Our Lady of Guadalupe - Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico, Tepeyac - Juan Diego
Our Lady of Guadalupe - Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico, Tepeyac - Juan Diego
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in Mexico in 1531 to an Indian named Juan Diego, he was a humble farmer of 51 years of age; as a result of these apparitions more than 10 million Indians were converted to Catholicism and child sacrifices to pagan gods were stopped.
Our Lady left an image that is a reflection of herself miraculously imprinted on the tilma or mantle of Juan Diego. This tilma has remained intact by the grace of God through the centuries and the image has been the subject of pilgrimage for millions of people who have come to receive consolation, protection and support from our heavenly mother.
First apparition A Saturday morning when Juan Diego was on his way to the Church, he went through the hill of Tepeyac, (Guadalupe) he heard very beautiful celestial songs, attracted by this he approached a place where there was light and he heard a voice saying to him, "Juanito, Juan Dieguito. "he climbed to the top of the hill to investigate and he saw a lady who stood there and told him to come. He reached Her presence, much marveled at his superhuman greatness: her garment was radiant like the sun; the rock where She rested her feet, pierced with glitter, resembling an anklet of precious stones; and the earth sparkled like the rainbow.
Mesquite, prickly pear and various other little plants that are generally up there seemed made of emerald; foliage like turquoise; and its branches and thorns glistened like gold.
He bowed before her and heard her word, tender and courteous, like someone who charms and esteems a lot.
She said: "Juanito, the smallest of my children, where are you going?"
He said, Lady and my Child, I have to get to your home in Mexico Tlatilolco, to follow the divine things that give and teach our priests, delegates of Our Lord. "
She revealed Her holy will with these words: Know and understand well, you my most humble son, that I am the ever-virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the True God for whom we live, of the Creator of all things, Lord of heaven and earth. I wish that a temple be erected here quickly, so I may therein exhibit and give all my love, compassion, help, and protection, because I am your merciful mother, to you, and to all the inhabitants on this land and all the rest who love me, invoke and confide in me; listen there to their lamentations, and remedy all their miseries, afflictions and sorrows. And to accomplish what my clemency pretends, go to the palace of the bishop of Mexico, and you will say to him that I manifest my great desire, that here on this plain a temple be built to me; you will accurately relate all you have seen and admired, and what you have heard. Be assured that I will be most grateful and will reward you, because I will make you happy and worthy of recompense for the effort and fatigue in what you will obtain of what I have entrusted. Behold, you have heard my mandate, my humble son; go and put forth all your effort."
Juan Diego answered, My Lady, and I will fulfill your mandate; For now I say goodbye to you, your humble servant."
Then he went to do her mandate; and he went to the walkway leading straight to Mexico."
Second Apparition Juan Diego went to talk with the Bishop Fray Juan de Zumarraga, of the Franciscan order. Having been ignored for a long time, so the bishop heard his story but did not get impressed, he said that on another occasion he would listen to him more carefully.
Juan Diego left very sad, because his message was not heard, he went back down the road where he had seen the apparition, the Lady of Heaven was waiting for him in the same place where She appeared the first time, Juan Diego told her "My Lady, the smallest of my daughters. My child, I went to where you sent me you fulfill your mandate, I spoke with the bishop and he listened attentively; but his answer discouraged me. He said you'll come again, I will hear you more carefully; from the very beginning I will see the desire and will with which you have come. I understood perfectly the way he to me about the idea of building a temple to your honor had seemed to him as my idea; so I strongly beg you, My Lady and my Child, that one of the more important, known and respected and esteemed by you, be entrusted to deliver this message to Him; because I'm just a little man, I'm a string, I'm a tiny ladder, I'm tail, I'm leaf, I am little people, and you, my Child, the smallest of my daughters, Lady, you send me to a place where I don’t walk and stay around. Forgive me for causing you grief and make you upset, my Lady and my Owner."
The Blessed Virgin replied, "Listen, my son, the smallest, let it be understood that many are my servants and messengers who can take care with of this message and do my will; but the precise point is that you yourself solicit and assist through your mediation the accomplishment of my will. Much I beg you, my son the smallest, and strictly I order you, go again tomorrow to see the Bishop. Tell him about this in my name and let him know entirely my will, that he has to build the temple I request. And tell him again that I in person, the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, has sent you."
Juan Diego replied: "Lady and my Child, I will not cause you affliction; willingly I will fulfill your mandate; I will not stop doing it, and the way will not be painful to me. I'll do your will, but perhaps I will not be heard with pleasure; or if heard, perhaps he will not believe. Tomorrow afternoon when the sun goes down, I will come to give you account about your message, the response from the prelate. I go now my daughter, the little lest, my little child and Lady. In the meantime take a rest. "
Juan Diego left.
