimed "Queen of Mexico", "Patroness of the Americas", "Empress of Latin America", and "Protectress of Unborn Children" (the latter two titles given by Pope John Paul II in 1999). Under this title, she was also proclaimed "Heavenly Patroness of the Philippines" on 16 July 1935 by Pope Pius XI both witnessed and signed by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, a designation he later rescinded on 12 September 1942 upon becoming Pope Pius XII. Pope Pius XII accorded her the title "Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas" in 1945, and "Patroness of the Americas" in 1946. Pope John XXIII invoked her as "Mother of the Americas" in 1961, referring to her as Mother and Teacher of the Faith of All American populations.

On 25 March 1966, Pope Paul VI presented a Golden Rose to the sacred image. Pope John Paul II visited her shrine on 26 January 1979, and again when he beatified Juan Diego there on 6 May 1990. In 1992, he dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe a chapel within Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. At the request of the Special Assembly for the Americas of the Synod of Bishops, he reiterated her title of Patroness of the Americas on 22 January 1999 and granted the rank of feast in that region. He also included in the General Roman Calendar as an optional memorial the liturgical celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe on 12 December.

Pope Francis granted the image a second Golden Rose via Cardinal Marc Ouellet for presentation at the Basilica on 18 November 2013. The same he granted a new gold-plated silver crown with an accompanying prayer to the image during his Apostolic visit to the Basilica on 13 February 2016. On the crown was inscribed "Mater Mea, Spes Mea" ("My Mother My Hope"). This crown is stored within the chancery and is not publicly worn by the image enshrined at the altar.