Liturgy
Names of Mary

Our Lady Of Guadalupe

In 1521, the Spaniards conquered Mexico under the leadership of Hernan Cortez.  In Tenochtitlan (which became Mexico City), they encountered the Aztecs. The Aztecs were a highly developed and extremely religious people.  Their religious practice involved human sacrifices on the altars of their pyramids, offered mainly to two mighty gods: Tlaloc, the god of water, and Huitzilopochtli, the warrior god of the sun.  The Conquerors were appalled at this practice of human sacrifice in which the heart of the victim was ripped out of his chest, still beating, and passed through the lips of the stone carving of the gods.  Many of the Aztec pyramids and statues were leveled in an attempt to destroy this religion and to expulse from the land the demons responsible for these practices.  With the same stones taken from the pyramids, the first Catholic Churches were built in a symbolic gesture of consecrating this land to Christ.  The Aztecs did not accept Christianity easily.  There were many revolts and uprisings.  The number of conversions was minimal and the work of the missionaries was most discouraging. 

It was in this context that the newly appointed Archbishop, Juan Zumarraga, appealed for help from Heaven.  In 1531, his prayer was answered.  On December 9 (then the Feast of the Immaculate Conception), Our Blessed Mother appeared for the first time to a recent convert, St. Juan Diego, on Tepeyac Hill.  She asked that a house be built on Tepeyac where she would hear the weeping and sorrow of all those who had confidence in her.  She promised to remedy and alleviate all the sufferings and misfortunes of the people.  She asked that this message be taken by St. Juan Diego to the Bishop.  After returning to see the Bishop several times, St. Juan Diego was asked to bring proof that this message was authentic.  After hearing the Bishop’s request, Mary instructed St. Juan Diego to climb to the top of Tepeyac Hill and there he would find a garden of flowers.  He was to pick them and bring them to her.  St. Juan Diego did as Our Lady requested, transporting the flowers, wrapped in his tilma or cloak.  The flowers, which were roses, would be the sign asked for by the Bishop as roses did not bloom on the arid hill in the middle of December.  Furthermore these were Castillian roses, indigenous to Castille, the Spanish province where the Bishop was from.

The Miracle

When St. Juan Diego opened his tilma in the presence of the Bishop and several other witnesses, the roses fell to the floor and at the same time, the image of Our Lady appeared on the tilma.  The Bishop fell to his knees, begging forgiveness for he had not believed.   He took the tilma into his private chapel and placed it beside the Blessed Sacrament where he gave thanks and praise to the Lord for having been the recipient of such a wondrous gift.  Within two weeks, the first humble house or temple was erected on Tepeyac Hill.  Here, the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe would remain.  Word of the apparitions spread and people flocked to see the image of Our Lady. 

Because the image is really a codex full of Aztec symbolism, the Aztecs quickly understood that they were to embrace the Faith of the Missionaries.  The cross on her brooch, the only non-Aztec symbol, is the Christian cross of the Spaniards.  Her mantle is of the jade color, meaning for the Aztecs, that she is the pathway to the one true God.  She stands on the moon, in front of the sun, is dressed with the earth and is covered with the stars, (all Aztec gods), showing the fullness of the graces bestowed on her by true Life-giving God.  Because the Aztecs were awaiting the rebirth of the Sixth and final Sun of life, they recognized in this image, the fulfillment of this long awaited coming.  They saw all Aztec prophecies fulfilled.  This Woman comes bearing the Divine Life, as indicated by the four-petaled flower found on her womb.  This flower signals the dwelling place of the one true God for whom one lives, the God of Life.  Because the God of Life was now present with them, they understood that human sacrifices were no longer needed.  Hence, these sacrifices ceased.  This Woman was in fact redirecting hearts to leave old practices and to embrace the Gospel of Christ.  Without crushing the Aztecs, this Woman gently and lovingly evangelized them and several other nations on the continent were brought into this new Faith.

In the next ten years, nine million natives converted to Catholicism.  The missionaries, once discouraged in their efforts, were swamped with hundreds of baptisms every day. Our Lady more than compensated for the large numbers leaving the Catholic Church in Europe during the Reformation.  She came to a conquered and defeated people as a Mother and gently guided them to the Truth.  Without condemning them, she introduced Christ to them and promised to be present on this continent forever. 

The Tilma

The tilma itself is made from the fibers of the maguey plant and does not last more than 25-40 years, yet after 469 years, the original tilma can still be found in perfect condition in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac.  Scientific studies have determined that the image is not painted.  The colors used to make the image cannot be identified by science.  The eyes of Our Lady in the image have human qualities and reflections of those present in the room at the time of the apparition have been discovered in the inner eyes of the Virgin.  Because Our Lady comes carrying the Christ Child in her womb, her image has become associated with the Pro-life movement.  Let us once again recall that within a few years of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, all forms of human sacrifice ceased in Mexico.  A ritual practice that was rooted in the very grain of Aztec life, suddenly stopped. Today many healings and conversions are still experienced by those in the presence of the image.

Because the image appeared on the tilma in the presence of the Archbishop of Mexico, Juan Zumarraga, and several other witnesses, the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe have always been accepted by the Church.  The apparitions on Tepeyac affirmed the intercessory role of Mary in our salvation, in the largest mass conversion in the history of the Church.

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