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Excerpted from Exploring the Miraculous (OSV):
On May 7, 1979, Philip Serna Callahan, an accomplished biologist who has written fourteen books and two hundred scientific papers, was invited by the rector of the shrine, Msgr. Enrique Salazar, to conduct infrared photographic tests on the tilma. Infrared photography allows the scientist to obtain “historical data of the historical derivation, the method of rendition and the validity of documents and paintings.” Between 9 p.m. and midnight, he took forty exposures, from a distance and close up, and concluded that the original image had been substantially embellished over the years.The first additions were the moon and the tassel, followed by the gold and black decorations, the angel, and the fold in robe, the sunburst, and the background.The elements that were found to be original are the red robe, the blue mantle, the face, and the hands. Callahan noted:
In terms of this infrared study, there is no way to explain either the kind of color pigments, or the maintenance of color luminosity and brightness over the centuries. When consideration is given to the fact that there is no under drawing, sizing or over varnish, and the weave of the fabric itself is utilized to give the portrait depth, no explanation of the portrait is possible by infrared tech- niques. It is remarkable that after more than four centuries there is no fading or cracking of the original figure on any portion of the agave tilma, which should have deteriorated centuries ago. (Philip Serna Callahan, The Tilma under Infra-Red Radiation, CARA Studies on Popular Devotion, vol. 2, Guadalupan Studies, no. 3 (Washington, DC: Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, 1981).
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Tepeyac Hill, Mexico (1531)
Title: Our Lady of Guadalupe
Feast Day: December 12th
Investigated: 1666, 1723
First Apparition: Dec 9, 1531
Approved: 1555 by Archbishop Alonso de Montúfar (1551-1572)
Last Apparition: Dec 12, 1531
Visionaries: St. Juan Diego (57), Juan Bernardino
Number of Apparitions: 5
Miracles &Signs: Tilma of Juan Diego with imprint of image of Virgin ; conversion of millions of indians
Summary: Mary proclaimed herself "the Mother of the true God who gives life" and left her image permanently upon the tilma of St. Juan Diego, a man newly converted to Christianity. Her likeness was given as a sign to Bishop Zumarraga, who abided by her wishes and constructed a church on Mt. Tepeyacac, the site of the apparitions. Millions of natives were converted to Christianity during the period following her visit. Our Lady of Guadalupe has been designated as the Patron Saint of the Americas.
Visionary
St. Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" ("the talking eagle") in Cuautlitlán, today part of Mexico City, Mexico. He was a gifted member of the Chichimeca people, one of the more culturally advanced groups living in the Anáhuac Valley.
When he was 50 years old he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. On 9 December 1531, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what is now Mexico City.
With the Bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus.
The Messages of Guadalupe
Excerpted from an English translation of Luis Lasso de la Vega's 1649 copy of the the Nican Mopohua written in Nahuatl by the Indian scholar Antonio Valeriano in the mid-16th century.
Timeline
1474
Quauhtlatoatzin (Juan Diego) is born in Cuautitlan.
1476ss
Juan de Zumarraga was born in Spain.
1492
Christopher Columbus lands on an island in the Americas and named it San Salvador.
1514
The first Marian Shrine in the New World is established in the city of Higuey.
1519
Hernan Cortez lands in Mexico.
1521
The capital city of the Aztecs falls under Cortez.
1524
The first 12 Franciscans arrive in Mexico City.
1525
Quauhtlatoatzin is baptized by a Franciscan priest and receives the Christian name of Juan Diego.
1528
Friar Juan de Zumarraga arrives in the New World.
1529
Juan Diego’s wife, Maria, dies.
Dec 9, 1531
The Virgin appears to Juan Diego on top of mount Tepeyacac speaking to him in Nahuatl, his native tongue. She called him “Xocoyte,” her little son. She requests that he petition the bishop of Mexico that a “teocalli,” a sacred little house, be built on the spot. Juan Diego, calling her her “Xocoyata,” his littlest daughter, agrees to comply with her mandate and meets with the Bishop who listens to the message but does not believe his words. On his return he encounters the Virgin again who insists that he return to the Bishop with the same message the next day.
Dec 10, 1531
Juan does not return to the bishop the next day because his uncle Juan Bernardino takes ill and requests Juan Diego to find a priest for his final confession.
Dec 11, 1531
Juan goes from his home to Tlatilolco to summon a priest and despite trying to avoid her, encounters along the way the Virgin who promises that his uncle will be cured. She urges him to climb to the top of the hilltop and gather the roses growing there in December as the sign for the Bishop to believe. When the Bishop finally received him, Juan unfurled his tilma and revealed the image of the Virgin miraculously painted there.
Dec 12, 1531
Juan Diego shows the Bishop the location of the apparition on which the church was to be built. He then returned to his uncle who was cured of his illness and had an experienced a visitation from the Virgin himself.
Dec 24, 1531
Bishop Zumarraga writes a letter to Cortez stating: "I want to dedicate my cathedral to the Immaculate Conception because it was during that feast that God and his Blessed Mother deigned to shower the land you won with great favor."
1533
The first sanctuary is erected at the request of the Virgin. With the Bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Virgin.
1541
Franciscan priest and early historian of New Spain “Motolinia” writes that some nine million Aztecs had become Christians
1548
Bishop Juan de Zumarraga dies.
May 30, 1548
Juan Diego dies and is buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
(The Codex 1548 is discovered in 1995 in a private collection. it commemorates the death of Juan Diego in 1548 and provides the earliest illustration of him and the earliest reference to his birth name, Cuauhtlatoatzin. It is signed by Antonio Valeriano and Bernardindo de Sahagun.)
June 1554
Alonso de Montúfar was consecrated in 1553 and finally reached his see in Mexico City as the second archbishop of Mexico.
1555
In the Provincial Counsel, the second archbishop of Mexico, Alonso de Montúfar (1551-1572), formulates canons that indirectly approved the apparitions.
1556
Archbishop Montúfar begins the erection of the second church.
1561
The Valeriano Relation (the Nican Mopohua) is written by an Indian named Antonio Valeriano between 1551 and 1561.
1564
An image is carried on the first formal expedition to the Philippine Islands.
1567
The new church ordered by Archbishop Montufar is completed.
1570
Archbishop Montufar sends an oil painted copy of the image of Guadalupe to King Philip II of Spain.
1571
Admiral Doria carries a copy of the image aboard ship during the battle of Lepanto and attributes the victory over the Ottoman Empire to the Virgin of Guadalupe
1573
The “Primitive Relation” is written by the historian Juan de Tovar, who transcribed the story from a still earlier source, probably Juan Gonzalez, Bishop’s Zumarraga’s translator.
1647
The image is covered with glass for the first time.
