Guadalupe, Mexico (1531)

Summary Mary proclaimed herself "the Mother of the true God who gives life" and left her image permanently upon the tilma of St. Juan Diego, a man newly converted to Christianity. Her likeness was given as a sign to Bishop Zumarraga, who abided by her wishes and constructed a church on Mt. Tepeyacac, the site of the apparitions. Millions of natives were converted to Christianity during the period following her visit. Our Lady of Guadalupe has been designated as the Patron Saint of the Americas.

Timeline

1474	Quauhtlatoatzin (Juan Diego) is born in Cuautitlan.
1476	Juan de Zumarraga was born in Spain.
1492	Christopher Columbus lands on an island in the Americas and named it San Salvador.
1514	The first Marian Shrine in the New World is established in the city of Higuey.
1519	Hernan Cortez lands in Mexico
1521	The capital city of the Aztecs falls under Cortez
1524	The first 12 Franciscans arrive in Mexico City
1525	Quauhtlatoatzin is baptized by a Franciscan priest and receives the Christian name of Juan Diego
1528	Friar Juan de Zumarraga arrives in the New World
1529	Juan Diego’s wife, Maria, dies
Dec 9, 1531	The Virgin appears to Juan Diego on top of mount Tepeyacac speaking to him in Nahuatl, his native tongue. She called him “Xocoyte,” her little son. She requests that he petition the bishop of Mexico that a “teocalli,” a sacred little house, be built on the spot. Juan Diego, calling her her “Xocoyata,” his littlest daughter, agrees to comply with her mandate and meets with the Bishop who listens to the message but does not believe his words. On his return he encounters the Virgin again who insists that he return to the Bishop with the same message the next day.
Dec 10, 1531	Juan does not return to the bishop the next day because his uncle Juan Bernardino takes ill and requests Juan Diego to find a priest for his final confession.
Dec 11, 1531	Juan goes from his home to Tlatilolco to summon a priest and despite trying to avoid her, encounters along the way the Virgin who promises that his uncle will be cured. She urges him to climb to the top of the hilltop and gather the roses growing there in December as the sign for the Bishop to believe. When the Bishop finally received him, Juan unfurled his tilma and revealed the image of the Virgin miraculously painted there.
Dec 12, 1531	Juan Diego shows the Bishop the location of the apparition on which the church was to be built. He then returned to his uncle who was cured of his illness and had an experienced a visitation from the Virgin himself.
Dec 24, 1531	Bishop Zumarraga writes a letter to Cortez stating: "I want to dedicate my cathedral to the Immaculate Conception because it was during that feast that God and his Blessed Mother deigned to shower the land you won with great favor."
1533	The first sanctuary is erected at the request of the Virgin. With the Bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Virgin.
1541	Franciscan priest and early historian of New Spain “Motolinia” writes that some nine million Aztecs had become Christians
1548	Bishop Juan de Zumarraga dies.
May 30, 1548	Juan Diego dies and is buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
1548	The Codex 1548 is discovered in a private collection. it commemorates the death of Juan Diego in 1548 and provides the earliest illustration of him and the earliest reference to his birth name, Cuauhtlatoatzin. It is signed by Antonio Valeriano and Bernardindo de Sahagun.
1555	In the Provincial Counsel, the second archbishop of Mexico, Alonso de Montúfar, formulates canons that indirectly approved the apparitions.
1556	Archbishop Montúfar begins the erection of the second church
1561	The Valeriano Relation (the Nican Mopohua) is written by an Indian named Antonio Valeriano between 1551 and 1561.
1564	An image is carried on the first formal expedition to the Philippine Islands
1567	The new church ordered by Archbishop Montufar is completed.
1570	Archbishop Montufar sends an oil painted copy of the image of Guadalupe to King Philip II of Spain
1571	Admiral Doria carries a copy of the image aboard ship during the battle of Lepanto and attributes the victory over the Ottoman Empire to the Virgin of Guadalupe
1573	The “Primitive Relation” is written by the historian Juan de Tovar, who transcribed the story from a still earlier source, probably Juan Gonzalez, Bishop’s Zumarraga’s translator.
1647	The image is covered with glass for the first time.
1648	The priest Miguel Sanchez publishes “Image of the Virgin Mary, Guadalupan Mother of God” in Mexico City
1649	Luis Lasso de la Vega publishes the “Huey Tlanahuicoltica”, telling the story in Nahuatl. It refers to earlier Nahuatl sources.
1666	A formal inquiry and investigation, named Informaciones Guadalupana, is conducted by the Church from February 18 to March 22. Juan Diego was called a "holy man".
1695	The first stone of the new sanctuary is laid..
1709	The new sanctuary is solemnly dedicated
1723	Another formal investigation is ordered by Archbishop Lanziego y Eguilaz
1737	The Most Holy Mary of Guadalupe is chosen as the patroness of the city of Mexico
