The Holy Mother lovingly responded, “Am I not here, I who am your mother?”
Welcome to "North American Sanctity," a series on holy men and women, boys and girls, saints and those on the road to sainthood, from Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Some will be familiar, others less so; but all are inspiring!
By Kimberly Bruce
Many people think that the Blessed Virgin Mary has only appeared to children. However, in one of her most widely-recognized apparitions in Guadalupe, Mexico, the Mother of God, Our Lady of Guadalupe, appeared to 57-year-old St. Juan Diego (feast day: Dec. 9), the designated Patron of Indigenous Peoples.
The four apparitions of the Virgin Mary, between Dec. 9-12 in the year 1531, happened at a pivotal time in Mexican history. Ten years prior they had experienced a takeover by Spanish conquistadors and missionaries who endeavored to erase their native culture and religion — a religion, however, which relied on human sacrifice.
In the midst of this, the Virgin Mary came as a mother embracing all her children, to alleviate suffering; to witness to the true religion; and to embrace peoples of differing cultures in solidarity and love.
The Talking Eagle
The man the Virgin Mary chose to help bring this about was Juan Diego, initially born “Cuauhtlatoatzin” in 1474 in Cuauhtitlan, Tolpetlac (central Mexico). Cuauhtlatoatzin, which means “The Talking Eagle” or “One Who Speaks Like an Eagle,” assumed his new Christian name of Juan Diego after his Baptism.
A macehual by trade (one who tills the soil), Juan was known to be a virtuous man. He was married to Maria Lucia but became a widower prior to Our Lady’s apparitions.
It was one day while passing the small hill of Tepeyac that Juan first saw a beautiful woman and heard music playing. This woman appeared to him as a mestiza, having both Spanish and Indigenous features. She was clothed with the rays of the sun, with the crescent moon under her feet, and stars upon her mantle.
Skeptical bishop
The Lady addressed Juan in his native language, identified herself as the Mother of God, and told him to tell his bishop that she wanted a chapel built there on Tepeyac Hill. Bishop Juan Zumárraga, not surprisingly, did not readily believe the lowly Juan Diego.
After his unsuccessful visit with Bishop Zumárraga, the Blessed Mother appeared again to Juan on his way home. He informed her that he had been unable to convince the bishop. She responded:
My dearest son, you must understand that there are many more noble men to whom I could have entrusted my message and yet, it is because of you that my plan will succeed. Return to the bishop tomorrow. Tell him that it is I myself, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, who is sending you.
Repeating to the bishop the following day what the Virgin had asked for, the bishop responded by asking for a sign to prove the apparition was from God. When Juan told The Blessed Virgin of this, she promised to give a sign the following day.
“I who am your Mother”
The next day, however, Juan’s uncle, Juan Bernardino, became deathly ill. Juan purposely avoided Tepeyac Hill as he was intent on pursuing a priest to administer the last sacramental rights for his uncle. Nevertheless, the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan on his alternate route and inquired where he was going. Juan told her about his uncle.
The Holy Mother lovingly responded, “Am I not here, I who am your mother?” She then informed Juan that his uncle had already been healed. She also told him to climb Tepeyac and there collect the flowers that would be unseasonably blooming as a sign for the bishop.
Juan Diego gathered up the Castilian roses that had miraculously bloomed upon the freezing cold hill, collecting them in the front of his tilma (cloak). As he let the flowers drop to the floor in front of the bishop, another miracle happened. There, on the front of his tilma was the image of Our Lady as she had appeared to Juan Diego. The bishop fell to his knees and believed.
The next day Juan Diego found his uncle completely healed. Juan Bernadino had also been visited by the Blessed Mother and she, likewise, instructed him to present himself to the bishop as proof of his apparition and of his healing.
Conversions
The bishop had a small chapel erected on Tepeyac Hill. Ten years after the apparitions, nine million indigenous Mexican Indians had converted to the Catholic Faith, effectively putting an end to the practice of human sacrifice. It's one of the reasons Our Lady of Guadalupe today (feast day: Dec. 12) is patroness of the Pro-Life movement as well as the Americas.
Saint Juan Diego died on Dec. 9, 1548, and his tilma, which has not deteriorated, remains on display in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
“Thank God for the gift of the first indigenous Saint of the American Continent,” said Pope St. John Paul II at Juan Diego’s Mass of Canonization in 2002:
In accepting the Christian message without forgoing his indigenous identity, Juan Diego discovered the profound truth of the new humanity, in which all are called to be children of God. Thus he facilitated the fruitful meeting of two worlds and became the catalyst for the new Mexican identity, closely united to Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose mestizo face expresses her spiritual motherhood which embraces all Mexicans … It is necessary today to support the indigenous peoples in their legitimate aspirations, respecting and defending the authentic values of each ethnic group.
“The Guadalupe Event meant the beginning of evangelization with a vitality that surpassed all expectations,” added the bishops of Mexico in 2002. “Christ’s message, through his Mother, took up the central elements of the indigenous culture, purified them and gave them the definitive sense of salvation.”
A loving Mother
The Virgin Mary, a loving mother, wished to comfort her hurting children, identify with them, and unite them together under her Divine Son.
Similarly, after a heavenly visitation from the Holy Virgin, herself, during a time of personal trial, St. Faustina recorded:
The Mother of God visited me, holding the Infant Jesus in Her arms. My soul was filled with joy, and I said, “Mary, my Mother, do You know how terribly I suffer?” And the Mother of God answered me, I know how much you suffer, but do not be afraid. I share with you your suffering, and I shall always do so (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 25).
Like St. Juan Diego, we are all called to be missionaries to those of various cultures around the globe. We are to “imbue every area of social life with the spirit of the Gospel … in accordance with the demands of justice and with respect for the dignity of each person, so that in this way peace may be reinforced,” said St. John Paul II.
May St. Juan Diego aid us in this endeavor.
Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, pray for us!
Next in the series: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, January 4.
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