1648
The priest Miguel Sanchez publishes “Image of the Virgin Mary, Guadalupan Mother of God” in Mexico City.
1649
Luis Lasso de la Vega publishes the “Huey Tlanahuicoltica”, telling the story in Nahuatl. It refers to earlier Nahuatl sources.
1666
A formal inquiry and investigation, named Informaciones Guadalupana, is conducted by the Church from February 18 to March 22. Juan Diego was called a "holy man".
1695
The first stone of the new sanctuary is laid..
1709
The new sanctuary is solemnly dedicated.
1723
Another formal investigation is ordered by Archbishop Lanziego y Eguilaz.
1737
The Most Holy Mary of Guadalupe is chosen as the patroness of the city of Mexico.
1746
The patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe is accepted for all of New Spain (California to El Salvador).
1746
The knight Boturini Benaducci promotes the solemn and official coronation of the image.
May 25, 1754
Benedict XIV approves the patronage of New Spain and granted a Mass and Office proper to the celebration of the feast on December 12.
1756
Painter Miguel Cabrera publishes his extensive study of the Image in the book “American Marvel”.
1757
The Virgin of Guadalupe is declared patroness of the citizens of Ciudad Ponce in Puerto Rico.
1767
The religious of the Society of Jesus are expelled from the Spanish dominions, and the image is carried to various parts of the world.
1895
The coronation of the image is performed, with pontifical authority and the a great part of the episcopate of the Americas in attendance.
1910
Pius X declares the Virgin of Guadalupe Patroness of Latin America.
1911
A church is built on the site of Juan Bernardino’s home.
1921
A bomb placed beneath the image explodes but the tilma survives.
1924
A very important 16th century source documenting the miracle is found in Tetlapalco, Peru in 1924 by anthropologist M.H. Saville. It is a pictorial calendar known as the Codex Saville-Tetlapalco and shows the image of our Lady located in the position representing the year 1531.
1928
A coronation of the image was made in Santa Fe, Argentina.
1929
First documented note of an apparent reflected image of a man’s head in the right eye of the Virgin, by photographer Alfonso Marcue. Alfonso Gonzales, a photographer of the Basilica of Guadalupe, after studying the negative of the image, found what seemed to be a clear image of a bearded man reflected in the right eye.
1935
Pius XI extended the patronage of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the Philippines.
1945
Pius XII states that the Virgin of Guadalupe was the “Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas” and that she had been painted “by brushes that were not of this world”.
1946
Pope Pius XII declares her to be the Patroness of the Americas.
1951
Carlos Salinas examines the tilma and observes the apparent reflection of a man’s head in the right eye of the Virgin
1956
Dr. Torroela-Bueno, an ophthalmologist, examines the eyes of the Virgin on the tilma.
1958
Dr. Rafael Torija-Lavoignet publishes his study of the Purkinje-Sanson effect as exhibited in the Guadalupan image.
1961
Pope John XXIII prays to her as Mother of the Americas. He addresses her as Mother and Teacher of the Faith to the peoples of the Americas
1962
Dr. Charles Wahlig, O.D. announces the discovery of two images apparently reflected in the eyes of the Virgin when studying a photograph enlarged twenty five times.
1966
Pope Paul VI sends a Golden Rose to the Basilica.
1975
Glass is removed so the image could be examined by another ophthalmologist, Dr. Enrique Grave.
1976
The New Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located four miles from central Mexico City, is dedicated.
1979
Dr. Philip Callahan takes 40 frames of infra-red photographs of the image. Later concluded that the original image is unexplainable as a human work.
1979
Pope John Paul II called her the “Star of Evangelization”, knelt before her image, invoked her motherly assistance and called upon her as Mother of the Americas.
1979
Dr. Jose Aste-Tonsmann announces the finding of at least four human figures apparently reflected in both eyes of the Virgin. Dr. Tosmann used sophisticated image processing techniques with digitized photographs of both eyes.
December 22, 1981
At the Observatory Laplace Mexico City, Father Mario Rojas and Dr. Juan Hernández Illescas, a medical doctor and amateur astronomer, performed an astronomical study of the Image and analyzed the stellar arrangement that appear in the Mantle of Our Lady. They surprisingly discovered that the stars stunningly and accurately map out the various constellations of the Mexican sky. Even more remarkable is the "star map" on the mantle is in the reverse (the cardinal axis rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise): providing a view of the constellations from beyond them, as would be seen looking through them towards the earth. The constellations are consistent with what astronomers believe was in the sky above Mexico City on the day the apparition occurred - in the winter-morning solstice of December 12, 1531, Saturday, at 10:26AM.
1987
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints declares Juan Diego venerable.
1988
The liturgical celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 is raised to the status of a feast in all dioceses in the United States.
May 6, 1990
Juan Diego is beatified by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Mexico City. The Pope declares Dec. 9 the feast of Juan Diego and invokes him as “protector and advocate of the indigenous peoples.”
1992
Pope John Paul II dedicates a chapel in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Peter’s Basilica.
1995
The Codex 1548 (also known as Codex Escalada) is discovered in a private collection. it commemorates the death of Juan Diego in 1548 and provides the earliest illustration of him and the earliest reference to his birth name, Cuauhtlatoatzin. It features a pictogram of Antonio Valeriano and a signature of Bernardino de Sahagún.
1996
Controversy over the historical authenticity of Juan Diego is stirred by Father William Schulenburg, a longtime abbot of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who calls Juan Diego a "mythical character".
July 31, 1997
Father Xavier Escalada, S. J. published an illustration of the apparition with the signature of Don Antonio Valeriano dated 1548 was recently uncovered in a private collection in 2002 was named "Codex of 1548" or "Codex Escalada". The Codex has been scientifically studied and determined to be genuine, and substantiates the historical basis of the apparition of Guadalupe.
The English literal translation is as follows:
"Ten years after the seizure of the city of Mexico, war came to an end and there was peace amongst the people; in this manner faith started to bud, the understanding of the true God, for whom we live. At that time, in the year fifteen hundred and thirty one, in the early days of the month of December, it happened that there lived a poor Indian, named Juan Diego, said being a native of Cuautitlan. Of all things spiritually he belonged to Tlatilolco."
Oct. 28, 1998
The Vatican subsequently established a commission of 30 researchers from various countries to investigate the question of the historical authenticity of Juan Diego. The commission successfully proved that Juan Diego had indeed existed, and the results of their research were presented to the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Among research documents submitted at that time were 27 Guadalupe Indian documents. One called the “Escalada,” co-authored by Valeriano and Franciscan Friar Bernardino de Sahagun, contained a death certificate of Juan Diego.
March 25, 1999
Pope John Paul II, during his third visit to the sanctuary, declares the date of December the 12th as a Liturgical Holy Day for the whole continent. Read the declaration.
