Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!
FAQ… Our Lady of Guadalupe
1531, Mary appeared to Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac outside of Mexico City. (This same hill had previously witnessed the appearances of the serpent woman, a symbol of wisdom and peace for the native peoples of Mexico.) She spoke to Juan Diego in his native language, Nahuatl.
Juan Diego’s bishop was something of a skeptic when Juan Diego told him about Mary’s appearance, and told him to go ask for a miracle as proof. Juan Diego returned with his cloak filled with Castilian roses—not native to the barren hillside, and certainly unusual in mid-December. Mary’s image as a mestiza, a woman of Native American and European heritage, remained on Juan Diego’s cloak. Juan Diego’s cloak is enshrined in the Basilica of Our lady of Guadalupe in Mexico city, the most visited Marian shrine in the world.
Mary’s appearance as La Morenita, “the little brown one,” gave great dignity and holiness to the native and mestizo peoples of America. Mary appears as a pregnant woman, wearing the blue sash traditionally worn by expectant Aztec women, and clothed in a cloak in the color reserved for Aztec divinities. The image also reflects the Book of Revelation, a woman "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (12:1).
Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico. Her feast day has many traditions associated with it, like the singing of las mananitas, the birthday song.
Juan Diego was beatified in 1990 and made a saint in 2002. His feast day is December 9th and he is the patron of indigenous peoples.
Adapted from 2012 Sourcebook, LTP.
___________________________
Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423
