General considerations on the history of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Since her first appearance in 1531 to the indigenous Aztec Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe has transformed the entire religious outlook of the Aztec people. Santa Guadalupe appears to free them from the stone goddess Quetzalcoltl, converting millions of Aztecs to Catholicism and leading them to the path of salvation.

Its existence persisted through the centuries, and the stories of its appearances became known through the work Huei Tlamahuitzoltica. It was written in Nahuatl, the traditional language of the Aztecs. Its author was a learned indigenous man of the time known as Antonio Valeriano in the mid-16th century.

Her image is displayed in the Basilica of Guadalupe. Today, it is the second most visited shrine in the world, second only to St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. Understand all about the history of Our Lady of Guadalupe the patron saint of Latin America below!

History of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Church and curiosities

Our Lady of Guadalupe changed the lives of the Aztecs, and her influence persists beyond time. Her image is idolized by the thousands of Catholics who go to the temple where she is laid out. Read the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and her influence on the Catholic church and be amazed by her miracles!

History of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe, or the Virgin of Guadalupe, was an apparition of the Virgin Mary to the Mexican people in the 16th century. Her image engraved on Juan Diego's poncho is on display for visitation at the Basilica of Guadalupe and is located at the base of Mount Tepeyac in Mexico City.

According to the accounts described in the work Nican Mopohua, the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe had 5 apparitions, 4 of them to Juan Diego and the last one to his uncle. In the first account, Saint Guadalupe orders Juan Diego to go to the bishop of Mexico to convey her message, to build a basilica in the saint's name.

The bishop, discredited, refused the first message, and then there were three more apparitions. It was only in his last apparition that Juan Diego witnessed a miracle, when he returned from his mission on Mount Tepeyac, carrying with him a poncho with several species of flowers that he had collected in the middle of winter.

Even so, the demonstration of this miracle is not enough. When the poncho opens and the figure of the Immaculate Saint appears engraved on it, the Bishop accepts her message, deciding to grant her request.

Finally, in his last appearance to Juan Diego's uncle, another miracle was worked, healing him of the illness to which he was succumbing.

Catholic Church

After the apparitions and miracles performed by Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Catholic Church decided to build the basilica where the image of the Saint would be exposed. Its construction began in 1531, and it was only completed in 1709. However, a new basilica had to be built, as the structure of it had been compromised.

Currently, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is considered the second most visited shrine in the world. Each year, it receives more than 20 million faithful, and people from all over the world make pilgrimages to the Villa de Guadalupe to see the image of Our Lady.

Approvals

Throughout history, the image of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe has obtained recognition from many popes, such as:

- Pope Benedict XIV, who, in 1754, declared Our Lady of Guadalupe to be the patroness of New Spain;

- Pope Leo XIII, who granted new liturgical texts for the Holy Mass, made in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in addition to authorizing her canonization;

- Pope Pius X, who proclaimed the Saint as patroness of Latin America.

Curiosities of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Besides the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe itself, other elements in its existence are quite curious. In 1921, for example, the Old Basilica of Guadalupe was bombed by an anti-clerical activist, which caused great damage to the Archdiocese of Mexico City.

Another detail is the mantle on the image of Our Lady. It is considered, for the Catholic Church and its faithful, one of the greatest miracles ever to have occurred in history. All this is due to the properties of her mantle, such as the fact that it is impossible to make a replica and even its indestructible material.

Apparitions and miracles of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The official accounts written by Antonio Valeriano in the translated work "Aqui se conta" state that there were 5 apparitions of the Saint. The first apparition was to the indigenous Juan Diego, later canonized as a Saint, while the last apparition was to his uncle. Learn the account of each apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe below!

The first appearance

The first apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe took place on December 9, 1531, when a peasant in Mexico known as Juan Diego had his first vision of a woman on the hill of Tepeyac. She identified herself as the Virgin Mary and made a request to Juan, asking him to go to the Bishop and request that her shrine be built.