July 31, 2002
Juan Diego is canonized by Pope John Paul II in Mexico City.
Dec 12, 2011
Pope Benedict XVI stated:
The venerated image of the Black Madonna of Tepeyac, with her sweet and peaceful countenance, imprinted on the tilma of the indio St. Juan Diego, shows her as “the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God from whom she lives” (From the Office of Readings. Nicán Mopohua, 12th ed., Mexico City, D.F., 1971, 3-19).
She reminds us of the “woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child” (Rev 12:1-2).
She signals the presence of the Savior to the indigenous and mestizo population.
She always leads us to her divine Son, who is revealed as the foundation of the dignity of every human being, as a love that is stronger than the powers of evil and death, and the fountain of joy, filial trust, consolation and hope.
FIRST APPARITION (SATURDAY)
The Blessed Virgin: “Juanito, the most humble of my sons, where are you going?”
Juan Diego: “My Lady and Child, I have to reach your church in Mexico, Tlatilolco, to pursue things divine, taught and given to us by our priests, delegates of Our Lord.”
The Virgin: “Know and understand well, you the most humble of my son, 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 the earth. I wish that a temple be erected here quickly, so I may therein exhibit 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, invoke and confide in me; 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 assured 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 of what I have entrusted. Behold, you have heard my mandate, my humble son; go and put forth all your effort.”
Juan Diego: “My Lady, I am going to comply with your mandate; now I must part from you, I, your humble servant.”
SECOND APPARITION (SATURDAY)
Juan Diego: “Lady, the least of my daughters, my Child, 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 instructed me.
He received me benevolently and listened attentively, but when he replied, it appeared that he did not believe me. He said: “You will return; I will hear you at my pleasure. I will review from the beginning the wish and desire which you have brought.”
I perfectly understood by the manner 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; for which I exceedingly beg, Lady and my Child, that you entrust the delivery 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 Child, the least of my children, my Lady, you send me to a place where I never visit nor repose. Please excuse the great unpleasantness and let not fretfulness befall, my Lady and my All.”
The Blessed Virgin: “Hark, my son the least, you must understand that I have many servants 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 complied.
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: “Lady, my Child, let me not cause you affliction. Gladly and willingly I will go to comply your mandate. Under no condition will I fail to do it, for not even the way is 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 afternoon, at sunset, I will come to bring you the result of your message with the prelate’s reply. I now take leave, my Child, the least, my Child and Lady. Rest in the meantime.”
THIRD APPARITION (SUNDAY)
The Blessed Virgin: “Well and good, my little dear, you will return here tomorrow, so you may take to the bishop the sign he has requested. With this he will believe you, and in this regard he will not doubt you nor will he be suspicious of you; and know, my little dear, that I will reward your solicitude and effort and fatigue spent of my behalf. Lo! go now. I will await you here tomorrow.”
FOURTH APPARITION (TUESDAY)
The Blessed Virgin Mary: “What’s there, my son the least? Where are you going?”
Juan Diego: “My Child, the most tender of my daughters, Lady, God grant you are content. How are you this morning? Is your health good, Lady and my Child? I am going to cause you grief. Know, my Child, that a servant of yours is very sick, my uncle. He has contracted the plague, and is near death.
I am hurrying to your house in Mexico to call one of your priests, beloved by our Lord, to hear his confession and absolve him, because, since we were born, we came to guard the work of our death. But if I go, I shall return here soon, so I may go to deliver your message. Lady and my Child, forgive me, be patient with me for the time being. I will not deceive you, the least of my daughters. Tomorrow I will come in all haste.”
The Blessed Virgin Mary: “Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish.
Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything. Do not be afflicted by the illness of your uncle, who will not die now of it. be assured that he is now cured.”
“Climb, my son the least, to the top of the hill; there where you saw me and I gave you orders, you will find different flowers. Cut them, gather them, assemble them, then come and bring them before my presence.”
“My son the least, this diversity of roses is the proof and the sign which you will take to the bishop. You will tell him in my name that he will see in them my wish and that he will have to comply to it.
You are my ambassador, most worthy of all confidence. Rigorously I command you that only before the presence of the bishop will you unfold your mantle and disclose what you are carrying. You will relate all and well; you will tell that I ordered you to climb to the hilltop, to go and cut flowers; and all that you saw and admired, so you can induce the prelate to give his support, with the aim that a temple be built and erected as I have asked.”
Miracles and Signs
The tilma was made from cactus fibres and as such should have turned into dust after approximately twenty years. Instead it has survived and been on diplay to the faithful for nearly 500 years despite being exposed to the smoke of candles throughout the centuries. Infrared spectroscopy has confirmed the integrity of the image.
The image on the tilma is composed of pigments that have not been identified by chemical analysis as being the product of animal, vegetable, or mineral dye. No undersketch has been identified below the painting.
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Examination of the eyes of the image by photographers and ophtamalogists has suggested that the reflections of Juan Diego, the bishop, and the interpeter can be distinguished.
Additionally, the apparitions and the resulting tilma contributed in no small way to the Christianization of Mexico with several million Aztecs converting to Christianity in the ensuing years.
Symbolism
The 470-year-old image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is more than simply a picture. It contains
symbols -- in a sense, hieroglyphics, or a story in pictures -- that reveal part of the message the Blessed Mother brought through Juan Diego to the Indians of Mexico and to all the people of the Americas. But the symbols had a special meaning to the Indians, who because of their culture could decipher the code in the Image.
1. Eyes
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The eyes of the image are looking down, a postion of humility, revealing that, as great as she is, she is not a god. Indian gods never looked down; they looked straight ahead.
2. Face
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The woman's face shows great compassion. The Indians felt that the face was the window of the inner person, a means by which one could read who a person was -- the way a person would act. A good woman to the Indians was one whose femininity showed in her face. The head of the woman in the image shows her with dark skin and dark hair like that of the Indians.
3. Hands
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Her hands are not poised in the traditional Western style of prayer, but in an Indian manner of offering, indicating that something is being offered, that something is to come from her.
4. Maternity Band
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The maternity band around the woman's waist was the sign of a pregnant woman, a mother who is about to give birth, it was a sign to the Indians that someone is yet to come.
5. Stars
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The stars on the mantle are a sign that a new civilization, or era, is beginning. The Indian tradition recognized the end and the beginning of different eras throughout the ages, and the destruction of a particular civilization or era was always accompanied by a comet, or a body of stars.
6. Sun Rays
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The rays of sun in the image recalled for the Indians that the sun played a key role in their civilization. But the woman in the image is greater than even the sun. She hides the sun, and only the rays come forth. She hides the sun but does not extinguish it.