Third appearance The next day, Sunday very early, he left home for Sunday Mass, to speak again with the Bishop. After much waiting he managed to speak with him again pleading to carry out the mandate of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but the bishop did not believe him, he demanded a sign of the Celestial Lady and sent people to follow him trying to find something wrong with him.
Juan Diego met again with the Blessed Virgin, he told her what happened; She replied, "It is okay my little son, return here tomorrow to take to the bishop the sign he has asked you; with this he will believe you and no longer hesitate or suspect of you; and know, my little son, I'll pay your care and work and weariness overtaken for me; All right, go now, I will await for you here tomorrow. "
Fourth appearance December 12th
Juan Diego was supposed to bring a sign of the Lady of Heaven on Monday, but his uncle Bernardino got very sick, so he changed plans and went to find a doctor because his illness was very serious.
During the evening, his uncle begged him to leave early morning and go to Tlatilolco to call a priest to give him confession and absolution, because he was sure he was going to die, and he would not arise or get well again.
On Tuesday, just before dawn, Juan Diego left from his home to Tlatilolco to call the priest; and when he reached the road that goes along the side of the little hill of Tepeyac, (Guadalupe) to the west where he used to go, he said to himself: "I will go straight, lest I see the lady, and She makes me stop, to take the sign to the prelate, as She advised; first we take care of our affliction and first I call hastily the priest; my poor uncle is certainly waiting. "
So he went around the hill; he went through to the other side, eastward, to arrive soon to Mexico and without the Lady from Heaven stopping him.
He thought the way he went he could not be seen by the one who sees well everywhere. He saw her come down from the top of the hill and that She was looking at the place where he saw her before. She went to meet him at the side of the hill and said, "Hi there, my son the smallest? where are you going?"
It grieved him a little, or he was ashamed, or scared. He bowed before her and greeted her, saying: "My child, the smallest of my daughters. Lady, I hope you are happy. How's your morning going? Are you in good health?, Lady and my Child? I will cause you grief, know my Child, that a poor servant of yours, my uncle is in a very bad state of health, he is suffering the plague, and is about to die. I am hurrying to your house in Mexico to call one of the priests beloved of our Lord, to administer him confession and absolution; because since we were born we came to await the work of our death. But I'll do it, I will then come again here, to go and take your message. Lady and my Child, forgive me, have patience with me for now; I am not deceiving you. My daughter, the littlest one, tomorrow I'll come in a hurry. "
After hearing the talk of Juan Diego, the most pious Virgin replied:
"Listen and understand my son the smallest, what frightens and distresses you is nothing; do not let your heart be troubled; do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.
Do not worry your grief or otherwise; you do not grieve your uncle's illness, since he will not die now; rest assured that He is healed. "(And at that moment his uncle was being healed, he verified that later).
When Juan Diego heard these words from the Lady of Heaven was much comforted; He was happy. He begged to be dispatched as soon as possible to see the Bishop, to bring some sign and proof so that he would believe.
The Lady of heaven ordered him to climb to the top of the hill, where he saw her before. She said, "Go up, my son the smallest, to the top of the hill; where you saw me and I gave you orders, you will find different flowers; cut them, put them together, gather them immediately and bring them before me."
Juan Diego did that right away, he went to the top of the hill. And when he reached the summit, he was astonished to see that so many exquisite roses of Castile had sprouted, before the time they are supposed to, because at that time winter was getting hard.
They were very fragrant and full of the dew of the night, which resembled precious pearls. Then he began to cut them and He gathered them all and put them into his lap.
The summit of the hill was no place where flowers bloom, because it had many crags, thistles, thorns, nopales and mesquite; and if there were any little herbs it was December, when everything is eaten and spoiled by ice.
He went down immediately and brought to the Lady of Heaven was different flowers he cut; that when She saw them, She took them with her hands and again put them in back on his lap, saying, "My son the smallest, this diversity of flowers is the test signal you will take to the Bishop. You tell him in my name to see in it my will and that he has to fulfill it. You are my ambassador, very worthy of my confidence. Rigorously I command you just in front of the Bishop unfold your mantle and discover what you are taking. You will give an account of everything; You will say that I sent you up to the top of the hill, you were to cut flowers, and you will say about everything you saw and admired, so you can induce the prelate to give its support, in order to be built and erected the temple I asked."
After the Lady of the Heaven gave him his counsel, he set off on the road that comes straight to Mexico; and happy and sure of his future success, carrying very carefully what he was holding in his lap, it was not something that would slip from his hands, he was enjoying the fragrance of beautiful mixed flowers.
The miracle of the image As Juan Diego reached the palace of the Bishop, the butler and other servants of the prelate came out to meet him.
He begged them to tell the bishop that he wanted to see him; but none of them paid attention, pretending not to hear him, either because it was too early, either because they already knew him, because he only bothered them, because he was inopportune; and they had also been informed by their colleagues how they lost sight of him, when they went to follow him.
