| Guadalupe: A story of faith and liberation | |
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Ten years after
the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521, an Indian peasant named Juan
Diego saw a beautiful lady standing on the barren hill of Tepeyac (where
the temple to an Aztec goddess had stood before the Spanish missionaries
arrived). The lady was dressed like an Indian woman, she had Indian
features, and she spoke to Juan Diego in his own language, calling him
"my little son". She gave him a message for Bishop Zumarraga: "I wish
that a temple be erected here quickly, so I may therein exhibit and give
all my love, compassion , help and protection to you and all the rest
who love me".
Juan Diego's story was doubted: he was illiterate, naïve. The bishop asked for a sign. Three days later, Juan Diego returned, his arms full of roses gathered from the barren hill: his tilma, or cloak, imprinted with the Lady's image. The significance of the story reaches beyond place and time. Throughout history, God has used the poor and the powerless to act as social critics of their time. Juan Diego not only helped reverse attitudes of political and church authorities towards native people, but he also initiated an experience of faith that has survived over four centuries. Source: VCD cover blurb, "Our Lady of
Guadalupe",
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