Am I not here, I who am your Mother?
Miracles often bring us an awakening of the supernatural, but certain miracles affect such a great number of people that the course of history is changed. One example of this would certainly be the miraculous image that sparked the conversion of over 8 or 9 million Indigenous people to the Catholic Faith within just 10 years. When our Lady came to Guadalupe, Mexico in 1531, the spiritual impact she left on both the Aztecs and the Spaniards was nothing short of incredible. Let’s back up and look at the history of this amazing event that transformed lives and shaped key moments in the history of the Mexican people.
Before the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors to Mexico, the Aztecs believed that sacrificing human blood to their god would preserve their lives and keep the world from ending. They dreadfully killed more than 20,000 warriors, slaves and prisoners-of-war on the sacrificial altar each year. The Spanish tried to convert them to Catholicism, but there were conflicts and the Aztecs did not trust them. Since they were often treated violently by the Spaniards, the situation continued to get worse, and they felt betrayed by their gods.
The Franciscans were among the first missionaries to arrive and slowly introduced baptism and began to evangelize the natives. Juan Diego, his wife, and uncle were one of the first families to receive baptism by the Franciscan missionaries. After his wife died, Juan moved in to live with his uncle.
As Juan was making his way to Church on the morning of December 9, 1531, he passed a hill named Tepeyac and heard a voice calling him saying, “Juanito, my dear Juan Diego”. He followed the sweet voice and saw a glowing figure on the hill who said to him, “Know and understand well, you the most humble of my sons, that I am the 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…”
Juan Diego immediately went to see Juan de Zumárraga, who was Archbishop of what is now Mexico City. Bishop Zumárraga dismissed him in disbelief and asked that the future Saint provide proof of his story and proof of the Lady’s identity.
Juan Diego returned to the hill and encountered Our Lady again. She reaffirmed his mission and told him to go back to the Bishop the following day. The Bishop still did not believe him and asked for a sign from the Lady. When Juan met our Lady on his way home and told her what the Bishop said, she asked him to return the following morning for a sign that he would take to the Bishop.
However, when Juan returned home, he found his uncle gravely ill. Instead of returning to the hill the following day he stayed home to care for his dying uncle. On the following morning, he felt the need to set out to look for a priest for his uncle. He purposely avoided the hill of Tepeyac so not to see Our Lady. However, She found him and appeared to him with these tender words, “Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Are you not in the fold of my mantle, in the cradle of my arms? Do not grieve or be disturbed by anything. Do not be afflicted by the illness of your uncle, who will not die, and be assured that he is now cured.”
She then sent him to the top of the hill to cut roses that would be a sign for the bishop. Although it was winter and nothing should have been in bloom, Juan found an abundance of Castilian roses, a type he had never seen before. The Virgin bundled the flowers into Juan's cloak, known as a tilma, and told him that they would be a sign for the Bishop so that he would believe and build a temple as she asked.
Juan returned to the Bishop to deliver the message and finally was able to get in to see him. He told him about the flowers at the top of the hill and Our Lady’s wish. As he unfolded his tilma to show him the roses, they fell to the ground and a sacred image of the Virgin appeared on the tilma. Seeing this, the bishop and all in the room fell to their knees before the tilma. The Bishop begged Juan's forgiveness for not believing him from the beginning, and immediately ordered the construction of a chapel, where people came from all over to see the image of the Queen of Heaven on the tilma.
As our Lady said, Juan Diego’s uncle was indeed healed through the Virgin’s intercession. His uncle later testified that Mary had appeared to him and requested to be known as “Our Lady of Guadalupe,” a name that has endured for centuries.
Within 10 years of our Lady appearing, nine million indigenous people embraced the Catholic faith. For the Spanish missionaries, who had struggled with evangelization because of past injustices, this was quite a source of hope.
The tilma itself, the simple cloak on which the image of the Virgin Mary miraculously appeared, has remarkably resisted natural deterioration for centuries, defying laws of science. The course fabric of the tilma is made from agave fiber which would have had a maximum lifespan of 20 years yet shows no indication of wear or decay in almost 500 years. It has been examined extensively by scientists, and its preservation remains inexplicable.
More than that, the colors are bright and fresh, even though the image was in the damp stone chapel for more than one hundred years unprotected from the continual smoke of thousands of votive candles and incense, not to mention the many hands and objects that touched it. In 1936, Prof. Richard Kuhn, Noble Prize winner in Chemistry, examined a red and a yellow fiber from the image. He found no trace of paint on or in the fiber and stated that the material used to create the color was not made from plants, animals, or mineral components and is unknown to scientists. What produced the colors on Juan Diego’s cloak or how they were applied remains a total mystery of science.
According to the specialists of Kodak Corporation in Mexico, the Image is smooth and bears more resemblance to a color photograph than anything else. There are no visible brush strokes or protective varnish covering the image to protect its surface. All who have scientifically examined the image of Our Lady over the centuries have stated that its properties are inexplicable in human terms and that the image can only be supernatural.
After Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared on the hill of Tepeyac a new era began, a new civilization of the Mexican people. She became the patroness of all Americans and gave birth to a renewed Christianity, helping us to evangelize society.
There are so many more miracles and details surrounding this holy apparition and the tilma. Listed below are some articles and videos for further research. While the tilma is amazing, I always felt the sweetest part of this miracle was the love of Our Lady, and her caring and beautiful words to Juan Diego when she said, “Let nothing frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Am I not here, I who am your Mother?” What a warm and reassuring feeling to know that our Mother is always near to us!
The tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe remains perhaps the most sacred object in all of Mexico. Over 20 million people visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe each year, now situated on the very same hill on which she appeared.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.’ ~ John 14:27
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