History of the Appearance of

On Saturday, December 9, 1531, a 57 year-old man, widower and native of the region of Tepeyac, ; who had recently been baptized as and was on his way to attend Mass when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him speaking his native language and with the face and features of the peasant people of that place and time; she resembled an Aztec princess in appearance and was surrounded by light. The Lady spoke to Juan Diego and asked him to go to the city and tell the bishop that she wanted a shrine to be built in her honor, on the spot where she stood at Tepeyac Hill.

Juan Diego recognized the Lady as the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of God. He went to the bishop as instructed; however, the bishop was doubtful and told Juan Diego that he needed a sign.

On December 12, Juan Diego had gone to see the Lady; he was on his way to look for a priest to come administer the last rights to his very sick uncle. As he tried to skirt around Tepeyac Hill, the Lady intercepted him, assured him his uncle would not die and asked him to climb the hill and gather the flowers he would find there. She told him: “Listen to me. Do not let anything bother you, and do not be afraid of any illness, pain or accident. Am I not here, your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? What more could you want? Don’t worry about your uncle. He is well already.”

Nothing normally bloomed in the region that time of the year, but Juan Diego found roses, similar to those of Castille, Spain where the local bishop was originally from. Juan Diego brought the roses back to the Lady in his tilma, (a cloak made with coarse fibers). The Lady rearranged the roses carefully in the tilma and instructed Juan Diego not to open it before anyone but the bishop. When Juan Diego met the bishop, and opened the tilma to show him the sign he had requested, the roses fell to the floor. The bishop immediately knelt down, because there on the tilma, was the image of the Lady who had appeared to Juan Diego, miraculously impressed on the cloth.

On that same day, the Lady appeared to Juan Diego’s uncle and cured him. His uncle later went to the bishop and told how the Lady had cured him. Shortly after, the bishop acknowledged the miracle and ordered that a shrine be built where the Virgin Mary had appeared to Juan Diego.

Additional Information

Pope John Paul II Named Our Lady of Guadalupe as the Mother of Hope and Mother and Evangelizer of the Americas, at the historical First Synod of all Bishops of America in Rome, in December 1998. The Holy Father announced a new mission in America under her patronage in his Apostolic Exhortation, “The Church in America”, his summary, of that First Synod which was delivered at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on January 23, 1999.

Below is an excerpt from the referenced Apostolic Exhortation by Pope John Paul II…

“Throughout the continent, from the time of the first evangelization, the presence of the Mother of God has been strongly felt, thanks to the efforts of the missionaries. In their preaching, “the Gospel was proclaimed by presenting the Virgin Mary as its highest realization. From the beginning — invoked as Our Lady of Guadalupe — Mary, by her motherly and merciful figure, was a great sign of the closeness of the Father and of Jesus Christ, with whom she invites us to enter into communion”. (19)

The appearance of Mary to the native Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac in 1531 had a decisive effect on evangelization. (20) Its influence greatly overflows the boundaries of Mexico, spreading to the whole Continent.

America, which historically has been, and still is, a melting-pot of peoples, has recognized in the mestiza face of the Virgin of Tepeyac, “in Blessed Mary of Guadalupe, an impressive example of a perfectly *inculturated evangelization”. (21) Consequently, not only in Central and South America, but in North America as well, the Virgin of Guadalupe is venerated as Queen of all America. (22)

With the passage of time, pastors and faithful alike have grown increasingly conscious of the role of the Virgin Mary in the evangelization of America. In the prayer composed for the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops, Holy Mary of Guadalupe is invoked as “Patroness of all America and Star of the first and new evangelization”.

In view of this, I welcome with joy the proposal of the Synod Fathers that the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother and Evangelizer of America, be celebrated throughout the continent on December 12.(23)

It is my heartfelt hope that she, whose intercession was responsible for strengthening the faith of the first disciples(cf. Jn 2:11), will by her maternal intercession guide the Church in America, obtaining the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as she once did for the early Church (cf. Acts 1:14), so that the new evangelization may yield a splendid flowering of Christian life.”

For more information visit :http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp- ii_exh_22011999_ecclesia-in-america_en.html or http://jkmi.com/documents/thechurchinamerica.pdf