Michael October - November

Juan de Zumarraga of Mexico, to write to the king

of Spain, “Unless there is a miracle, the continent

shall be lost.” Between December 9 and December

12, 1531, the miracle did happen, and it changed the

future of the continent forever...

St. Juan Diego and the “Lady from Heaven”

St. Juan Diego was born in 1474 in Cuautlitlán,

which, today, is part of Mexico City. He was given

the name “Cuauhtlatoatzin” or “talking eagle” and

was a gifted member of the Chichimeca people. He

worked hard in the fields and in the manufacturing

of mats. He owned a small house on a tiny piece of

land and was happily married, but had no children.

Between 1524 and 1525, he and his wife converted

to Christianity and were given the names, Juan Diego

and Maria Lucia in Baptism. They were both very

devout and attended

daily Mass despite a

distance of 12 miles

to the mission church.

In May of 1529 Juan’s

wife became ill and

died. He then went to

live with his uncle Juan

Bernardino, who was

also a convert to Chris-

tianity, in Tolpetlac,

which was still 4 miles

from the church of St.

James in Tlatelolco-

Tenochtitlan.

Each morning he

departed early in order

to be on time for the

Mass and to receive

religious-instruction. He

walked barefoot and

on chilly mornings he

would wear a

tilma,

ayate

which was a

course cloth-like man-

tle woven from the

fibres of the maguey

cactus. Although Mex-

ico is a hot country, the

plateau of Mexico City

is about 7000 feet above sea level and the nights and

early morning hours can be very cool. It was on one

of these mornings, December 9th, 1531, that Juan

Diego was making his way to the early Mass. As he

reached the base of the hill known as Tepeyac, he sud-

denly heard sweet music, like “birds singing in a chor-

us”. This surprised him, so he stopped. The singing

seemed to be coming from atop the hill from which he

could see a white shining cloud surrounded by a rain-

bow. He was not at all afraid; rather he felt enraptured

and his heart was filled with an unexplainable joy.

The Apparition

There before him stood a beautiful girl with a tan

complexion, bathed in the golden beams of the sun.

He approached her, and before she herself had re-

vealed to him her identity, Juan Diego had no doubt

that he was in the presence of the Blessed Virgin

Mary, the Queen of Heaven. She called to him by

name in

Nahuatl

, his own native tongue:

“Juanito,

Juan Dieguito! ”

He was not frightened in the least;

instead he felt overjoyed! He bowed before Her and

she spoke to him with a sweet tenderness:

“Juanito,

my son whom I love tenderly like a little and deli-

cate child, where are you going?”

He replied to her:

“My Noble Lady and Child, I

have to reach the church in Tlatilolco, to pursue

things divine, taught and given to us by our priests,

delegates of Our Lord.”

Again, she spoke:

“Know and under-

stand well, you, the

most humble of My

sons, that I am the

ever-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 exhib-

it and give all My love,

compassion, help, and

protection, because

I am your merciful

mother, to you and to

all the inhabitants on

this land and all the

rest who love Me, in-

voke and confide in

Me, to listen there to

their

lamentations,

and remedy all their

miseries, afflictions

and sorrows. And to

accomplish what My

clemency pretends, go to the palace of the Bishop

of Mexico, and you will say to him that I manifest

My great desire, that here on this plain, a temple be

built to Me. You will accurately relate all you have

seen and admired, and what you have heard. Be as-

sured that I will be most grateful and will reward

you, because I will make you happy and worthy of

recompense for the effort and fatigue in what you

will obtain for what I have entrusted. Behold, you

have heard My mandate, My humble son; go and

put forth all your effort.”

To this Juan Diego said to her:

“My Lady, I am

going to comply with Your mandate; now I must part

from You, I, your humble servant.”

He then descended

the hill and made his way along the road which runs

directly into Mexico City in order to comply to her

request.

The visit to the Bishop

Upon entering the city, Juan Diego went directly

to the Bishop’s palace to meet with Bishop Juan de

Zumarraga, a Franciscan of great piety who had a

great love for the Virgin Mary. Juan related to him all

that he had seen and heard.

The Bishop was cordial

but hesitant on this first visit and said that he would

consider the requests of the Lady and politely invited

Juan Diego to come visit again.

Dismayed, Juan returned to the hill and found

Mary waiting for him. He said to her:

“Lady, I went

where You sent me to comply with Your command.

With difficulty I entered the prelate’s study. I saw

him and exposed Your message, just as You had in-

structed me. He received me benevolently and lis-

tened attentively, but when he replied, it appeared

that he did not believe me. I perfectly understood by

the manner in which he replied that he believes it to

be an invention of mine – that You wish that a temple

be built here to You, and that it is not Your order. Now

I exceedingly beg, Lady, that You entrust the deliv-

ery of Your message to someone of importance, well

known, respected, and esteemed, so that they may

believe in him; because I am a nobody, I am a small

rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf, and You, my

Lady, You send me to a place where I never visit nor

repose. Please excuse my great unpleasantness, and

let not fretfulness befall, my Lady and my All.”

The Blessed Virgin answered

“Hark, My son the

least, you must understand that I have many ser-

vants and messengers, to whom I must entrust the

delivery of My message and carry My wish, but it is

of precise detail that You yourself solicit and assist,

and that through your mediation My wish be com-

plied. I earnestly implore, My son the least, and with

sternness I command, that you again go tomorrow

and see the Bishop. You go in My name, and make

known My wish in its entirety – that he has to start

the erection of a temple which I ask of him. And

again tell him that I, in person, the ever-virgin Holy

Mary, Mother of God, sent you.”

Juan Diego replied:

“Lady, let me not cause You

affliction. Gladly and willingly I will go to comply with

Your mandate. Under no condition will I fail to do it,

for the way is not even distressing. I will go to do Your

wish, but perhaps I will not be heard with liking, or if

I am heard, I might not be believed. Tomorrow after-

noon, at sunset, I will come to bring You the result of

Your message with the prelate’s reply.”

Juan Diego

then left Her and returned to his home.

The Bishop asks for a sign

The next day was Sunday and after hearing Mass

Juan Diego returned to the palace of the Bishop.

Kneeling before him, he dissolved into tears and once

again conveyed to him the Blessed Lady’s message

and the wish of the Immaculate, to erect Her temple

where She willed it to be. Bishop Zumarraga asked

Juan many questions, and even though he replied

to each question patiently and precisely, describ-

ing to him in perfect detail all that he had seen, the

Bishop still did not give credence to his story. Finally

the Bishop said to him that if the Lady would give

a “sign” that would prove to him that she was truly

from Heaven, then he would believe and he would

grant Her request.

Statue of Pope John Paul II with overimposed im-

age of the Virgin of Guadalupe, made entirely with keys

donated by Mexicans. The plaque states that this was

done to show that the Mexican people had given the

Pope the "key to their hearts". John Paul II visited the

Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe four times: in 1979,

1990, 1999 and 2002. On his third visit in 1999, John

Paul II entrusted the cause of life to her loving protection,

and placed under her motherly care the innocent lives of

children, especially those who are in danger of not being

born.

MICHAEL October/November/December 2013