He was waiting for a long time. Since they saw how long he had been standing there, head down, doing nothing, just in case he was called; and that he apparently had something he was carrying on his lap, they approached him to see what he had to satisfy themselves.
Juan Diego saw that he could not hide what he had, and that they would just come to annoy, pushing and pounding, he let them see the flowers; and seeing that they were all different, and it was not then time when they were given, they were very astonished, as they were very fresh, and so open, so fragrant and so beautiful. They wanted to catch and get some; but they dared three times to take them without success; because when they went to pick them up they did not seen real flowers, but they seemed painted or stamped or sewn on the tilma.
They went to tell the bishop what they had seen and that the little Indian who had come several times pretended to see him; that he had been waiting a long time eager to see him.
At that moment the bishop realized that this was the proof he was waiting, to certify and fulfill what requested the little Indian. Then he sent them to ask him to come to see him.
He went in, he humbled himself before the bishop as he did before, and recounted everything he had seen and admired, and his message.
Juan Diego said, "Lord, I did what I was ordered, it was to tell my Lady, the Lady of Heaven, Saint Mary the precious Mother of God, that you were asking for a sign to believe that you have to make the temple where She is asking you to do it; and also I told her that I had given my word to you, to bring some sign and proof of her will. She condescended to your request and graciously granted what you ask, some sign and proof so that her will be done.
Earlier today She commanded me to come and see you again; I asked the signal so that you would believe me, as She had said She would; and to the point She fulfilled it; I was sent to the top of the hill, where I saw her before, where I was to cut several flowers. After I did that, I came down; She took them with her hand and put them back into my lap, to bring them to you in person.
Although I knew that the summit of the hillock is no place to give flowers because there are just many crags, thistles, thorns, nopales and mesquite, I did not hesitate. When I was coming to the summit of the hillock I saw that I was in paradise, where there were together all the various and exquisite roses of Castile, brilliant with dew, which I then went to cut.
She told me why I had to deliver them to you; and so I do it, that in them you see the sign you ask and so you fulfill her will; and also to show the truth of my word and my message.
Here they are: receive them.
Then he unwrapped his tilma, as he had the flowers on his lap; and so he scattered across the floor all the different flowers, suddenly the precious image of the ever Virgin Mary, the Mother of God was drawn on the tilma, the way it is and is kept today in the temple of the Tepeyac, which is named Guadalupe.
When the bishop saw it, he and all who were there knelt; they admired it very much; they rose to see her, they were grieved and touched, showing how they contemplated her with heart and thought.
His holiness the Bishop was with tears of sadness, he prayed and asked forgiveness for not having attended her wish and mandate. When he stood he untied from Juan Diego's neck, the tilma where was drawn and appeared the Lady of Heaven.
Then he took it and went to put her in her oratory. Juan Diego remained in the house of the bishop one more day; he still tried to detain him.
The following day, the bishop said to Juan Diego, "Well, show us where the Lady of Heaven wants to erect her temple." Everyone was invited to do it.
Apparition to Juan Bernardino As soon as Juan Diego said where the Lady of Heaven had requested her temple to be built, he begged to be excused. He wanted to go home to see his uncle Juan Bernardino; whom he had left very ill and in need of a priest to hear his confession and to dispose him to die, although the Lady of Heaven had told him that he had been healed.
But they would not let him go alone; they accompanied him to his house. When they arrived they saw that his uncle was very happy and nothing hurt him.
He was astonished to see his nephew arrive accompanied and honored; he asked the reason why they did so and why honors conferred upon him. His nephew answered that when he went to call the priest to confess him, and dispose him, the Lady of Heaven appeared to him on Tepeyac (Guadalupe); that, telling him not to worry that his uncle was in good health, he was greatly consoled, She sent him to Mexico to see the bishop to build her a house in the Tepeyac (Guadalupe).
His uncle confirmed the story to be true, that She healed him and that he saw in the same way how She appeared to his nephew; knowing from her that he had been sent to Mexico to see the bishop.
the lady also told him then that when he went to see the bishop, he would reveal what he saw and the miraculous way in which he had been healed; and that he would name well in the way her blessed image should be named, “The ever Virgin Holy Mary of Guadalupe”.
Then they brought Juan Bernardino into the presence of the bishop; to come to inform and testify before him.
The Bishop lodged both him and his nephew in his house for a few days, until the temple of Queen was built at Tepeyac, (Guadalupe) where Juan Diego saw her.
The Bishop moved the holy image of the beloved Lady of Heaven to the main church: he took it out of the oratory of his palace where it was, so that all people could see and admire her blessed image.
The whole city was moved: they came to see and admire her image and to pray devotedly to her. People marveled very much that She had appeared by divine miracle; because no person in this world painted her precious image.
Our Lady of Guadalupe - Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico, Tepeyac - Juan Diego
