Marian Apparitions: Guadalupe
Guadalupe, Mexico; 1531
Witness
Juan Diego
Summary
Early on a December morning, Indian Juan Diego was attracted by beautiful sounds coming from Tepeyacac
hill near present-day Mexico city. The Blessed Virgin appeared to him and gave him the mission of having a 'temple' built there in order for
her to manifest her love and graces to the pagan peoples. The bishop, on this and on Sunday, questioned Juan but did not believe his messages.
On Tuesday, Juan was instructed by the Virgin to gather an assortment of roses (which had miraculously grown in early winter) from a hilltop. The relucant bishop and his
associates were amazed at the flowers, but moreso by the miraculous image of the Virgin which had appeared on the inside of Juan's tilma (cloak). Juan's uncle had been miraculously healed and visited
by the Virgin and revealed to him the title under which she desired to be honored: the
Virgin of Guadalupe. The requested church was erected within two years and was (and is)
the site of many conversions and healings.
Messages/Prophecies
"I wish that a temple be erected here quickly,
so I may therein exhibit and give all my love, compassion, help, and protection,
because I am your merciful mother, to you, and to all the inhabitants on this land and
all the rest who love me, invoke and confide in me; listen there to their lamentations, and remedy all their miseries, afflictions and sorrows." (First Apparition, Saturday)
Numerous miracles have been reported, two of the most prominent being the cessation of a typhus outbreak in 1545 after an appeal is made to the Lady and the
the halting of a deadly plague in 1736 when the Lady of Guadalupe was declared Patroness of Mexico.
"Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish." (Fourth Apparition, Tuesday)
Juan Diego was preoccupied with the care of his uncle, who was thought to be at the point of death after a doctor examined him. The uncle was instantly and miraculously cured at the time of this encounter with the Blessed Virgin.
"My son the least, this diversity of roses is the proof and the sign which you will take to the bishop. You will tell him in my name that he will see in them my wish and that he will have to comply to it." (Fourth Apparition)
Juan was able to pick a variety of rosas de Castillas at a time when the early winter's cold had killed all vegetation. The fragrant roses could not be grasped by the bishop's attendants who reached out to touch them.
The image of the Blessed Virgin miraculously appeared on the inside of Juan's tilma, a coarse clothe woven from the maguey cactus worn by the poor.
1. The tilma should have deteriorated long ago, but is still intact.
2. Acid spilled on it (1791) and a bomb (1921) failed to destroy the fragile tilma.
3. The eyes have been certified by several oculists to have the 'Samson-Purkinje effect' characteristic of human eyes.
4. Modern technology has revealed the images of several people in the eyes, likely the bishop and those who observed the unveiling of the tilma.
History records the greatest miracle of Guadalupe: after years of frustrating efforts to convert the Indians, over nine million Indians had
converted within ten years. There is no other explanation for this phenomenon.
The name 'Guadalupe' given to Juan's uncle may have been the Aztec word
"quatlasupe" or "who crushes the serpent". This recalls the prophecy of Genesis 3:15, also portrayed on the tilma.
Some of the
20,000 human annual human sacrfices of the pagan Aztecs were to Quetzalcoatl, the 'serpent god'.
Additional Online Resources
Extensive Information on the Apparition
Books About the Guadalupe
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