For the first twelve Franciscan apostles who, at the request of Hernán Cortés, arrived in Mexico from Spain in the 16th century, it was no small undertaking to spread the light of the Faith in the dense idolatrous darkness that prevailed there.
At the top of the Aztec pyramids, the still-beating hearts of human victims were torn out every day. For the dedication of the temple of Huichilobos alone, for example, eighty-four hundred men were sacrificed: handed over to the “divinity”, their blood anointed the walls and steps of the pyramid, and their flesh served as a feast for the cannibalistic people.1
And the hearts that were not immolated on the altars of idolatry, or consecrated to the anthropophagic tables, were already destined for the arenas of war: “Your office and faculty is war,” the newborn was told, “your office is to give the sun the blood of your enemies to drink.”2 The American continent seemed destined to remain forever under the dominion of hell.
It seemed so… until December 9, 1531.
A song, a voice, a Lady
That day, on Tepeyac Hill, near what is now Mexico City, a conquest began anew: this very spot had once been chosen by Cortés as a strategic point from which he set out to subdue the Aztec empire; it was there that the spiritual conquest of the continent would begin.
Juan Diego, an Indian man born fifty-seven years earlier to human life, and through Baptism only seven years prior to divine life, was passing by that hill just before dawn. He was on his way to his catechesis, the first great fruit of missionary labour in the New World, when, at first light, he heard a soft, melodious song that gradually died away and gave way to an even more beautiful and captivating voice that called him by name in his native language: “Juanito, Juan Dieguito!”3
Looking for the origin of the melody, he suddenly saw before him a Lady of splendid beauty who spoke to him with words full of maternal kindness. She was the “ever Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God,” as She introduced herself. And this eminent Queen had come to entrust her “Juanito” with an important mission: She wanted a temple dedicated to her to be built there. She ordered him to go to the palace of the Bishop of Mexico and communicate her request.
Ambassador of the Heavenly Queen
Exuberant, the seer hastened to the residence of Friar Juan de Zumárraga. The prelate, however, paid no attention to the Indian’s story: “Come on another day, my son, and I will have more time to hear you.”
Disheartened by this response, the Indian returned to the hill of the apparition with a sadness proportional to the verve with which he had left it. The venerable Sovereign was waiting there, the tender Friend whom he feared not to address under both of these aspects: “Lady, youngest of my daughters, my Little Girl, I went where You sent me.” And he lamented his failure. The loving Mother kindly consoled him, but did not relieve him of his important task: to be an intermediary between the Universal Mediatrix and Friar de Zumárraga.
The next day, another attempt and another setback. The bishop, for prudential reasons, such as the idolatry and superstition that still inundated the region, demanded proof. Once again before the Virgin, Juan Diego repeated the ecclesiastic’s request. The Mother of God was willing to fulfil it without the slightest difficulty; all She asked was that the Indian return to Tepeyac Hill on the following day.
Two nights, two surprises
Determined to return, he went home and found a bitter surprise! His uncle Bernardino was seriously ill. He spent the night and the following day caring for his relative.
However, as the doctors considered the recovery of his uncle’s bodily health beyond hope, in the evening he set off in search of a priest to heal his soul. But coming to meet him at that moment was the Lady of the Apparitions, whose request to return to Tepeyac Hill he had not yet heeded: “What is it, my little son? Where are you going?” Juan Diego replied with the simplicity of a son who, despite not following orders, knows he is loved: “Are you well, my Lady and Daughter? I have some bad news for you: one of your servants, my uncle, is very ill.”
He then apologized for disobeying the previous day’s bidding, explaining that he had spent the whole day helping his relative. “I will return promptly tomorrow,” he promised.
A great sign has appeared on earth
But when the heavenly Mother summons us to a great mission, there is no tomorrow and no earthly concerns, however holy they may be, for She takes care of all of this: “Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” She asked him. “Do not be troubled by your uncle’s illness, for he will not die now because of it; he is fine and has already been cured.”
In fact, at that very moment the Virgin made herself visible to the sick man and restored his health. This, however was not the promised sign which She had come to grant. For this, She ordered the seer to climb to the top of Tepeyac Hill and cut some flowers there.
