Our Lady of Guadalupe

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Our Lady of Guadalupe
Fig. 1 Our Lady of Guadalupe
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The Legend

• In December 1531, Juan Diego, a Christianized
  Aztec, reported to Bishop Zumárragga that he was
  visited three times by a woman who identified
  herself as the ever virgin Holy Mary, Mother of
  the True God.

Fig. 2 Francisco Carden, Juan Diego
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• The woman had told Juan, whose Aztec name meant
  talking eagle, that she was to be called
  Guadalupe, and that she was the mother of the
  people of this new land. She would protect them,
  she assured Juan, and keep them in her shadow.
• Unlike the pale Virgin of the Spaniards, this
  Virgin had dark brown skin skin as brown as that
  of the people she vowed to protect.

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• The Bishop did not believe Juan and demanded a
  sign as proof.
• The woman in the visions instructed Juan to take
  the roses he would find on top of a mountain to
  the Bishop as a sign that she was the mother of
  God.

Fig. 3 Guadalupe and Juan
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• When Juan opened his tilma to show the
  flowers to the Bishop, an image of Guadalupe was
  revealed.

Fig. 4 Juan Diego and tilma
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Fig. 5 The Bishop and Juan Diego

• When the Bishop saw the image on the tilma, he
  fell to his knees in awe and worship. He would
  later order that a temple to Guadalupe, per her
  request, be built on Mt. Tepeyac, the site of the
  visitation.

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Fig. 6 Maximo Cerezo, Pilgrims in Mexico City
Nine million people would convert to Catholicism
within seven years of the visions, as they came
to claim Guadalupe as their mother and
protector. This is compared to the four million
who had converted in the previous twelve years.
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• It is easy to see why the Mexican Episcopate
  stated that "The Guadalupe Event meant the
  beginning of evangelization with a vitality that
  surpassed all expectations.
• Christ's message, through his Mother, took up
  the central elements of the indigenous culture,
  purified them and gave them the definitive sense
  of salvation.

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• Consequently Guadalupe and Juan Diego have a deep
  ecclesial and missionary meaning and are a model
  of perfectly inculturated evangelization(Solidari
  ty Institute).

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Sons of Guadalupe, Revolution, and Battling
Virgins

• Around 1648, Mesitzos and Criollos, those of
  mixed Spanish and Indigenous blood, who were
  treated as unequal and severely discriminated
  against by the Spanish government which
  controlled Mexico, began to call themselves los
  hijos de la Virgen de Guadalupe (sons of the
  Virgin of Guadalupe). They began to demand
  independence from Spain and to call for
  revolution.

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• In 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Criollo
  Catholic priest, would start the first Mexican
  Revolution with the cry "Long live Our Lady of
  Guadalupe and death to the gachupines! (a term
  used to refer to the Spaniards)

Fig. 7 Father Hidalgo
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• He would led the people into battle under the
  banner of Guadalupe.

Fig. 8 Banner of Guadalupe
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Fig. 9 La Virgen de Remedios

• The Federal Army would fight under the banner
  of another version of Mary,
• La Virgen de Remedios.

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• At one point in the conflict, the Federal
  troops even accused Guadalupe of being a traitor
  and executed her in effigy in front of a firing
  squad.

Fig. 10 Firing Squad
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• Once the wars were over and independence was
  achieved, the first president of Mexico, Manuel
  Felix Fernández, was installed in April of 1824.
  After taking office, he officially changed his
  name to Guadalupe Victoria (Guadalupe is
  victorious).

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Guadalupes Legacy

• In 1754, Pope Benedict XIV declared that
  Guadalupe was indeed a unique blessing from God
  to the Mexican people, and that God has not done
  in like manner to every nation (Poole 2).

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• In 1945, Pope Pius XII officially declared Our
  Lady of Guadalupe to be the Patroness of the
  Americas and mandated that all Catholic Churches
  in the Americas, from Canada to South America,
  honor and observe her feast day, December 12th.

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Fig. 11 Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

• Today, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe
  in Mexico City is the second most visited holy
  site in the world with around 15 million visitors
  a year. It is second only to the Vatican.

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Fig. 12 The altar area of the Basilica of Our
Lady of Guadalupe

• Each year, on her feast day, between two and
  three million pilgrims gather to offer prayers
  and to worship in front of what the Church claims
  is Juan Diegos actual tilma which hangs behind
  the pulpit.

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Fig. 14 Aztec Dancers at the Canonization
Ceremony II
Fig. 13 Aztec Dancers at the Canonization
Ceremony

• On July 31st, 2002, Pope John Paul II
  canonized Juan Diego in a ceremony that blended
  aspects of Catholicism and elements of the
  Indigenous religion.

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• In his speech that day, Pope John Paul II
  called on Juan Diego, "the talking eagle"! To
  Show us the way that leads to the "Dark Virgin"
  of Tepeyacfor she is the loving, compassionate
  Mother who guides us to the true God. (Pope John
  Paul II, Solidarity Institute)

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Works cited

• Poole, Stafford, C.M., Our Lady of Guadalupe The
  Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol,
  1531-1797, (Tucson University of Arizona Press,
  1996).
• Pope John Paul, Homily for St. Juan Diego, as
  quoted in Solidarity Institute, July 1, 2002
  lthttp//www.solidarityinstitute.org/
  faith/newsdet.asp?idnews185gt.
• Solidarity Institute, July 1, 2002
  lthttp//www.solidarityinstitute.org/
  faith/newsdet.asp?idnews185gt.

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Image Credits

• Fig. 1 Our Lady of Guadalupe. 1 October 2003.
  lthttp//www.sancta.org/cgi/ display.nor?imagei
  magen_pic_300w.jpggt.
• Fig. 2 Carden, Francisco. Juan Diego. 1777. 5
  October 2003. lthttp//www.proyectoguadalupe.co
  m/iconos2.htmlgt.
• Fig. 3 Guadalupe and Juan. lthttp//www.shjolg.com
  /gt.
• Fig. 4 Juan Diego and tilma. 5 October 2003.
  lthttp//www.sancta.org/ cgi/display.nor?imagej
  uandiego.jpggt.
• Fig. 5 The Bishop and Juan Diego.
  lthttp//www.shjolg.com/gt.
• Fig. 6 Cerezo, Maximo. Pilgrims in Mexico
  City. lthttp//www.stpaulchgo.org/
  diarydec/english/00000003.htmgt.                
                     
• Fig. 7 Father Hidalgo 5 October 2003.
  lthttp//www.tareasya.com/ laminarios/Hidalgo-a
  .gifgt.
• Fig. 8 Banner of Guadalupe 5 October 2003.
  lthttp//www.proyectoguadalupe.com/
  iconos2.htmlgt.
• Fig. 9 La Virgen de Remedios 1 October 2003.
  lthttp// www.cobosdesegovia.comgt.

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• Fig. 10 Firing Squad. British Military History.
  5 October 2003. lthttp//www.rfc-rnas- raf-registe
  r.org.uk/BritishMilitaryUniformIdentificationServi
  ce.htmgt.
• Figure 11 Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. 5
  October 2003. lthttp// www.sancta.org/
  basilica.htmlgt.
• Fig. 12 The altar area of the Basilica of Our
  Lady of Guadalupe showing the Mexican flag hung
  beneath the framed image of Guadalupe. 2
  Februrary 2002. lthttp//www.sancta.orggt.
• Fig. 13 Aztec Dancers at Canonization Ceremony.
  3 August 2002. lthttp//www.sancta.orggt.
• Fig. 14 Aztec Dancers at Canonization Ceremony
  II. 3 August 2002. lthttp//www.sancta.orggt.