7. Mantle
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The predominant color in the image's mantle is turquoise, the blue-green color reserved for the great god Omecihuatl. Although the Indians had many "intermediary gods." Omecihuatl was considered the supreme god. It was a mother-father god who sometimes was represented as a man and sometimes as a woman. It was a source of unity for everything that exists.
8. Moon
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The woman is standing on the moon, indicating that she is greater than the god of night, the moon god.
9. Angel
The angel at the bottom of the image was seen by the Indians as an "intermediary god" carrying in a new era, the beginning of a new civilization. One era was at an end -- had died -- and a new one was beginning, was being born.
Star Pattern
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On December 22, 1981, at the Observatory Laplace Mexico City, Father Mario Rojas and Dr. Juan Hernández Illescas, a medical doctor and amateur astronomer, performed an astronomical study of the Image and analyzed the stellar arrangement that appear in the Mantle of Our Lady. They surprisingly discovered that the stars stunningly and accurately map out the various constellations of the Mexican sky. Even more remarkable is the "star map" on the mantle is in the reverse (the cardinal axis rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise): providing a view of the constellations from beyond them, as would be seen looking through them towards the earth. The constellations are consistent with what astronomers believe was in the sky above Mexico City on the day the apparition occurred - in the winter-morning solstice of December 12, 1531, Saturday, at 10:26AM.
Our Lady's cloak has 46 stars: 22 on her right side, and 24 on her left side. These 46 stars are the most brilliant stars that surround the horizon of the Mexican Valley which have been identified. The main constellations of the Northern sky can be seen on the right of the mantle. On the left, the Southern ones which can be seen from the Tepeyac in winter at dawn. The East is situated in the upper part and the West in the lower part. The Mantle is opened and there are other groups of stars which are not marked in the Image, but they are present in the sky. The Boreal Crown is located above the Virgin's head; Virgo is on her chest, in the region of her hands. Leo on Her womb, precisely above the sign of Nahui Ollin, with his main star Regulo, the small king. Gemini, the twins, is found in the region of the knees and Orion is located where the Angel is.
Additions and Embellishments
Excerpted from Exploring the Miraculous (OSV):
On May 7, 1979, Philip Serna Callahan, an accomplished biologist who has written fourteen books and two hundred scientific papers, was invited by the rector of the shrine, Msgr. Enrique Salazar, to conduct infrared photographic tests on the tilma. Infrared photography allows the scientist to obtain “historical data of the historical derivation, the method of rendition and the validity of documents and paintings.” Between 9 p.m. and midnight, he took forty exposures, from a distance and close up, and concluded that the original image had been substantially embellished over the years.The first additions were the moon and the tassel, followed by the gold and black decorations, the angel, and the fold in robe, the sunburst, and the background.The elements that were found to be original are the red robe, the blue mantle, the face, and the hands. Callahan noted:
In terms of this infrared study, there is no way to explain either the kind of color pigments, or the maintenance of color luminosity and brightness over the centuries. When consideration is given to the fact that there is no under drawing, sizing or over varnish, and the weave of the fabric itself is utilized to give the portrait depth, no explanation of the portrait is possible by infrared tech- niques. It is remarkable that after more than four centuries there is no fading or cracking of the original figure on any portion of the agave tilma, which should have deteriorated centuries ago. (Philip Serna Callahan, The Tilma under Infra-Red Radiation, CARA Studies on Popular Devotion, vol. 2, Guadalupan Studies, no. 3 (Washington, DC: Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, 1981).
Visionary St. Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" ("the talking eagle") in Cuautlitlán, today part of Mexico City, Mexico. He was a gifted member of the Chichimeca people, one of the more culturally advanced groups living in the Anáhuac Valley.When he was 50 years old he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. On 9 December 1531, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what is now Mexico City.
With the Bishop's permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus.
Church Approval
In 1555 In the Provincial Counsel, the second archbishop of Mexico, Alonso de Montúfar, formulated canons that indirectly approved the apparitions.
A formal inquiry and investigation was conducted by the Church from February 18 to March 22, 1666 and again by Archbishop Lanziego y Eguilaz in 1723.
Juan Diego was beatified on May 6, 1990 and
canonized by Pope John Paul II
on July 31, 2002.
His feast day is December 9th.
Pope John Paul II, during his third visit to the sanctuary on March 25, 1999, declares the date of December the 12th as a Liturgical Holy Day for the whole continent.
The Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is December 12th.
Nican Mopohua
(Text in English)
The original XVI Century Guadalupe’s Apparitions Story
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Antonio Valeriano
Circa 1560
The first page of the Nican mopohua
Nican Mopohua
(Text in English)
Author : Antonio Valeriano, Circa 1560.
NICAN MOPOHUA, the original XVI Century Guadalupe’s apparitions story.
NICAN MOPOHUA ("HERE IS TOLD") and set down in order how a short time ago the Perfect
Virgin Holy Mary Mother of God, our Queen, miraculously appeared out at Tepeyac, widely
known as Guadalupe.
First she caused herself to be seen by an Indian named Juan Diego, poor but worthy of respect;
and then her Precious Image appeared before the recently named Bishop, Don Fray Juan de
Zumárraga.
1 Ten years after the City of Mexico was conquered, with the arrows and shields put aside, when
there was peace in all the towns,
2 just as it sprouted, faith now grows green, now opens its corolla, the knowledge of the One by
whom we all live: the true God.
3 At that time, the year 1531, a few days into the month of December, it happened that there was
a humble but respected Indian, a poor man of the people;
4 his name was Juan Diego; he lived in Cuauhtitlán, as they say.
5 and in all the things of God, he belonged to Tlaltilolco.
6 It was Saturday, not yet dawn; he was coming in pursuit of God and his commandments.
7 And as he drew near the little hill called Tepeyac it was beginning to dawn.
8 He heard singing on the little hill, like the song of many precious birds; when their voices
would stop, it was as if the hill were answering them; extremely soft and delightful, their songs
exceeded the songs of the coyoltotl and the tzinitzcan and other precious birds.
9 Juan Diego stopped to look. He said to himself: "By any chance am I worthy, have I deserved
what I hear? Perhaps I am only dreaming it? Perhaps I’m only dozing?
10 Where am I? Where do I find myself? Is it possible that I am in the place our ancient
ancestors, our grandparents, told about, in the land of the flowers, in the land of corn, of our
flesh, of our sustenance, possibly in the land of heaven?"
11 He was looking up toward the top of the hill, toward the direction the sun rises from, toward
where the precious heavenly song was coming from.
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12 And then when the singing suddenly stopped, when it could no longer be heard, he heard
someone calling him, from the top of the hill, someone was saying to him: "JUAN, DEAREST
JUAN DIEGO."
13 Then he dared to go to where the voice was coming from, his heart was not disturbed and he
felt extremely happy and contented, he started to climb to the top of the little hill to go see where
they were calling him from.