1746	The patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe is accepted for all of New Spain (California to El Salvador)
1746	The knight Boturini Benaducci promotes the solemn and official coronation of the image
1754	Benedict XIV approves the patronage of New Spain and granted a Mass and Office proper to the celebration of the feast on December 12
1756	Painter Miguel Cabrera publishes his extensive study of the Image in the book “American Marvel”
1757	The Virgin of Guadalupe is declared patroness of the citizens of Ciudad Ponce in Puerto Rico
1767	The religious of the Society of Jesus are expelled from the Spanish dominions, and the image is carried to various parts of the world
1895	The coronation of the image is performed, with pontifical authority and the a great part of the episcopate of the Americas in attendance
1910	Pius X declares the Virgin of Guadalupe Patroness of Latin America
1911	A church is built on the site of Juan Bernardino’s home
1921	A bomb placed beneath the image explodes but the tilma survives
1924	A very important 16th century source documenting the miracle is found in Tetlapalco, Peru in 1924 by anthropologist M.H. Saville. It is a pictorial calendar known as the Codex Saville-Tetlapalco and shows the image of our Lady located in the position representing the year 1531
1928	A coronation of the image was made in Santa Fe, Argentina
1929	First documented note of an apparent reflected image of a man’s head in the right eye of the Virgin, by photographer Alfonso Marcue
1935	Pius XI extended the patronage of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the Philippines
1945	Pius XII states that the Virgin of Guadalupe was the “Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas” and that she had been painted “by brushes that were not of this world”
1946	Pope Pius XII declares her to be the Patroness of the Americas
1951	Carlos Salinas examines the tilma and observes the apparent reflection of a man's head in the right eye of the Virgin
1956	Dr. Torroela-Bueno, an ophthalmologist, examines the eyes of the Virgin on the tilma
1958	Dr. Rafael Torija-Lavoignet publishes his study of the Purkinje-Sanson effect as exhibited in the Guadalupan image
1961	Pope John XXIII prays to her as Mother of the Americas. He addresses her as Mother and Teacher of the Faith to the peoples of the Americas
1962	Dr. Charles Wahlig, O.D. announces the discovery of two images apparently reflected in the eyes of the Virgin when studying a photograph enlarged twenty five times
1966	Pope Paul VI sends a Golden Rose to the Basilica
1975	Glass is removed so the image could be examined by another ophthalmologist, Dr. Enrique Grave
1976	The New Basicilica of our Lady of Guadalupe located four miles from central Mexico City, is dedicated
1979	Dr. Philip Callahan takes 40 frames of infra-red photographs of the image. Later concluded that the original image is unexplainable as a human work
1979	Pope John Paul II called her the “Star of Evangelization”, knelt before her image, invoked her motherly assistance and called upon her as Mother of the America's.
1979	Dr, Jose Aste Tonsmann, announces the finding of at least four human figures  apparently reflected in both eyes of the Virgin. Dr. Tosmann used sophisticated image processing techniques with digitized photographs of both eyes.
1987	The Congregation for the Causes of Saints declares Juan Diego venerable
1988	The liturgical celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 is raised to the status of a feast in all dioceses in the United States
May 6, 1990	Juan Diego is beatified on 6 May 1990 by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Mexico City. The Pope declares Dec. 9 the feast of Juan Diego and invokes him as “protector and advocate of the indigenous peoples.”
1992	Pope John Paul II dedicates a chapel in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Peter’s Basilica
1995	The Codex 1548 is discovered in a private collection. it commemorates the death of Juan Diego in 1548 and provides the earliest illustration of him and the earliest reference to his birth name, Cuauhtlatoatzin. It is signed by Antonio Valeriano and Bernardindo de Sahagun.
1996	Controversy over the historical authenticity of Juan Diego is stirred in 1996 by Father William Schulenburg, a longtime abbot of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who calls Juan Diego a "mythical character".
Oct. 28, 1998	The Vatican subsequently established a commission of 30 researchers from various countries to investigate the question of the historical authenticity of Juan Diego. The commission successfully proved that Juan Diego had indeed existed, and the results of their research were presented to the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Among research documents submitted at that time were 27 Guadalupe Indian documents. One called the “Escalada,” co-authored by Valeriano and Franciscan Friar Bernardino de Sahagun, contained a death certificate of Juan Diego.
1999	Pope John Paul II, during his third visit to the sanctuary, declares the date of December the 12th as a Liturgical Holy Day for the whole continent
July 31, 2002	Juan Diego is Canonized by Pope John Paul II in Mexico City

