Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Our Mexican Friends, and a Related Personal Remembrance

WEDNESDAY IS THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, also called the Virgin of Guadalupe, in Roman Catholicism. December 12 celebrates the appearance of the Virgin Mary before St. Juan Diego in a vision in 1531. The name also refers to the apparition of Mary, itself. Our Lady of Guadalupe holds a special place in the religious life of MEXICO and is one of the most popular religious devotions in the country. Her image has played an important role as a national symbol of Mexico. December 12 also plays an important role in the lives of some of us who are connected by this blog -- but more of that later. • • • THE STORY OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE. According to tradition, Mary appeared to Juan Diego, who was an Aztec convert to Christianity, on December 9 and again on December 12, 1531. She requested that a shrine to her be built on the spot where she appeared, Tepeyac Hill -- now in a suburb of Mexico City. Bur, the bishop demanded a sign before he would approve construction of a church. Mary 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. • The traditional view has been questioned by various scholars and ecclesiastics, including the former abbot of the Basilica of Guadalupe. The primary objection is that there is no documentary evidence for the apparition until 1648, so critics claim that documents purporting to be from the 16th century are actually from the 17th. Critics have also noted that the bishop approached by Juan Diego was not consecrated until 1534, and he makes no mention of Juan Diego or of Our Lady of Guadalupe in his writings. 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 point also to various oral accounts of the apparition. • Pope John Paul’s actions were the latest in a series of developments affirming the importance of Our Lady of Guadalupe. A shrine to the Virgin has existed on the site where she appeared to Juan Diego since at least 1556, when the archbishop of New Spain promoted devotion to the image of Mary at a chapel in Tepeyac. The image was described by an English prisoner in Mexico City in 1568, and by the end of the 16th century, Our Lady of Guadalupe formed part of a wide network of shrines to the Virgin throughout Mexico. The story of Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego was codified in the work of Miquel Sánchez in 1648, and an account in the indigenous language (Nahuatl) was published in 1649 and widely accepted as accurate. The devotion continued to grow, especially after Our Lady of Guadalupe was credited with ending a deadly epidemic of hemorrhagic fever that ravaged Mexico City in 1736–37. In 1737, she was proclaimed patroness of Mexico City, and in 1746 her patronage was accepted by all the territories of New Spain, which included part of present-day California, as well as Mexico and regions as far south as Guatemala and El Salvador. In 1754, Pope Benedict XIV approved her patronage and granted her a proper feast and mass for December 12. Pope Pius X proclaimed her the patroness of Latin America in 1910, and in 1935 Pius XI approved her patronage over the Philippines. Veneration of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been particularly strong among women, especially in Mexico, and since at east the early 18th century the devotion was spread throughout the world by the Jesuits and other religious. • Our Lady of Guadalupe’s role in Mexican history is not limited to religious matters. She has played an important role in Mexican nationalism and identity. In 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla promoted her as the patroness of the revolt he led against the Spanish. The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared on the rebels’ banners, and the rebels’ battle cry was “Long Live Our Lady of Guadalupe.” 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. Emiliano Zapata’s peasant rebels carried the banner of Our Lady when they entered Mexico City in 1914, and, during the civil war in Mexico in 1926–29, the banners of the rebels bore her image. Her continuing significance as a religious and national symbol is attested by the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who visit her shrine every year. The three most important religious celebrations in Central and South America are Christmas, Easter, and December 12, the feast-day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Her appearance in the center of the American continents has contributed to the Virgin of Guadalupe being given the title "Mother of America." • • • THE APPARITION. The account of the five apparitions in three days is based on the oldest written record of the miracle of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Nican Mopohua, written in Náhuatl about 1540 by Don Antonio Valeriano, one of the first Aztec Indians educated by the Franciscans at the Bishop's Colégio de la Santa Cruz. An illustration of the apparition event with the signatures of Don Antonio Valeriano and his teacher Father Bernardino de Sahagún with the date 1548 was recently uncovered in a private collection in 1995, now referred to as the Codex 1548. The Codex 1548 has been scientifically determined to be genuine, and substantiates the historical basis of the apparition of Guadalupe. The Jesuit Father Miguel Sanchez published the first Spanish work on Guadalupe, Imagen de la Virgen Maria Madre de Dios de Guadalupe in 1648. Brother Luis Lasso de la Vega published in Náhuatl the Nican Mopohua; the Nican Motecpana, an account of fourteen miracles of Our Lady; and other documents in a collection known as Huey Tlamahuizoltica in 1649. The theologian Luis Becerra Tanco published his work on the tradition of Guadalupe in 1675. Finally, the Jesuit professor of theology