[Salvation]

American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

December 12, 2006

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The feast in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to the sixteenth century. Chronicles of that period tell us the story.

A poor Indian named Cuauhtlatohuac was baptized and given the name Juan Diego. He was a 57-year-old widower and lived in a small village near Mexico City. On Saturday morning, December 9, 1531, he was on his way to a nearby barrio to attend Mass in honor of Our Lady.

He was walking by a hill called Tepeyac when he heard beautiful music like the warbling of birds. A radiant cloud appeared and within it a young Native American maiden dressed like an Aztec princess. The lady spoke to him in his own language and sent him to the bishop of Mexico, a Franciscan named Juan de Zumarraga. The bishop was to build a chapel in the place where the lady appeared.

Eventually the bishop told Juan Diego to have the lady give him a sign. About this same time Juan Diego’s uncle became seriously ill. This led poor Diego to try to avoid the lady. The lady found Diego, nevertheless, assured him that his uncle would recover and provided roses for Juan to carry to the bishop in his cape or tilma.

When Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop’s presence, the roses fell to the ground and the bishop sank to his knees. On Juan Diego’s tilma appeared an image of Mary as she had appeared at the hill of Tepeyac. It was December 12, 1531.

Comment:

Mary's appearance to Juan Diego as one of his people is a powerful reminder that Mary and the God who sent her accept all peoples. In the context of the sometimes rude and cruel treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards, the apparition was a rebuke to the Spaniards and an event of vast significance for Native Americans. While a number of them had converted before this incident, they now came in droves. According to a contemporary chronicler, nine million Indians became Catholic in a very short time. In these days when we hear so much about God's preferential option for the poor, Our Lady of Guadalupe cries out to us that God's love for and identification with the poor is an age-old truth that stems from the Gospel itself.

Quote:

Mary to Juan Diego: “My dearest son, I am the eternal Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God, Author of Life, Creator of all and Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth...and it is my desire that a church be built here in this place for me, where, as your most merciful Mother and that of all your people, I may show my loving clemency and the compassion that I bear to the Indians, and to those who love and seek me...” (from an ancient chronicle).

[Salvation]

 

Our Lady of Guadlupe

Our Lady of Guadlalupe

The Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe The only true picture of the Mother of God To the Aztecs a message To the Spaniards a picture color, lines, stars, designs, rays, moon. all have meaning  Flowers and Songs Mary appeared on Tepeyac, the hill was covered with flowers, surrounded by songs of the most beautiful birds meaning: flowers and songs mean the full truth  DESCRIPTION Image Size of the image: 6 1/2' X 3 1/2' Mary adolescent, around 15, oval face, Mexican clear dark face, a little mother Angel as a caryatid, wings half open, sustain Our Lady red, white, blue in color the angel is holding both: the pink dress represents earth; the blue mantle represents heaven meaning: Heaven and earth are witnesses to the truth of the apparition message Stars Brightest gold - finest - royalty: as if woven, as if they would fall at touch 48 stars, 8 points; 22 on right, 26 on left show constellations that were in the sky at the time of the apparition 10:30 am December 12, 1531 pattern: The stars on one side represent the northern constellations, the others represent the southern constellations. Can see Venus the morning star, Virgo would fall on the hands, Leo on the womb, crown of stars on the head. Dress in Nahuatl the designs of gold thread as embroidered flowers of 8 petals represent mountains; the only 4-petal flower on womb just below sash in the center means life and movement Sash tied around the waist; symbol of pregnancy Central part of dress bulging - means She is with child Cuffs End of dress rolled back over the sleeves white fur means nobility - dressed in Jewish nobility - nothing Indian about it Hands joined in prayer of supplication, therefore not a goddess; there is someone greater than Her Moon stands on moon, horns up - Rev. 12:1 moon pagan god of night, providence, youth, war She is greater than the moon Sun mighty god; Our Lady blocks the sun behind Her She is brighter than the sun god Rays rays bright near body, fade out away from body 129 rays - 62 on right, 67 on left equidistant alternating forms: 1) straight like swords 2) undulating flames Red Border because of rising sun - new life Cloud surrounding the entire image