Messages

The Blessed Virgin appeared four times to Juan Diego. In her messages she asked for his obedience in petitioning Bishop Zumarragato erect a church on the hill of Tepeyacac.


Miracles and Signs

The tilma was made from cactus fibres and as such should have turned into dust after approximately twenty years. Instead it has survived and been on diplay to the faithful for nearly 500 years despite being exposed to the smoke of candles throughout the centuries. Infrared spectroscopy has confirmed the integrity of the image. The image on the tilma is composed of pigments that have not been identified by chemical analysis as being the product of animal, vegetable, or mineral dye. No undersketch has been identified below the painting.

Examination of the eyes of the image by photographers and ophtamalogists has suggested that the reflections of Juan Diego, the bishop, and the interpeter can be distinguished. Additionally, the apparitions and the resulting tilma contributed in no small way to the Christianization of Mexico with several million Aztecs converting to Christianity in the ensuing years.

Symbolism

The 470-year-old image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is more than simply a picture. It contains
symbols -- in a sense, hieroglyphics, or a story in pictures -- that reveal part of the message the Blessed Mother brought through Juan Diego to the Indians of Mexico and to all the people of the Americas. But the symbols had a special meaning to the Indians, who because of their culture could decipher the code in the Image.

	1. Eyes The eyes of the image are looking down, a postion of humility, revealing that, as great as she is, she is not a god. Indian gods never looked down; they looked straight ahead.
	2. Face The woman's face shows great compassion. The Indians felt that the face was the window of the inner person, a means by which one could read who a person was -- the way a person would act. A good woman to the Indians was one whose femininity showed in her face. The head of the woman in the image shows her with dark skin and dark hair like that of the Indians.
	3. Hands Her hands are not poised in the traditional Western style of prayer, but in an Indian manner of offering, indicating that something is being offered, that something is to come from her.
	4. Maternity Band The maternity band around the woman's waist was the sign of a pregnant woman, a mother who is about to give birth, it was a sign to the Indians that someone is yet to come.
	5. Stars The stars on the mantle are a sign that a new civilization, or era, is beginning. The Indian tradition recognized the end and the beginning of different eras throughout the ages, and the destruction of a particular civilization or era was always accompanied by a comet, or a body of stars.
	6. Sun Rays The rays of sun in the image recalled for the Indians that the sun played a key role in their civilization. But the woman in the image is greater than even the sun. She hides the sun, and only the rays come forth. She hides the sun but does not extinguish it.
	7. Mantle The predominant color in the image's mantle is turquoise, the blue-green color reserved for the great god Omecihuatl. Although the Indians had many "intermediary gods." Omecihuatl was considered the supreme god. It was a mother-father god who sometimes was represented as a man and sometimes as a woman. It was a source of unity for everything that exists.
	8. Moon The woman is standing on the moon, indicating that she is greater than the god of night, the moon god.
	9. Angel The angel at the bottom of the image was seen by the Indians as an "intermediary god" carrying in a new era, the beginning of a new civilization. One era was at an end -- had died -- and a new one was beginning, was being born.