Francisco de Florencia produced his account of the apparition in 1688. These four writers have been important in the preservation of the tradition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The history of the apparition is of prime importance. The precipitous conversion of over 8 million Aztec Indians to Catholicism in seven years is highly indicative of the miracle of Guadalupe. Dr Alan Schreck of Franciscan University has pointed out that great historical movements do not result from non-events. • The Aztec Indian Cuauhtlatoatzin, which means "the one who speaks like an eagle," was born in 1474. He married a girl named Malintzin, and they lived with an uncle near Lake Texcoco. The three were among the few to be baptized in the early days, most likely by Father Toribio in 1525, and given the names Juan Diego and Maria Lucia, and the uncle Juan Bernardino. Maria Lucia was childless, and died a premature death in 1529. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was a widower at age 55, and turned his life to God. It was his custom to attend Mass and catechism lessons at the Church in Tlatelolco. At daybreak, on Saturday, December 9, 1531, Juan Diego began his journey to Church. As he passed a hill named Tepeyac, on which once stood a temple to the Aztec mother god Tonantzin, he heard songbirds burst into harmony. Music and songbirds presaged something divine for the Aztec. The music stopped as suddenly as it had begun. A beautiful girl with tan complexion and bathed in the golden beams of the sun called him by name in Náhuatl, his native language, "Juan Diego!" The young woman said : "Dear little son, I love you. I want you to know who I am. I am the Virgin Mary, Mother of the one true God, of Him who gives life. He is Lord and Creator of heaven and of earth. I desire that there be built a temple at this place where I want to manifest Him, make him known, give Him to all people through my love, my compassion, my help, and my protection. I truly am your merciful Mother, your Mother and the Mother of all who dwell in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me, of those who cry to me, and of those who seek and place their trust in me. Here I shall listen to their weeping and their sorrows. I shall take them all to my heart, and I shall cure their many sufferings, afflictions, and sorrows. So run now to Tenochtitlan and tell the Lord Bishop all that you have seen and heard." Juan Diego went to the palace of the Franciscan Bishop Juan de Zumárraga, and after rude treatment by the servants, was granted an audience with the Bishop. The Bishop was cordial but hesitant on the first visit and said that he would consider the request of the Lady and politely invited Juan Diego to come visit again. Dismayed, Juan returned to the hill and found Mary waiting for him (second apparition). He asked her to send someone more suitable to deliver her message "for I am a nobody." She said on this second visit, "Listen, little son. There are many I could send. But you are the one I have chosen for this task. So, 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." So, Sunday morning, December 10, Juan Diego called again on the Bishop for the second time. Again with much difficulty, he was finally granted an audience. The Bishop was surprised to see him and told him to ask for a sign from the Lady. Juan Diego reported this to the Virgin (third apparition), and she told him to return the following morning for the sign. However, when Juan Diego returned home he found his uncle Juan Bernardino gravely ill. Instead of going back to Tepeyac, he stayed home with his dying uncle on Monday. Juan Diego woke up early Tuesday morning, December 12th, 1531, to bring a priest from the Church of Santiago at Tlatelolco, so that his uncle might receive the last blessing. Juan had to pass Tepeyac hill to get to the priest. Instead of the usual route by the west side of the hill, he went around the east side to avoid the Lady. Guess who descended the hill on the east side to intercept his route! The Virgin said, "Least of my sons, what is the matter?" Juan was embarrassed by her presence (fourth apparition). "My Lady, why are you up so early? Are you well? Forgive me. My uncle is dying and desires me to find a priest for the Sacraments. It was no empty promise I made to you yesterday morning. But my uncle fell ill." Mary said, "My little son. Do not be distressed and afraid. "Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the fountain of your joy? Are you not in the fold of my mantle, in the cradle of my arms? Your uncle will not die at this time. This very moment his health is restored. There is no reason now for your errand, so you can peacefully attend to mine. Go up to the top of the hill; cut the flowers that are growing there and bring them to me." Flowers in December? Impossible, thought Juan Diego. But he was obedient, and sure enough found beautiful Castilian roses on the hilltop. As he cut them, he decided the best way to protect them against the cold was to cradle them in his tilma -- a long, cloth cape worn by the Aztecs, and often looped up as a carryall. He ran back to Mary and she rearranged the roses and tied the lower corners of the tilma behind his neck so that nothing would spill, and said, "You see, little son, this is the sign I am sending to the Bishop. Tell him that now he has his sign, he should build the temple I desire in this place. Do not let anyone but him see what you are carrying. Hold both sides until you are in his presence and tell him how I intercepted you on your way to fetch a priest to give the Last Sacraments to your uncle, how I assured you he was perfectly healed and sent you up to cut these roses, and myself arranged them like this. Remember, little son, that you are my trusted ambassador, and this time the Bishop will believe all that you tell