Grace and Space

During a walk from his village to Mexico City on December 9, 1531, the recently baptized Indian Juan Diego saw a vision of a Virgin at the hill of Tepeyec. Speaking in Nahuatl (the language of the Indians), Our Lady of Guadalupe asked him to go to the local bishop and ask him to construct a church in her honor at that site. Juan Diego spoke several times to the Spanish bishop, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, but the latter would not believe him. Then after some time, the bishop asked Juan Diego for a miraculous sign to prove his claim. Juan planted this situation to the Virgin Mother who listened to him with a smile. The Virgin asked Juan Diego to go on top of a mountain to gather flowers, even though it was winter when no flower bloomed. He found Castillian roses on a mountain, gathered them on his tilma (a kind of a towel), and presented these to bishop Zumárraga. When he presented the roses to Zumárraga, the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe miraculously appeared imprinted on the cloth. The Bishop knelt down before the image and began the construction of a church at that site. From that time onwards, conversions among the Indians of Mexico took speed. Mexico became a Catholic nation. In 1935 Pope Pius XI declared Our Lady of Guadalupe as patroness of the Philippines, and in 1946 was declared by Pope Pius XII as patroness of the Americas. Her feast is celebrated on December 12.

 Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe