Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of the most venerated Marian figures in Mexico and all Latin America. Today, the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City receives about 20 million visitors each year, making it one of the most visited shrines in the world.
The devotion dates back to 1531, when the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego, an indigenous peasant, in 1531, on the Hill of Tepeyac in Mexico City.
FR. PEDRO ALARCÓN MÉNDEZ
Marist Priest and Expert on Guadalupe
“The Virgin explains to him that it's essential that he be her messenger, that he go to the bishop and ask the bishop to build a little house for her, where she will show all her love. Here she demonstrates that she does not come to present herself, but to present God's love.”
The bishop is skeptical at first, so in the last of five apparitions, the Virgin Mary gives Juan Diego flowers to present to him as a sign. Juan Diego carries them in his cloak, known as the tilma.
FR. PEDRO ALARCÓN MÉNDEZ
Marist Priest and Expert on Guadalupe
“When Juan Diego presents these flowers to the bishop, the image remains imprinted (on the tilma). This imprint is a great miracle, first of all, because of everything that's reflected in that image. For the indigenous people, it was a codex full of symbols that they could understand.”
That image on St. Juan Diego's tilma is still kept in the Basilica of Guadalupe today. It shows the Virgin Mary wearing a blue-green tunic, indicating her authority. She is shown as a mestiza, of mixed race, bringing together indigenous and Spanish culture. Our Lady of Guadalupe played a key role in evangelization in the Americas.
FR. PEDRO ALARCÓN MÉNDEZ
Marist Priest and Expert on Guadalupe
“She touches the deepest fibers of the indigenous people. And she makes them understand that there is a new light in Mesoamerica that comes from God, and whose purpose is to change this violent context that has stripped the indigenous peoples of their dignity.”
Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated every Dec. 12. As Pope Francis once said, she is “the mother able to assume the features of her children to make them feel part of her blessing.”
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