A simple task? Not really, for it was winter. But Juan Diego had no doubt. He climbed the hill and found the most beautiful and varied Castilian roses. After picking them, he presented them to the Virgin, who touched them, adding: “My little son, this variety of flowers is the proof and sign that you will take to the bishop. You will tell him in my name to see in it my will.”
Juan Diego obeyed. He appeared before the ecclesiastic and, as he opened his cloak, the precious and fragrant flowers scattered to the ground. But, what was more, the image of the Rose of roses, who is called Rosa Mystica, the Most Holy Mother of God, was imprinted simultaneously on the fabric. With such a portent, all barriers of suspicion regarding the veracity of the apparitions collapsed.
They collapsed and are still collapsing…
A codex full of symbolism
If on October 12, 1492, Columbus could claim to have discovered the route to America, on December 12, 1531, a native in America discovered the quickest and surest way to Heaven: Mary Most Holy. And it pleased her to leave her signature and proof of the authenticity of the apparitions on the tilma4 of Juan Diego.
The Lady depicted there is wearing a mantle like that of a queen. It is sky-coloured and adorned with forty-six golden stars, which surprisingly coincide with the constellations visible in the sky on the night of December 12, 1531.
Her waist is girdled with a lilac belt. For the Amerindians, this was an extremely expressive detail: it was the sash used by women about to give birth. The Virgin of Guadalupe therefore wanted to be recognized not only as Queen, but also as Mother, just as She had presented herself the first time to Juan Diego.
These are the messages that the image conveys to the naked eye, but more in-depth research has contributed to a greater appreciation of the treasure it contains.
Original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe – Basilica dedicated in her honour in Mexico City
Astonished artists
On March 13, 1666, the first scientific examination of the image took place in Mexico. During a solemn Mass, great artists of the city implored graces for the studies they were about to undertake, after which they inspected the image before witnesses.
They unanimously reached this conclusion: “It is impossible that any craftsman could humanly paint and produce something so exquisite, clean and well-formed on so crude a fabric as the tilma”5 on which it is placed. Placed and not painted, since “there are no mineral, vegetable or animal colourings; we could say that it is a painting without paint.”6
To further emphasize the miracle, it is known that the material from which the tilma was made deteriorates in twenty years. But it has remained intact for almost five centuries. Is this by chance? Sufficient answer to this question is found in the fact that that reproductions of the image made from similar fabric have disintegrated in less than a decade.
Miracle confirmed by science
More recently, the image of Guadalupe has been subjected to scientific scrutiny using photographic magnification. After eight years, a commission of ophthalmologists, chemists, optometrists and artists came to the conclusion that the eyes of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe reflect the physiognomy of St. Juan Diego. In fact, the bust of a man is visible located symmetrically in each retina, corresponding to the reflection of the cornea, based on the laws of optics.
In addition to the figure of Juan Diego, in the pupil of Mary’s eyes we find thirteen people who were present at the time of the miracle, forming a sort of “snapshot” of what happened at the time.7
The Queen took possession of her Kingdom
After the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico entered an entirely new phase in which mass conversions took place. Mary had descended to earth to destroy the millennia-old empire of idolatry and establish there the Reign of her Heart.
She was officially named Patroness of Mexico in 1737, a time of great affliction for the Mexican people. A terrible epidemic was ravaging the country. When the ecclesiastical and civil authorities decided to declare Our Lady of Guadalupe as Patroness, the plague began to subside. Finally, on the day the decree was promulgated, only a few traces of the calamity remained. In 1746, She was proclaimed Patroness of North America and, in 1910, of the whole of Latin America.
Taking the centre of the New Continent as her throne, it suited the Virgin to remain there in order to sustain and nurture a people whom She wished to be forever reflected in her gaze. “He found them in a wilderness, a wasteland of howling desert; he shielded them, cared for them, guarded them as the apple of his eye” (Dt 32:10). ◊
A Less Common Commentary…
There are several commentaries that could be made about the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Of these, I think the most interesting is one that has received less mention: Juan Diego’s attitude towards Our Lady and his manner of speaking to her.
Our Lady treats him as the son of a nation that is decaying, of a people that is disappearing, but a son who has a pure soul, a simple soul. She treats him with extraordinary affection, almost as She would a child. We can see the predilection that Mary Most Holy has not only for great, heroic souls who accomplish historic feats, but also – as She loves all forms of beauty, all forms of virtue – for little souls who are entirely turned towards her and who are unaware of their own virtue. The Virgin speaks to these souls with a completely special tenderness.
