GUADALUPE

As the story goes, on the morning of December 9, 1531 Juan Diego was walking to the city from his home in a small village on the outskirts of Mexico City. On a hill outside the city, he saw a vision of a woman who identified herself as the Lady of Guadalupe, the Virgin Mother of Jesus. Juan Diego was an Aztec Indian and she spoke to him in his language and she appeared to be an Aztec. She told him that she wanted an abbey built on this site. An abbey is a christian compound, a monastery, with a church for the development of priests or nuns.



Juan Diego went to the local Catholic bishop and related what he had seen and been told. The bishop put him off as not to be believed. He told Juan to show him a miracle or at least some sign. The next day Juan went back to the hill and the Lady again appeared to him. He told her what the bishop said. She told him to come back to the hill the next day and to gather flowers that would be growing there. No flowers grew in this area at this time of year. When he returned, roses were in bloom. He picked many of them and put them in his cloak and took them to the bishop. When he got to the bishop, he opened his cloak and the roses fell on the floor before him. He and the bishop and others present were astonished to see that a picture of the Lady of Guadalupe had been imprinted on the common hemp cloak he wore.



The Lady's last appearance to Juan was on this day, December 12, 1531. It is estimated that 10 million Indians in Mexico were converted to Christianity in the next ten years. Thousands of churches were built during this period with free labor. In one small city, Cholula, the Indians built 365 churches.




The Virgin of Guadalupe became a national symbol. During the Mexican revolution, both sides fought under flags featuring this icon of Guadalupe. She was the one who melded the Spanish immigrants and the native Indians into the one people of Mexico.