14 And when he reached the top of the hill, when a Maiden who was standing there,
15 She called to him to come close to her.
16 And when he reached where she was, he was filled with admiration for the way her perfect
grandeur exceeded all imagination:
17 her clothing was shining like the sun, as if it were sending out waves of light,
18 and the stone, the crag on which she stood, seemed to be giving out rays;
19 her radiance was like precious stones, it seemed like an exquisite bracelet (it seemed beautiful
beyond anything else);
20 the earth seemed to shine with the brilliance of a rainbow in the mist.
21 And the mesquites and nopals and the other little plants that are generally up there seemed
like emeralds. Their leaves seemed like turquoise. And their trunks, their thorns, their prickles,
were shining like gold.
22 He prostrated himself in her presence. He listened to her voice [her breath], her words, which
give great, great glory, which were extremely kind, as if from someone who was drawing him
toward her and esteemed him highly.
23 She said to him, "LISTEN, MY DEAREST AND YOUNGEST SON, JUAN. WHERE ARE
YOU GOING?"
24 And he answered her: "My Lady, my Queen, my Little Girl, I am going as far as your little
house in Mexico-Tlatilolco, to follow the things of God (everything that makes God be God) that
are given to us, that are taught to us by the ones who are the images of Our Lord: our priests."
25 Then she talks with him, she reveals her precious will;
26 then she says to hem: "KNOW, KNOW FOR SURE, MY DEAREST AND YOUNGEST
SON, THAT I AM THE PERFECT EVER VIRGIN HOLY MARY, MOTHER OF THE ONE
GREAT GOD OF TRUTH WHO GIVES US LIFE, THE INVENTOR AND CREATOR OF
PEOPLE. THE OWNER AND LORD OF WHAT IS AROUND US AND WHAT IS
TOUCHING US OR VERY CLOSE TO US THE OWNER AND LORD OF THE SKY, THE
OWNER OF THE EARTH. I WANT VERY MUCH THAT THEY BUILD MY SACRED
LITTLE HOUSE HERE.
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27 IN WHICH I WILL SHOW HIM, I WILL EXALT HIM AND MAKE HIM MANIFEST:
28 I WILL GIVE HIM TO THE PEOPLE IN ALL MY PERSONAL LOVE, IN MY
COMPASSIONATE GAZE, IN MY HELP, IN MY SALVATION:
29 BECAUSE I AM TRULY YOUR COMPASSIONATE MOTHER,
30 YOURS AND OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE TOGETHER IN THIS LAND,
31 AND OF ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT ANCESTRIES, MY LOVERS,
THOSE WHO CRY TO ME, THOSE WHO SEEK ME, THOSE WHO TRUST IN ME,
32 BECAUSE THERE I WILL LISTEN TO THEIR WEEPING, THEIR SADNESS, TO
REMEDY, TO CLEANSE AND NURSE ALL THEIR DIFFERENT TROUBLES, THEIR
MISERIES, THEIR SUFFERING.
33 AND TO BRING ABOUT WHAT MY COMPASSIONATE AND MERCIFUL GAZE IS
TRYING TO DO, GO TO THE RESIDENCE OF THE BISHOP OF MEXICO, AND YOU
WILL TELL HIM HOW I AM SENDING YOU, SO THAT YOU MAY REVEAL TO HIM
THAT I VERY MUCH WANT HIM TO BUILD ME A HOUSE HERE, TO ERECT MY
TEMPLE FOR ME ON THE PLAIN; YOU WILL TELL HIM EVERYTHING, ALL THAT
YOU HAVE SEEN AND MARVELED AT, AND WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD.
34 AND KNOW FOR SURE THAT I WILL APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH AND REWARD
IT,
35 THAT BECAUSE OF IT I WILL ENRICH YOU, I WILL GLORIFY YOU;
36 AND BECAUSE OF IT YOU WILL DESERVE VERY MUCH THE WAY THAT I
REWARD YOUR FATIGUE, YOUR SERVICE IN GOING TO REQUEST THE MATTER
THAT I AM SENDING YOU FOR.
37 NOW, MY DEAREST SON, YOU HAVE HEARD MY BREATH, MY WORD: GO, DO
WHAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR (IN THIS EFFORT)."
38 And immediately he prostrated himself in her presence; he said to her: "My Lady, my Little
Girl, now I am going to make your venerable breath, your venerable word, a reality; I, your poor
Indian, am leaving you for a while."
39 Then he came down (the hill) to put her errand into action: he came to get onto the causeway,
he comes straight to Mexico City.
40 When he reached the center of the city, he went straight to the palace of the Bishop, the
Governing Priest, who had just recently arrived; his name was Don Fray Juan de Zumárraga, a
Franciscan Priest.
41 And as soon as he got there, he then tries to see him, he begs his servants, his helpers, to go
and tell him he needs to see him;
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42 after a long time, when the Reverend Bishop ordered that he enter, they came to call him;
43 And as soon as he entered, first he knelt before him, he prostrated himself, then he reveals to
him, he tells him the precious breath, the precious word of the Queen of Heaven, her message,
and he also tells him everything that made his marvel, what he saw, what he heard.
44 And having heard his whole story, his message, as if he didn’t particularly believe it to be
true,
45 he answered him, he said to him: "My son, you will come again. I will still hear you calmly, I
will look at it carefully from the very beginning, I will consider the reason why your have come,
your will, your desire."
46 He left; he came out sad, because the errand entrusted to him was not immediately accepted.
47 Then he returned, at the end of the day, then he came straight from there to the top of the little
hill,
48 and he had the joy of meeting the Queen of Heaven: there exactly where she had appeared to
him the fist time, she was waiting for him.
49 As soon as he saw her, he prostrated himself before her, he threw himself to the ground, he
said to her:
50 "My dear little Mistress, Lady Queen, my littlest Daughter, my dear little Girl. I did go to
where you sent me to carry out your dear breath, your dear word; although I entered with
difficulty to where the place is of the Governing Priest, I saw him, I put your breath, your word,
before him, as you ordered me to.
51 He received me kindly and he listened to it perfectly, but from the way he answered me, it’s
as if he didn’t understand it, he doesn’t think it’s true.
52 He said to me: "You will come again: I will still listen to you calmly, I will look well to what
you have come for, from the very beginning, to your desire, your will.
53 The way he answered me, I could clearly see that he thinks your house that you want them to
build for you here, maybe I’m only making it up, or that maybe it is not from your lips.
54 I beg you, my Lady, Queen, my little girl, to have one of the nobles who are held in esteem,
one who is known, respected, honored, (have him) carry, take your dear breath, your dear word,
so that he will be believed.