“St. Juan Diego”, by Francisco Carden – Museum of the Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City
We also have Juan Diego’s attitude towards Our Lady: he addresses her like a true courtier, greets her, and asks her how She is doing, if She is well… And, after describing the failure of the mission he had been entrusted with, he behaves like a true diplomat and explains to her the human reason for his failure. At the same time, he expresses his desire not to appear, not to be in the spotlight. One can see all the qualities of soul that are encompassed in this.
The result: Our Lady appreciates his attitude, smiles at the diplomatic advice and does not accept it. On the contrary, She demands that he go back to the bishop. Juan Diego, obedient, returns, because he is not lazy, he does not put up resistance; he is the obedient son.
Here you have a principle that I want to emphasize: where there is true virtue, then refinement, courtesy and noble manners appear. Where, on the contrary, virtue dies, then noble manners, refinement and courtesy will also gradually disappear…
Juan Diego, because he has delicacy of soul, also has delicacy of manners, and he knows how to treat Our Lady with respect, with true nobility. If he did not have delicacy of soul, he could be a nobleman, but he would not treat Our Lady with true nobility.
Which, in turn, proves the following: if Western civilization has developed good manners, nobility in social relations, gentility, poise and an aristocratic tone to a point never reached by any other civilization, this is because there was a Middle Ages in which these qualities were born. There was a time of sublime virtue and of lofty piety, when souls were hungry for noble behavior, delicacy and grandeur. And since customs are born out of the propensities of good or bad souls, thence sprang – in the sacred soil of Christian Europe – all Western courtesy, precisely the offspring of this piety and virtue.
When the Revolution came and quashed the spiritual life of Europeans, when egalitarian principles entered their mentality, decadence began immediately. Why? Because, from this perspective, Revolution, egalitarianism, lack of refinement in the sentiments and a want of nobility of manners are completely related. Those who are egalitarian and harbour the opposite in themselves cannot have nobility of manners or refinement of sentiments: they are selfish and brutal, they tend towards mass rule, they do not acknowledge the merits and qualities of others, but want to subject all social life, all human interaction and, therefore, all dealings with souls to a harsh, cold and rude equality.
It is therefore easy to understand the extent to which politeness and aristocratic behaviour are children of the Roman Catholic Church. On the other hand, banal, low-level, egalitarian and crude manners are precisely the fruit of the Revolution and of the devil. ◊
CORRÊA DE OLIVEIRA, Plinio.
Conference. São Paulo, 12/12/1966
Notes
1 CASTRO, Emilio Silva de. La Virgen María de Guadalupe. Reina de México y Emperatriz de las Américas. Guadalajara: Procultura Occidental, 1995, p.197-198.
2 BERNARDINO DE SAHAGÚN, OFM. Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España. L.VI, c.31. Ciudad de México: Pedro Robredo, 1938, t.II, p.189.
3 In the original account of the events, Our Lady calls him “Iuantzin Iuan Diegotzin”. These are words that have always been translated as “Juanito, Juan Dieguito”, giving the fact a moving connotation of maternal tenderness and sweetness. But in Nahuatl [the native language], the ending tzin is also a reverential ending, meaning that it is added to signify reverence and respect” (SILLER ACUÑA, Clodomiro. Anotaciones y comentarios al Nican Mopohua. In: Estudios indígenas. Ciudad de México. Year VIII. N.2 [March, 1981], p.227).
4 The tilma was of an indigenous fabric of rough quality and poor durability, made from the maguey agave plant.
5 CHÁVEZ SÁNCHEZ, Eduardo. La Virgen de Guadalupe y Juan Diego en las informaciones jurídicas de 1666, apud LOAIZA, Enrique M. O milagre da Virgem de Guadalupe. 2.ed. São Paulo: Artpress, 2011, p.51.
6 ROJAS SÁNCHEZ, Mario. Guadalupe, símbolo y evangelización. La Virgen de Guadalupe se lee en náhuatl. Ciudade de México: Othón Corona Sánchez, 2001, p.24.
7 Cf. ASTE TONSMANN, José. Los ojos de la Virgen de Guadalupe. 2.ed. Ciudad de México: Diana, 1987, p.48-117.
