Our Lady of Guadalupe
Patron saint of the Americas and the unborn
by Fr. Jerry Vincke
On
Dec. 9, 1511, Mary appeared to a poor, native Aztec named Juan Diego as
he walked along a country trail near present-day Mexico City. Mary instructed
Juan to tell the bishop to build a church on that site to replace a pagan
shrine.
Juan’s efforts to convince the bishop failed. Finally, in her third
appearance to Juan, Mary told him to take Castilian roses, which were
miraculously growing nearby in frozen ground, as a sign to the bishop.
Juan put some roses in his cloak. When he came to the bishop and unfolded
the cloak, imprinted on the cloak was the now famous image of Our Lady
of Guadalupe.
Do you know why Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of the unborn?
In the depiction of Mary, one of the striking features is that she appears
pregnant. Before Mary appeared, the Mexican people sacrificed babies to
the false gods. Within 10 years of Mary’s appearance, more than eight
million Mexican people converted to the Catholic faith. Pagan worship
and the sacrifice of babies nearly went out of existence.
Juan Diego’s cloak now hangs in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
near Mexico City. After nearly 500 years, the picture on the cloak shows
no sign of deterioration, and artists have been unable to duplicate the
combination of materials used in the paint.
The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated Dec. 12. The feast of
St. Juan Diego, who was recently canonized by Pope John Paul II, is Dec.
9.
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