The second appearance

After witnessing the apparition of Our Lady, the peasant Juan Diego went to the Bishop of Mexico City and confessed his vision. Friar Juan de Zumárraga did not believe the words of the indigenous man, ignoring his request. Returning to his village that night, Juan had another vision of the Virgin. In her second apparition, she asked him to continue to insist on his request.

The third appearance

The morning after the second apparition of Our Lady, on a Sunday Mass, Juan Diego tried to speak with the Bishop once again. The Friar directed a mission for the Aztec, in which he was to return to Mount Tepeyac and call upon the Holy Mary to send proof of his identity. That day, as Diego made his way to the mount, the third apparition took place.

Our Lady granted the bishop's request and asked Juan Diego to meet her the next day on the hilltop. At dawn, he noticed that his uncle was very ill. His uncle's condition was serious, and he needed to go to the priest, so that he could hear his uncle's confession and perform the anointing of the sick.

The fourth appearance

In despair over his uncle's illness, Juan Diego decided to take a shorter route, breaking the agreement he had made with the Saint about going to the top of the hill. However, halfway to the church, the Virgin appeared, making her fourth apparition concrete. Startled, he explained his uncle's situation to her, and for what he had done, she said, "Am I not here, that I am your mother?"

His words are marked, and Our Lady promised to help his Uncle, but Juan Diego was to continue on his way, as they had previously agreed. Soon he went to the top of the hill and gathered flowers on its summit.

Miracles of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Mount Tepeyac had a barren soil and it was still winter in the region, but when Juan Diego arrived at the place he found the flowers. He put them in his poncho and made his way to Bishop Zumárraga. When he arrived at the bishop's palace, he opened his cloak and poured the flowers on his feet. Upon seeing the cloth, there was drawn the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

However, for the faithful, the greatest miracle was the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe itself, portrayed on a cactus fiber cloth with a shelf life of no more than 20 years. However, it has been on display for centuries, and its painting has never been retouched.

The symbols and mysteries of the Mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe is shrouded in mystery because each element in its image has a unique and special meaning. Its representation made possible the construction of one of the most visited basilicas of the Catholic Church. Understand how her miracle operated responsible for converting millions of Aztecs in the sixteenth century!

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

In her apparitions, Our Lady of Guadalupe appears as a pregnant, swarthy, clothed indigenous woman. On her clothing, the starry sky is drawn, and her stars are positioned exactly as on the day of her appearance.

The Aztecs, due to their astrological knowledge, recognized these signs, and this detail was decisive for it to be recognized by the Mexican people. From this, the Aztec indigenous people had more confidence in the Church.

The difficulty of producing a replica

In the history of Our Lady, the painting that appeared on Juan Diego's clothes is a mystery. No trace of a sketch or brush stroke can be identified on it, and it was also made of a material that makes it difficult for the paint to adhere to the fabric. This makes it impossible to produce a replica of the cloak.

Studies on the "poncho

Several studies have been done on Juan Diego's "poncho". One was done in 1979, by biophysical scientist Phillip Serna Callahan, in which they used infrared technology to analyze the image. He found that the image was not painted onto the cloak, but that it is a few tenths of a millimeter away from the fabric.

Another study by Jose Aste Tonsmann, an expert in digital processing of paintings, when he enlarged the eyes of Our Lady of Guadalupe, revealed that there were 13 figures drawn there. They would be the people who witnessed the miracle of the Saint on the day Juan Diego took the flowers to Bishop Zumárraga.

The Sun, the Moon and the Stars

The Sun and the Moon, in the figure of Our Lady of Magdalene, refers to the biblical verse of Revelation 12:1. In this passage of the Bible, a woman clothed with the Sun and with the moon under her feet observes something in the heavens, just like the figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Meanwhile, the grouping of the constellation on her mantle is the same as on the day of her last appearance.