Visionary

St. Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" ("the talking eagle") in Cuautlitlán, today part of Mexico City, Mexico. He was a gifted member of the Chichimeca people, one of the more culturally advanced groups living in the Anáhuac Valley.

When he was 50 years old he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. On 9 December 1531, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what is now Mexico City.

With the Bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus.

Church Approval

In 1555 In the Provincial Counsel, the second archbishop of Mexico, Alonso de Montúfar, formulated canons that indirectly approved the apparitions. A formal inquiry and investigation was conducted by the Church from February 18 to March 22, 1666 and again by Archbishop Lanziego y Eguilaz in 1723.

Juan Diego was Canonized by Pope John Paul II on July 31, 2002.

The Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is December 12.


Prayers

Meditation

Oh Lord God Who sent the Virgin of Guadalupe to us, please let her image remain a beacon to the world and especially a sign to those who would destroy the unborn. Oh Jesus: please end abortion. Please end euthanasia. Please end illicit birth control. Please end suicide. Please, oh Lord, let us all have life and life more abundantly. Let us all conform ourselves to a style of living that is in conformance with Your creation, with a style of life that is clean and simple and unselfish. Let us focus on the plight of our youngsters, the children who enter a world of such spiritual harassment. Please, oh Lord, let us live a life as humble as that of Juan Diego that like him we may be ever- conscious of death and always prepared for it. Oh Lord, always let us be prepared. Always remind us of Confession. Always remind us that humility and lowliness are grand in your sight (even if they are disdained by this blinded world). Heal any of our plagues as your original image from St. Mary Major healed plagues and as the shrine in Spain healed pilgrims and as you healed Juan's uncle of cocolistle. Heal infectious disease among us and our families. Heal such disease throughout society, good Lord, and when we are ill, please, oh Holy Spirit: please grant us the trust you requested of Juan Diego, that nothing should cause us grief or fear.

Let us pray (response: pray for us):
Oh Virgin who gives us prodigies,
Oh Virgin who teaches strength,
Oh Virgin who takes away fear,
Oh Virgin who instills trust,
Oh Virgin, who watches over our children,
PRAY FOR US


Prayer for the sick

Immaculate Mother, Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, health of the sick, your anointed heavenly hands healed Juan Bernardino and brought us the River of Light, of Life, and of Health: Into your heavenly hands I commend my faith, my hope, and all my sufferings. Please unite them to the Passion of your Son, Jesus Christ, that they may serve as instruments of my salvation and the salvation of all my brothers and sisters. From this moment on, I accept all that the Sacred Heart of your Son may wish to send me. I desire to complete in my life what is lacking to His redeeming Passion. Oh Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, I trust that you will give me the strength and all that I need to live with spiritual health and if it serves God's glory and my true well-being, you will give me my physical health also.

Ejaculation:

Oh Mary, so motherly, so kind, heal us and make us whole and let us always be under your
glorious turquoise mantle!