him." This fourth apparition was the last known time Juan Diego ever saw the Virgin Mary. Juan called for the third time on the Bishop and explained all that had passed. Then Juan put up both hands and untied the corners of crude cloth behind his neck. The looped-up fold of the tilma fell; the flowers he thought were the precious sign tumbled out on the floor. The Bishop rose from his chair and fell on his knees in adoration before the tilma, as well as everyone else in the room. For on the tilma was the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary just as described by Juan Diego. Meanwhile, in the course of these events, Juan Bernardino, the dying uncle, suddenly found his room filled with a soft light. A luminous young woman filled with love was standing there and told him he would get well. During this fifth apparition, she told him that she had sent his nephew, Juan Diego, to the Bishop with an image of herself and said, "Call me and my image the ever Virgin Saint Mary of Guadalupe." • The news of the appearance of the Indian mother who left her imprint on the tilma spread like wildfire. Three points were appreciated by the native population. First, the lady was Indian, spoke Náhuatl, the Aztec language, and appeared to an Indian, not a Spaniard. Second, Juan Diego explained that she appeared at Tepeyac, the place of Tonantzin, the mother god, sending a clear message that the Virgin Mary was the mother of the true God, and that the Christian religion was to replace the Aztec religion. And third, the Indians, who learned through pictures and symbols in their culture of the image, grasped the meaning of the tilma, which revealed the beautiful message of Christianity, instead of the horrendous life they had endured sacrificing humans to appease the frightening Aztec gods. It was no wonder that over the next seven years, from 1531 to 1538, eight million natives of Mexico converted to Catholicism. • THE TILMA. The tilma itself was a cape worn by the Indians of the time, made of ayate, a coarse fiber from agave or the maguey plant. The cape measures 5.5 x 4.6 feet, and is made in two parts sewn by a vertical seam made with thread of the same material. The natural life of the fiber is roughly 20 years to 30 years at most, yet the tilma and the image remain intact after 480 years, in spite of moisture, handling, and candles. Scientific studies of the tilma have been undertaken through the years, which have served to confirm its supernatural nature. The tilma remains just as vibrant as ever, having never faded. Famous Mexican artists such as Miguel Cabrera (1695-1768) determined that it is impossible for the rough surface of the tilma to support any form of painting. Furthermore, the tilma appeared to embody four different kinds of painting, oil, tempura, watercolor, and fresco, blended in an inexplicable fashion. One of the unusual characteristics of the tilma is that up close the features are unremarkable, but the tone and depth emerge beyond six or seven feet and the image becomes more radiant and photogenic. The astonishing discovery that reflections of people in Mary's eyes, perhaps Juan Diego and Bishop Zumarraga or the interpreter Juan Gonzalez, were confirmed by two scientists in 1956. This phenomenon is seen only with human eyes, not in a painting. Studies by infra-red photography in May of 1979 were undertaken by Philip C. Callahan, a research biophysicist at the University of Florida. He ruled out brush strokes, over-painting, varnish, sizing, or even preliminary drawings by an artist in the body of the image. Damage from a 1629 flood was apparent at the edges of the tilma. He concluded that the original image on the tilma has qualities of color and uses the weave of the cloth in such a way that the image could not be the work of human hands. The tilma of Juan Diego is the only known divine image of the Blessed Virgin Mary that exists on Earth. • • • THE AFTERMATH. Seven million people from the Americas visit the Virgin of Guadalupe every year, especially on December 12, the annual celebration of the miracle. On visits to Mexico City, one sees the Virgin of Guadalupe pictured everywhere -- in the airport, taxis, bakeries, even on street corners. Popes have recognized Our Lady of Guadalupe. Pope John XXIII was the first to call the Virgin "Mother of the Americas" on October 12, 1961. John Paul II was the first Pope to visit the Guadalupe shrine on January 27, 1979. On January 23, 1999, in his Homily at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pope John Paul II, referring to all of the Americas as one single continent, called the Virgin of Guadalupe the "Mother of America." Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego on July 31, 2002. • To all our Mexican and American friends, celebrate the day and be grateful for your blessings. • • • DEAR READERS, the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is fascinating, even for those who don't agree with the divine connotations, because the legend played such an important role in both the humanist development of Mexico and in the preservation of indigenous peoples and their culture. To understand people, we need to know more than how they vote, or where they come from. We need to know what is in their hearts as a people. • But, for me, December 12 is a special day for another reason. Several years ago, a young man, a soldier, who was a dear friend of some of us, was gravely beaten and shot by terrorists and left to die. His brothers-in-arms found him and he was hospitalized for some months. I prayed to Our Lady to help him through his suffering, because his injuries were such that it was clear he would not survive. I know she heard my prayers, because he died on December 12, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. His suffering and death agony were over. Rest in Peace, dear freind.