55 Because I am really (just) a man from the country, I am a (porter’s) rope I am a backframe, a
tail, a wing, a man of no importance: I myself need to be led, carried on someone’s back, that
place you are sending me to is a place where I’m not used to going to or spending any time in,
my little Virgin, my Youngest Daughter, my Lady, Little girl;
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56 please excuse me: I will grieve your face, your heart; I will fall into your anger, into your
displeasure, my Lady, my Mistress."
57 The Perfect Virgin, worthy of honor and veneration, answered him:
58 "LISTEN, MY YOUNGEST AND DEAREST SON, KNOW FOR SURE THAT I HAVE
NO LACK OF SERVANTS, OF MESSENGERS, TO WHOM I CAN GIVE THE TASK OF
CARRYING MY BREATH, MY WORD, SO THAT THEY CARRY OUT MY WILL;
59 BUT IT IS VERY NECESSARY THAT YOU, PERSONALLY, GO AND PLEAD, THAT
MY WISH, MY WILL, BECOME A REALITY, BE CARRIED OUT THROUGH YOUR
INTERCESSION.
60 AND I BEG YOU, MY YOUNGEST AND DEAREST SON AND I ORDER YOU
STRICTLY TO GO AGAIN TOMORROW TO SEE THE BISHOP.
61 AND IN MY NAME MAKE HIM KNOW, MAKE HIM HEAR MY WISH, MY WILL, SO
THAT HE WILL BRING INTO BEING, HE WILL BUILD MY HOUSE OF GOD THAT I AM
ASKING HIM FOR.
62 AND CAREFULLY TELL HIM AGAIN HOW I, PERSONALLY, THE EVER VIRGIN
HOLY MARY, I, WHO AM THE MOTHER OF GOD, AM SENDING YOU."
63 For his part, Juan Diego responded to her and said to her "My Lady, Queen, my Little Girl, let
me not give you anguish, let me not grieve your face, your heart. I will most gladly go to carry
out your breath, your word; I will absolutely not fail to do it, nor do I think the road is painful.
64 I will go and carry out your will, but perhaps I won’t be heard, and if I am heard, perhaps I
won’t be believed.
65 Tomorrow afternoon, when the sun goes down, I will come to return to your word, to your
breath, what the Governing Priest answers to me.
66 Now, I respectfully say goodbye to you, my youngest Daughter, young Girl, Lady, my Little
Girl, rest a little more."
67 And then he went to his house to rest.
68 On the following day, Sunday, while it was still night, everything was still dark, he left there,
he left his house, he came straight to Tlatilolco, he came to learn what pertains to God and to be
counted in roll call; then to see the Reverend Bishop.
69 And around ten o’clock everything had been taken care of: Mass was over and roll had been
called and the crowd had gone away.
70 And Juan Diego went to the Reverend Bishop’s residence.
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71 And as soon as he arrived he went through the whole struggle to see him, and after much
effort he saw him again;
72 he knelt at his feet, he wept, he became sad as he spoke to him, as he revealed to him the
word, the breath of the Queen of Heaven.
73 that would to God the errand, the will, of the Perfect Virgin would be believed, of making for
her, of building her sacred little house for her, where she had said, where she wanted it.
74 And the Governing Bishop asked him many, many things, pursued many, many questions
with him, to make certain of where he had seen her, what She was like; he told absolutely
everything to the Señor Bishop.
75 And although he told him absolutely everything, and that in everything, he saw and marveled
that it appeared with absolute clarity that she was the Perfect Virgin, the Kind and Wondrous
Mother of Our Savior, Our Lord Jesus Christ,
76 nevertheless, it still didn’t happen (his message was still not believed).
77 He said that not simply because of his word would his petition be carried out, would what he
asked for happen.
78 That some other sign was very necessary if he was to believe how the Queen of Heaven in
person was sending him.
79 As soon as Juan Diego heard that, he said to the Bishop:
80 "Señor Governor, think about what the sign you ask for will be, because then I will go to ask
for it of the Queen of Heaven who sent me."
81 And when the Bishop saw that he was in agreement, that he did not hesitate or doubt in the
slightest, he dismissed him.
82 And as soon as he is on his way, he orders some of house-hold staff in whom he had absolute
trust to go along following him, to carefully observe where he was going, whom he was seeing,
to whom he was talking.
83 And that’s what they did. And Juan Diego came directly. He took the causeway.
84 And those who were following him lost him on the wooden bridge where the brook comes out
near Tepeyac. And even though they searched all over for him, they couldn’t find him anywhere.
85 And so they turned back. He made them angry, not just because they had made terrible fools
of themselves, but also because he had frustrated their attempt.
86 So they went to tell the Señor Bishop, they put into his head that he shouldn’t believe him,
they told him how he was only telling him lies, that he was only making up what he came to tell
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him, or that he was only dreaming or imagining what he was telling him, what he was asking of
him.
87 Therefore they decided that if he came again, if he returned, they would grab him right there
and would punish him severely, so that he would never come again to tell lies or get the people
all excited.
88 Meanwhile, Juan Diego was with the Most Holy Virgin, telling her the response that he was
bringing from the Señor Bishop;
89 when she had heard it, she said to him:
90 "THAT’S FINE, MY DEAR SON, YOU WILL COME BACK HERE TOMORROW SO
THAT YOU MAY TAKE THE BISHOP THE SIGN HE HAS ASKED YOU FOR;
91 WITH THIS HE WILL BELIEVE YOU, AND HE WILL NO LONGER HAVE ANY
DOUBTS ABOUT ALL THIS AND HE WILL NO LONGER BE SUSPICIOUS OF YOU;
92 AND KNOW, MY DEAR SON, THAT I WILL REWARD YOUR CARE AND THE
WORK AND FATIGUE THAT YOU HAVE PUT INTO THIS FOR ME.
93 SO, GO NOW: I WILL BE WAITING HERE FOR YOU TOMORROW."
94 And on the following day, Monday, when Juan Diego was to take some sign in order to be
believed, he did not return.
95 Because when he arrived at his house, the sickness had struck an uncle of his, named Juan
Bernardino, and he was very ill.
96 He went to get the native healer, who treated him, but it was too late; he was very ill.
97 And when night came, his uncle begged him to come to Tlatilolco shortly after midnight,
while it was still dark, to call some priest to go to confess him, to go to get him ready,
98 because he was sure that the time and place had now come for him to die, because he would
no longer get up, he would no longer get well.
99 And on Tuesday, while it was still night, Juan Diego left his house to come to Tlatilolco to get
the priest.
100 and when he finally reached the little hill which ended the mountain range, at its foot, where
the road comes out, on the side that the sun sets on, where he always passed before, he said:
101 "If I go ahead on the road, I don’t want this Lady to see me, because for sure, just like
before, she’ll stop me so I can take the sign to the church governor for her, as she ordered me to;
102 because first our tribulation must leave us; first I must quickly call the (Franciscan) priest;
my uncle is anxiously waiting for him."
