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| Depiction of Eternal Father with Jesus to the right painting Our Lady of Guadalupe |
Spanish missionaries who first began arriving in Mexico in the early part of 1500's had very little success there. After many years of hard work, only a few hundred Native Mexicans had converted to Christianity. One of the reason for this failed evangelical mission was that the missionaries failed to learn the culture of the land - a culture that professed a polytheistic and human sacrificing religion for centuries. But the heart of the problem rested in resentment of the Native Mexicans towards the missionaries - they associated Christianity with people who were fighting them (the Spaniards) in order to enslave them. The missionaries preaching about loving God and loving one another went unheard because of the cries of mutilated men, raped women and orphaned children. To the Natives, Christianity was anything but love and comfort - it was no different from the blood thirsty religion they were already practicing.
While walking from his home to Mexico City on the Feast day of Immaculate Conception in 1531, a peasant named Juan Diego saw a vision of a young Aztec girl surrounded by light on the slopes of the Hill of Tepeyac. Speaking to him Nahuatl, Juan's local dialect, she identified herself as the ever Virgin Holy Mary and asked him to submit a request to the local Bishop that a church be built there. The Bishop hesitated and wanted a sign. So the Lady appeared again to Juan Diego on December 12 and instructed him to gather flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill. Although December was very late for flowers to bloom, Juan Diego found Castillian roses, not native to Mexico, on the hilltop which the Virgin arranged in his peasant tilma cloak. When Juan Diego opened the cloak before Bishop Zumárraga, the rose flowers fell to the floor, and in its place was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe miraculously imprinted onto the fabric of the tilma. In less than 20 years since, 9 million Natives converted to Christianity.
God saw men failing miserably to follow His words by succumbing to violence and hypocrisy, all the while preaching the gospel of love and compassion. So He chose Mary to help the people of Mexico out of their miseries and to lead them to Jesus. In doing so, the Blessed Virgin followed the words of Gods spoken through the prophet Isaiah. She spoke to the heart of Mexico by appearing as a beautiful Aztec princess and speaking the local dialect. And she spoke with compassion and love - bringing comfort to a land in the midst of oppression and war. She didn't demand a church to be built, instead she made a request! When asked for a sign, she granted them with a sign, through the grace of God, that would withstand the test of time.
Through Our Lady of Guadalupe, God teaches us that if we want to help someone appreciate the gospel we bring, then we must appreciate the culture and mentality in which they live their lives. And through Juan Diego, He once again proved how God uses the insignificant of the society to achieve great things. "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will" (Matthew 11:25,26).
Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Patron of the Americas, and her Feast is celebrated on December 12.
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