My mother was born on December 12, and when I realized that mom's birthday was the same day as Our Lady of Guadalupe Day in Mexico and around the world, I have been able to remember Guadalupe Day.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is a darker-skinned image of the Virgin Mary who is reported to have appeared to an Aztec peasant, Juan Diego, in 1531, on December 12. She spoke to him in his own indigenous language, Nahuatl. Her image is said to have appeared miraculously on his tilma, or cloak. And that garment is hung behind bullet proof glass in a basilica built near the spot where she spoke to Juan Diego. This spot is some six miles from the very downtown of Mexico City. The photo above is one I snapped inside the basilica.
In 1810 a banner with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was carried by revolutionary hero Miguel Hidalgo, as he and his followers fought for independence from Colonial Spain.
In many Guadalupe has become a symbol for the mixed race Mestizos in Mexico, and for the indigenous, as over against the European born Spanish. With her darker skin she is sometimes known as La Morenita, the little brown one. For the pure bloods the patroness of Mexico City was Our Lady of Remedies; for the others the patroness for the Americas is Our Lady of Guadalupe.
If there is a Catholic Church in an American city where recent immigrants from Mexico worship, it is probably named Our Lady of Guadalupe. I think that it is important to know a little bit about the tradition of this image of the Virgin Mary as we want to know more about our neighbors who trace their ancestry to Mexico.
Skeptics point out that the spot where she appeared to Juan Diego, and asked him to build a church is about the same place where the Aztec goddess Tonantzin, Mother God, was venerated.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is a darker-skinned image of the Virgin Mary who is reported to have appeared to an Aztec peasant, Juan Diego, in 1531, on December 12. She spoke to him in his own indigenous language, Nahuatl. Her image is said to have appeared miraculously on his tilma, or cloak. And that garment is hung behind bullet proof glass in a basilica built near the spot where she spoke to Juan Diego. This spot is some six miles from the very downtown of Mexico City. The photo above is one I snapped inside the basilica.
In 1810 a banner with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was carried by revolutionary hero Miguel Hidalgo, as he and his followers fought for independence from Colonial Spain.
In many Guadalupe has become a symbol for the mixed race Mestizos in Mexico, and for the indigenous, as over against the European born Spanish. With her darker skin she is sometimes known as La Morenita, the little brown one. For the pure bloods the patroness of Mexico City was Our Lady of Remedies; for the others the patroness for the Americas is Our Lady of Guadalupe.
If there is a Catholic Church in an American city where recent immigrants from Mexico worship, it is probably named Our Lady of Guadalupe. I think that it is important to know a little bit about the tradition of this image of the Virgin Mary as we want to know more about our neighbors who trace their ancestry to Mexico.
Skeptics point out that the spot where she appeared to Juan Diego, and asked him to build a church is about the same place where the Aztec goddess Tonantzin, Mother God, was venerated.
Here is our family at the new (1975) Basilica, where we visited in July 2006. Just over my head is the rostrum where Pope John Paul II celebrated mass for the assembled crowds when he visited the site. In the background are some golden words on a dark brown background, which are those spoken to Juan Diego by the Virgin Mary, "Am I not your mother?"
Many have read this to mean that the indigenous peoples of the Americas were recognized as worthy of respect, having human dignity, and dear to God. That is not a bad reminder for us, even today.
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