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103 He immediately turned toward the hill, climbed up across it where there is a pass, and
emerged on the eastern side, so that he could quickly to Mexico so that the Queen of Heaven
would not detain him.
104 He thinks that where he made the turn, the one who is looking everywhere perfectly won’t
be able to see him.
105 He saw how she was coming down from up on the hill, and that from there she had been
looking at him, from where she saw him before.
106 She came to meet him beside the hill, she came to block his way; she said to him:
107 "WHAT’S HAPPENING, YOUNGEST AND DEAREST OF ALL MY SONS? WHERE
ARE YOU GOING, WHERE ARE YOU HEADED FOR?"
108 And he, perhaps he grieved a little, or perhaps he became ashamed? Or perhaps he became
afraid of the situation, he became fearful?
109 He prostrated himself before her, he greeted her, he said to her:
110 "My little Maiden, my smallest Daughter, my Girl, I hope you are happy; how are you this
morning? Does your beloved little body feel well, my Lady, my Girl?
111 Although it grieves me, I will cause your face and your heart anguish: I must tell you, my
little Girl, that one of your servants, my uncle, is very ill.
112 A terrible sickness has taken hold of him; he will surely die from it soon.
113 And now I shall go quickly to your little house of Mexico (Mexico-Tlatilolco), to call one of
our priests, the beloved ones of Our Lord, so that he will go to hear his confession and prepare
him,
114 Because we really were born for that we who came to wait for the painful effort of our death.
115 But, if I am going to carry it out, I will return here after that to go carry your breath, your
word, Lady, my little Young one.
116 I beg you to forgive me, be patient with me a little longer, because I am not deceiving you
with this, my youngest Daughter, my little Girl, tomorrow without fail I will come as fast as
possible."
117 As soon as she heard the explanations of Juan Diego, the Merciful Perfect Virgin answered
him:
118 "LISTEN. PUT IT INTO YOUR HEART, MY YOUNGEST AND DEAREST SON, THAT
THE THING THAT FRIGHTENED YOU, THE THING THAT AFFLICTED YOU IS
NOTHING: DO NOT LET IT DISTURB YOU: DO NOT FEAR THIS SICKNESS NOR ANY
OTHER SICKNESS, NOR ANY SHARP AND HURTFUL THING.
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119 AM I NOT HERE, I, WHO AM YOUR MOTHER? ARE YOU NOT UNDER MY
SHADOW AND PROTECTION? AM I NOT THE SOURCE OF YOUR JOY? ARE YOU NOT
IN THE HOLLOW OF MY MANTLE, IN THE CROSSING OF MY ARMS? DO YOU NEED
SOMETHING MORE?
120 LET NOTHING ELSE WORRY YOU, DISTURB YOU; DO NOT LET YOUR UNCLE’S
ILLNESS PRESSURE YOU WITH GRIEF, BECAUSE HE WILL NOT DIE OF IT NOW.
YOU MAY BE CERTAIN THAT HE IS ALREADY WELL."
121 (And at that very moment his uncle became well, as they later found out.)
122 And when Juan Diego heard the lovely word, the lovely breath of the Queen of Heaven, he
was greatly comforted by it, his heart became peaceful.
123 and he begged her to send him immediately to see the Governing Bishop, to take him
something for a sign, for proof so that he would believe.
124 And the Queen of Heaven ordered him then to go to the top of the little hill, where he had
seen her before:
125 She said to him: "GO UP, MY DEAREST SON, TO THE TOP OF THE HILL, TO
WHERE YOU SAW ME AND I TOLD YOU WHAT TO DO;
126 THERE YOU WILL SEE THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLOWERS: CUT
THEM, GATHER THEM, PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER; THEN COME DOWN HERE;
BRING THEM HERE, INTO MY PRESENCE."
127 Juan Diego climbed to the top the top of the hill right away.
128 and when he reached the top, he was astonished by all of them, blooming, open, flowers of
every kind, lovely and beautiful, when it still was not their season:
129 because really that was the season in which the frost was very harsh:
130 they were giving off an extremely soft fragrance; like precious pearls, as if filled with the
dew of the night.
131 Then he began to cut them, he gathered them all, he put them in the hollow of his tilma.
132 The top of the little hill was certainly not a place in which any flowers grew; there are only
plenty of rocks, thorns, spines, prickly pears and mesquite trees,
133 And even though some little herbs or grasses might grow, it was then the month of
December, in which the frost eats everything up and destroys it.
134 And immediately he came back down, he came to bring the Heavenly Maiden the different
kinds of flowers which he had gone up to cut.
135 And when she saw them, she took them with her precious hands;
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136 Then she put them all together into the hollow of his ayate again and said:
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137 "MY YOUNGEST AND DEAREST SON, THESE DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLOWERS
ARE THE PROOF, THE SIGN THAT YOU WILL TAKE TO THE BISHOP;
138 YOU WILL TELL HIM FROM ME THAT HE IS TO SEE IN THEM MY DESIRE, AND
THAT THEREFORE HE IS TO CARRY OUT MY WISH, MY WILL.
139 AND YOU, YOU WHO ARE MY MESSENGER, IN YOU I PLACE MY ABSOLUTE
TRUST;
140 AND I STRICTLY ORDER YOU THAT YOU ONLY OPEN YOUR AYATE ALONE IN
THE PRESENCE OF THE BISHOP, AND SHOW HIM WHAT YOU ARE CARRYING.
141 AND YOU WILL TELL HIM EVERYTHING EXACTLY, YOU WILL TELL HIM THAT
I ORDERED YOU TO CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE LITTLE HILL TO CUT FLOWERS,
AND EVERYTHING THAT YOU SAW AND ADMIRED,
142 SO THAT YOU CAN CONVINCE THE GOVERNING PRIEST, SO THAT HE WILL
THEN DO WHAT LIES WITHIN HIS RESPONSIBILITY SO THAT MY TEMPLE WHICH I
HAVE ASKED HIM FOR WILL BE MADE, WILL BE RAISED."
143 And as soon as the Heavenly Queen gave him her orders, he took the causeway, he comes
straight to Mexico City, he comes happily now.
144 His heart is tranquil now, because his errand will come out well, he will carry it out
perfectly.
145 Along the way, he is very careful of what is in the hollow of his garment, lest he lose
something:
146 As he comes, he enjoys the fragrance of the different kinds of exquisite flowers.
147 When he arrived at the Bishop’s residence, the doorkeeper and the other servants of the
Governing Priest went to meet him.