Eyes, hands, belt and hair

As for the eyes of the Saint Magdalene, if they are digitally enlarged, it is possible to see the same scene of the day of her apparition to the Bishop. The 13 figures that stand out are the people who were present on the day of the miracle. Among them are Bishop Zumárraga and the peasant Juan Diego.

Regarding her hands, they have a difference in skin tone. The right hand is whiter and the left hand is darker, so she would represent the union of the races. Meanwhile, the belt and the hair symbolize that the Saint is a virgin and a mother.

The flowers and the colors

There are several species of flowers designed on the vestment of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Among them, the most prominent is the four-petaled flower near her womb. Its name is nahui ollin, and it represents the presence of God.

Prayer, prayer and praise to the Holy

There are many ways to contact Saint Guadalupe and ask for her help, or simply give thanks for the graces in your life. In this section, we bring you several prayers to say to the patron saint of Latin America!

Prayer of thanksgiving

The first prayer serves to thank Saint Guadalupe for all the blessings you have received in your life. Before saying the prayers, mentalize everything for which you are grateful: your health, your family, your food, and everything else that comes to mind. In addition, this prayer seeks to reach out to the needy as well.

Then repeat the following words:

Mother full of gift and great faith, I come to you so that you may support those brothers who are most in need and make them believe in the miracles that only the Lady can perform, through the eternal love for her son Jesus Christ. Just as she proved her miracle to Bishop John of Zumárraga, through her apparitions to the indigenous John Diogo, showing his image among many roses, that your servants, my mother,may they succeed in having in their souls, the humility of God's love, the goodness of Jesus and the kindness of the Lady. I thank you for being heard. Amen!

Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

One of the prayers to Our Lady of Guadalupe serves to ask for graces for everyone in the world - the young, the old, the poor and the oppressed. To say it, you should repeat the following prayer:

Dark Mother of heaven, Mistress of Latin America, with a look so divine and charity, the color of so many races. Virgin so serene, Mistress of these peoples so afflicted, Patroness of the little ones and the oppressed, pour out your graces upon us. Pour out your light upon the young. To the poor, come and show your Jesus. To the whole world, bring your motherly love. Teach those who have everything to share, teach those who havePour out hope upon us, teach the people not to silence their voices, awaken the hearts of those who have not awakened. Teach that justice is the condition for building a more fraternal world. And make our people know Jesus.

Praise to Saint

The praise to Our Lady of Guadalupe highlights the holiness of the Virgin, mother of Jesus Christ. Therefore, make this praise to be supported by the saint and freed from all that is evil:

Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Guadalupe! We ask you, O Mother of Heaven, to bless and protect the peoples of Latin America so that all of us, enveloped by your maternal affection, may feel closer to God, our common Father. Our Lady of Guadalupe, blessed by you, and sustained by your divine Son Jesus, we will have the strength to achieve our liberation. We will free ourselves fromsuperstition, vices, sins, and also the injustice and oppression we suffer from those who exploit and dominate their fellow men. O Mother of Jesus, our savior, graciously heed our prayer. Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Latin America, pray for us. Amen.

What facts from the history of Our Lady of Guadalupe indicate that her mantle is "indestructible"?

There are several facts that prove that the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe is indestructible and therefore holy. The mantle, being made of cactus fiber, should suffer damage over time and perhaps even fall apart. However, it remains intact to this day.

Moreover, being of low quality, the cloak should be rough, but it presents itself with a smooth surface where the image is. It should also be mentioned that the painting was not done with brushes and strokes, as if it had been done all at once.

In the four scientific studies conducted, in 1752, 1973, 1979 and 1982, all prove the painting to be out of the standard. Furthermore, the mantle possesses inherently human characteristics, such as a constant of between 36.6ºC and 37ºC, which is the temperature of the human body.

Another amazing fact is that in 1785, nitric acid was accidentally poured over the image, which remained intact. It also survived the bombing of the old Basilica of Guadalupe.

It is for these reasons that Our Lady of Guadalupe is so adored throughout Latin America. In addition to the apparitions, the saint is still present today, both through her mysteries and through the faith of her faithful!