Juan Diego was born in Cuautitlán (now a part of Mexico City) in 1474. He was given the name Cuauhtlatoatzin, which means “the talking eagle” at the time of his birth. He was an ordinary peasant who would become well-known around the world by the name he was given at the baptism. He and his spouse, Maria Lucía, witnessed enough to realise that his people faced more than just the brutality of the conquistadors when the Spanish invaded their territory. Alongside the warriors and explorers were modest Franciscan friars who used their goodness and drawings to teach the native peoples. Cuauhtlatoatzin and his wife asked for baptism, receiving new names along with their new life in Christ.
The lady on Tepeyac hill
After his wife’s death in December 1531, Juan Diego was making his way towards the friars, where he went every Saturday to get catechetical instructions. One day, he heard a voice calling him by “Juantzin,” as he passed Tepeyac Hill. He was shocked to see a stunning young woman wearing a robe of stars and the black girdle that native women use to indicate pregnancy. She spoke in native Nahuatl and asked him to go tell the bishop to construct a church here so she could offer her son to everyone who visited.
The messenger
Juan Diego rushed to Juan Zumárraga, the bishop, who was skeptical of his story. He went back to the beautiful woman and told her to select a different messenger because he was not an important man. But she insisted that she had selected the right messenger. The woman urged Juan Diego to come back the following day as the bishop had requested a sign.
Next day, Juan Diego stayed at home to look after Juan Bernardino, his uncle who was ill. On the morning of December 12, Juan Diego changed his route in an attempt to avoid the Virgin on his way to get a priest to perform his uncle’s final rites. But she found him and said “Am I not here who, am your mother?”
She assured him that his uncle would be alright and asked him to climb the hill, where only scrub brush and cacti grew, particularly in the winter, and gather any roses he came across. He took the flowers to the bishop after bundling them in his tilma (cloak). The bishop fell on his knees when Juan Diego opened his tilma and saw not only roses but also a stunning mestiza (mixed-race girl) dressed in Indian attire. According to the Book of Revelation, she was “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet” (Rev 12:1). The bishop realised that Juan Diego had witnessed the Mother of God and the Mother of all believers, who left her likeness imprinted on his mantle.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
The name “Our Lady of Guadalupe,” which had great significance for the Indigenous peoples, would soon be applied to the figure that appeared on Juan Diego’s tilma. During a period of violence and terror, her looks bridged two worlds by reflecting both Spanish and Indigenous ancestry. The image’s symbols, her star-covered mantle, the black maternity band and the rays of light surrounding her, spoke directly to the hearts of the surrounding populations. She was seen by the Aztecs as a loving mother who arrived with love rather than weapons, bringing a message of respect, safety, and hope. The picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe became one of the most potent symbols of religion in the Americas as devotion to her developed quickly over time.
A man of prayer
This apparition assured the native people that this gospel or good news, was also for them. Approximately 9 million of them had requested baptism by 1539, just eight years after the apparitions. Juan Diego moved into a little cottage close by when a church was constructed on the location of the apparition so that he could clean the space, tend to the pilgrims, teach people about the religion and most importantly, pray. He stayed there until his death in 1548.