148 and he begged them to tell him how much he wanted to see him, but none of them was
willing; they pretended they didn’t understand him, or perhaps because it was still very dark;
149 or perhaps because they felt by now that all he did was bother them and keep on insisting,
150 and their companions had already told them, the ones who lost him from sight when they
were following him.
151 For a long, long time he waited for his request to be granted.
152 And when they saw that he was simply standing there for a long, long time with his head
down, without doing anything, in case he should be called, and that it looked as if he was
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carrying something, as if he was bringing it in the hollow of his tilma – then they came up close
to him to see what he was bringing and thus satisfy their curiosity.
153 And when Juan Diego saw that there was no way in which he could hide from them what he
was carrying and that therefore they might harass him or push him perhaps rough him and the
flowers up, he finally gave them a little peek and they saw that it was flowers.
154 And when they saw that they were all exquisite different flowers and that it wasn’t the
season for them to be blooming, they were very, very astonished by how fresh they were, how
good they smelled, how handsome they seemed.
155 And they wanted to grab and pull a few out;
156 They dared to try to grab them three times, but there was no way in which they could do it,
157 because when they would try, they could no longer see the flowers, they saw them as if they
were painted or embroidered or sewn on the tilma.
158 They went immediately to tell the Governing Bishop what they had seen,
159 and how much the lowly Indian who had come other times wanted to see him, and that he
had been waiting a very long time there for permission, because he wanted to see him.
160 And as soon as the Governing Bishop heard it, he realized that this was the proof to
convince him to get started on what the humble man was asking him for.
161 He immediately ordered that he come in to see him.
162 And when he had come in, he prostrated himself in his presence, as he had done before.
163 And again he told him what he had seen and admired, and his message.
164 He said to him, "Your Excellency, sir, I have done it. I have carried out your orders,
165 That is, I went to tell my Mistress, the Heavenly Maiden, Holy Mary, the Beloved Mother of
God, that you were asking for proof so you could believe me, so that you would make her sacred
little house, where she is asking you to build it;
166 And I also told her that I had given you my word to come to bring you some sign, some
proof of her will, as you told me to.
167 And she listened carefully to your breath, your word, and was pleased to receive your
request for the sign, the proof, so that her beloved will can be done, can be carried out.
168 And today, while it was still night, she ordered me to come again to see you;
169 and I asked her for the proof so that I would be believed, as she had said that she would give
it to me, and she kept her promise immediately.
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170 And she ordered me to the top of the little hill where I had seen her before, to cut different
flowers up there; Castillian roses.
171 And when I had cut them, I took them down to her at the bottom;
172 and she took them with her holy hands,
173 again she placed them in the hollow of my ayate,
174 so that I would bring them to you, so I would give them only to you.
175 Although I knew very well that the top of the hill isn’t a place where flowers grow, because
there are only a lot of craggy rocks, thorns, spiny acacias, prickly pears, mesquite bushes. I
didn’t doubt because of that, I didn’t hesitate because of that.
176 When I reached the top of the hill I saw that it was now paradise.
177 Every kind of different precious flowers were there, each one perfect, the very finest that
there are, full of dew and shining so I immediately cut them;
178 and she told me that I should give them to you from her, and that in this way I would show
the truth; that your should see the sign that you were asking for in order to carry our her beloved
will,
179 and so that it will be clear that my word, my message, is truth,
180 here they are; please receive them."
181 And then he held out his white tilma, in the hollow of which he had placed the flowers.
182 And just as all the different precious flowers fell to the floor,
183 then and there the beloved Image of the Perfect Virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God, became
the sign, suddenly appeared in the form and figure in which it is now,
184 where it is preserved in her beloved little house, in her sacred little house at Tepeyac, which
is called Guadalupe.
185 And as soon as the Governing Bishop and all those who were there saw it, they knelt, they
were full of awe and reverence.
186 They stood up to see it, they became sad, they wept, their hearts and minds were in ecstasy.
187 And the Governing Bishop weeping and with sadness begged and asked her to forgive him
for not having immediately carried out her will, her holy breath, her holy word.
188 And when he got up, he untied Juan Diego’s garment, his tilma, from his neck where it was
tied.
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189 On which the Heavenly Queen appeared, on which she became the sign.
190 And then he took it and placed it in his private chapel.
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191 And Juan Diego still stayed for the day in the Bishop’s house, he still kept him there.
192 And on the next day he said to him: "Come, let’s go so you can show where is that the
Queen of Heaven wants her chapel built."
193 People were immediately invited to make it, to build it.
194 And Juan Diego, as soon as he showed where the Lady of Heaven had ordered her sacred
little house to be built, asked for permission:
195 he wanted to go to his house in order to see his uncle, Juan Bernardino, who was very ill
when he left him to go to Tlatilolco to call a priest to confess him and prepare him, the one
whom the Queen of Heaven had told him had already been cured.
196 But they didn’t let him go alone, rather people went with him to his house.
197 And when they arrived they saw that his uncle was now healthy; he had absolutely no pain
of any kind.
198 And he, for his part, was greatly surprised by the way in which his nephew was
accompanied and very honored;
199 he asked his nephew why it was that they were honoring him so much;
200 and he told him how, when he left to go call a priest for him who would confess him and
prepare him, the Lady of Heaven appeared to him there at Tepeyac;
201 and she sent him to Mexico City to see the Governing Bishop, so that he would make her a
house at Tepeyac.
202 And she told him not to worry, because his uncle was now happy, and she consoled him very
much with this news.
203 His uncle told him that it was true, that she healed him at that exact moment,
204 And he saw her in exactly the same way she had appeared to his nephew,
205 and she told him that she was also sending him to Mexico City to see the Bishop;
206 and also that when he went to see him, he should reveal absolutely everything to him, he
should tell him what he had seen .
207 and the marvelous way in which she had healed him,
Nican Mopohua
Antonio Valeriano, author
Text in English
Page 15
208 and that he would properly name her beloved Image thus: THE PERFECT VIRGIN, HOLY
MARY OF GUADALUPE.
209 And then they brought Juan Bernardino into the presence of the Governing Bishop, they
brought him to speak with him, to give his testimony,
210 and together with his nephew Juan Diego, the Bishop lodged them in his house for a few
days.
211 While the sacred little house of the lovely Little Queen was built out there at Tepeyac, where
she revealed herself to Juan Diego.
212 And the Reverend Bishop moved the beloved Image of the Beloved Heavenly Maiden to the
principal church.
213 He took her beloved Image from his residence, from his private chapel in which it was, so
that all could see it and admire it.
214 And absolutely this entire city with no exception was deeply moved as everyone came to see
and admire her precious Image.
215 They came to acknowledge its divine character.
216 They came to offer her their payers.
217 They marveled at the miraculous way it had appeared.
218 since absolutely no one on earth had painted her beloved Image.
