The Miraculous Image of our Lady of Guadalupe

On December 9, 1531 Juan Diego, a simple indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The lady told him to build a church exactly on the spot where they were standing. Juan then went to report what had happened to the local bishop, who asked for some proof. Juan then went back and experienced the vision again. He told the Lady that the bishop wanted proof; in response she said to him “Bring the roses behind you.” Turning around, he found a rose bush, which he cut and placed in his poncho and returned to the bishop, saying he had brought proof. When he opened his poncho, instead of roses, there was an image of the young lady in the vision. That poncho became what is know as the icon of the Virgin of Guadalupe and is displayed today in a nearby Basilica. The Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico’s most popular religious and cultural image, with the titles “Queen of Mexico”,[2] “Empress of the Americas”,[3] and “Patroness of the Americas”;[4] both Miguel Hidalgo (in the Mexican War of Independence) and Emiliano Zapata (during the Mexican Revolution) carried flags bearing the Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Guadalupe Victoria, the first Mexican president changed his name in honor of the icon.