Prayer of John Paul II:

Virgin of Guadalupe
Mother of the Americas...
grant to our homes the grace of loving and
respecting life in its beginnings,
with the same love which you conceived in
your womb the life of the Son of God.
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Fair Love,
protect our families, so that they may always be united, and bless the upbringing of
our children.
We beg you grant us a great love for all the
holy Sacraments, which are, as it were, the
signs that your Son left us on earth.
Thus, Most Holy Mother,
with the peace of God in our conscience,
with our hearts free from evil and hatred,
we will be able to bring to all true joy and
true peace, which come to us from your Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with God the Father
and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns forever
and ever. Amen.

Prayer of Pope Benedict XVI - May 13th 2005, Vatican Gardens

Holy Mary, who under the advocacy of Our Lady of Guadalupe, are invoked as mother of the men and women of the Mexican nation and of Latin America, encouraged by the love you inspire in us, we again place our lives in your maternal hands. You who are present in the Vatican Gardens, reign in the hearts of all mothers of the world and in our hearts. With great hope, we come to you and trust in you.

“Our Lady of Guadalupe Receives Papal Visit – We Place Our Lives in
Your Maternal Hands.” Online posting: www.zenit.org, May 13, 2005.


Pope John Paul II at Puebla, Mexico in January 1979

O Immaculate Virgin Mother of the true God and Mother of the Church! You, who from this place revealed your clemency and your pity to all those who ask for your protection: hear the prayer that we address to you with filial trust, and present it to your Son Jesus, our sole Redeemer. Mother of Mercy, Teacher of hidden and silent sacrifice, to you, who come to meet us sinners, we dedicate on this day all our being and all our love. We also dedicate to you our life, our work, our joys, our infirmities, and our sorrows. Grant peace, justice and prosperity to our peoples; for we entrust to your care all that we have and all that we are, our Lady and Mother. We wish to be entirely yours and to walk with you along the way of complete faithfulness to Jesus Christ in His Church: hold us always with your loving hand. Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, we pray to you for all the bishops, that they may lead the faithful along paths of intense Christian life, of love and humble service of God and souls. Contemplate this immense harvest, and intercede with the Lord that He may instill a hunger for holiness in the whole People of God, and grant abundant vocations of priests and religious, strong in faith and zealous dispensers of God's mysteries. Grant to our homes the grace of loving and respecting life in its beginnings, with the same love with which you conceived in your womb the life of the Son of God. Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Fair Love, protect our families, so that they may always be united, and bless the upbringing of our children. Our hope, look upon us with compassion, teach us to go continually to Jesus and, if we fall, help us to rise again, to return to Him, by means of the confession of our faults and sins in the Sacrament of Penance, which gives peace to the soul. We beg you to grant us a great love for all the holy Sacraments, which are, as it were, the signs that your Son left on earth. Thus, Most Holy Mother, with the peace of God in our conscience, with our hearts free from evil and hatred, we will be able to bring to all true joy and true peace, which comes to us from your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Guadalupe Prayer

Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, intercede for the Church, protect the Holy Father, help all who invoke You in their necessities. Since You are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the True God, obtain for us from Your Most Holy Son the grace of a firm and sure hope amid bitterness of life, as well as an ardent love and the precious gift of final perseverance.

Dearest Lady, fruitful Mother of Holiness, teach me Your ways of gentleness and strength. Hear my prayer, offered with deep felt confidence to beg this favor.

O Mary, conceived without sin, I come to your throne of grace to share the fervent devotion of your faithful Mexican children who call to Thee under the glorious title "Guadalupe" - the Virgin who crushed the serpent.

Queen of Martyrs, whose Immaculate Heart was pierced by seven swords of grief, help me to walk valiantly amid the sharp thorns strewn across my path. Invoke the Holy Spirit of Wisdom to fortify my will to frequent the Sacraments so that, thus enlightened and strengthened, I may prefer God to all creatures and shun every occasion of sin.

