THE STORY OF GUADALUPE

In 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared to an Indigenous peasant by the name of Juan Diego in a place called Tepeyac on a hill just northwest of Mexico City.  She identified herself as the Mother of the True God and instructed him to tell the Spanish archbishop to build a church on the site. 

She then instructed Juan to gather roses from the top of the hill as proof of her appearance.  Juan found non-native Castilian roses (further proof) on the hill and filled his tilma — a cape made of cactus-cloth — with them.  

When he met with the archbishop again and opened his tilma, the roses fell to the floor and an image of the Blessed Virgin lay imprinted on the cloth.  Considered a miracle, a church was built there, and more than 479 years later, the tilma remains enshrined for pilgrims to witness with no signs of deterioration.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is often portrayed as a woman clothed in a golden-brownish tunic covered by a blue mantle and may be seen standing upon the head of a serpent and a crescent moon carried by an angel.

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