Help me, as a living branch of the Vine that is Jesus Christ, to exemplify His divine charity always seeking the good of others. Queen of Apostles, aid me to win souls for the Sacred Heart of my Savior. Keep my apostolate fearless, dynamic, and articulate, to proclaim the loving solitude of Our Father in Heaven so that the wayward may heed His pleading and obtain pardon, through the merits of Your Merciful Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Short Prayer

Hail, O Virgin of Guadalupe. We place under your powerful patronage the purity and integrity
of the Holy Faith in Mexico and in all the American continent, for we are certain that while you
are recognized as Queen and Mother, America and Mexico and our matrimony will be saved.
(one Hail Mary) Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mystical Rose, make intercession for the Holy Roman Church, protect the Sovereign Pontiff, help all those who invoke thee in their necessities, and since thou art the ever-virgin Mary, and Mother of the True God, obtain for us from thy most holy Son the grace of keeping our faith, of sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life, of burning charity, and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen. (one Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be in thanksgiving for Guadalupe)


Prayer to the Madonna of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mystical Rose, make intercession for the Holy Church, protect our Sovereign Pontiff, help all those who invoke thee in their necessities, and since thou art the ever Virgin Mary, and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from thy most holy Son, the grace of keeping our Faith. You are our sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life, burning charity, and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.


La Oración a Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

Santa María de Guadalupe, Mística Rosa, intercede por la Iglesia, protege al Soberano 
Pontífice, oye a todos los que te invocan en sus necesidades. Así como pudiste aparecer en el Tepeyac y decirnos: "Soy la siempre Virgen María, Madre del verdadero Dios", alcánzanos 
de tu Divino Hijo la conservación de la Fe. Tu eres nuestra dulce esperanza en las amarguras de esta vida. Danos un amor ardiente y la gracia de la perseverancia final. Amén.


Ave Maria, My Lady of the Roses

Ave Maria, My Lady of the Roses, Holy Mary of Guadalupe, I stand here humbly at thy feet. Make me a Juan Diego, unworthy though I be. Let me carry thy message far and near,
Let me show my love for thee. Ave Maria, My Lady of the Roses,
O Mother of the Americas, Loving Mother, please smile on me!
Loving Mother, please smile on me! Maria!

Morning offering

Immaculate Heart of Mary, heart of my mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, I unite to thy purity,
thy sanctity, thy zeal, and thy love, all my thoughts, words, acts, and sufferings this day, that
there may be nothing in me that does not become through thee a pleasure to Jesus, a gain to
souls, and an act of reparation for the offenses against thy heart.

Triduum to Our Lady of Guadalupe:
"I chose this place and made it holy, in order that my name might be honored, and my eyes and heart might remain there forever" (2 Chr. 7:16).
"Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the
sun...?" (Sg. 6:10)
(Hail Mary)

Mary speaks:
"I am the Mother of Fair Love,.. and of knowledge, and of holy hope... My memory is unto
everlasting generations" (Eccl. 24:24-28, Douay).

Oh God, You have been pleased to bestow upon us unceasing favors by having placed us under the special protection of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. Grant us, your humble servants, who rejoice in honoring her today on earth, the happiness of seeing her face to face in heaven.

Through Christ Our Lord, amen.

Angelus:
V: The angel spoke God's message to Mary

R: And she conceived of the Holy Spirit

(Hail Mary, full of grace...)

V: "I am the lowly servant of the Lord:

R: Let it be done to me according to your word."
(Hail Mary...)

V: And the Word became flesh

R: and dwelt amongst us.

(Hail Mary...)

V: Pray for us, holy Mother of God,

R: That we may become worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: Lord, fill our hearts with your grace: once, through the message of an angel, you
revealed to us the incarnation of your Son; now, through His suffering and death, lead us to the glory of His resurrection. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Closing prayer

Remember, O most gracious Virgin of Guadalupe, that in your apparitions on Mount Tepeyac
you promised to show pity and compassion to all who, loving and trusting you, seek your help
and protection.

Accordingly, listen now to our supplications and grant us consolation and relief. We are full of
hope that, relying on your help, nothing can trouble or affect us. As you have remained with us
through your admirable image, so now obtain for us the graces we need. Amen.