December 12 is a day of joy and hope, when the Catholic Church celebrates the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe. From Mexico, devotion to the Blessed Mother of Guadalupe has spread across borders, carrying a universal message of unity and peace.
In Guadalupe, the Blessed Virgin conveys hope and is a symbol of unity, protection, and comfort in difficult times. She is a beacon of faith that inspires reconciliation, justice, and perseverance in the face of adversity. In her historical role, she stands out as a standard-bearer of hope for the Mexican people and for many other people. With her message of love, mercy, and peace, she draws everyone to Christ.
Symbol of hope
The apparition of Mary on the hill of Tepeyac occurred 10 years after the conquest of Mexico, amid a climate of cultural rupture, pain, mistrust, and tensions between Spaniards and indigenous people. When she appeared, she spoke in Nahuatl, the language of the conquered people, and presented herself as the Mother of all.
The Nican Mopohua, the account of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe, bears this name because, in the Nahuatl text, it begins with these words, which mean “Here it is narrated.” We read how she expresses herself to Juan Diego:
NM 12.- “My Juanito, my Juan Dieguito… I am the perfect ever-Virgin Holy Mary, and I have the privilege of being the Mother of the true God for whom we live.”
NM 119.- “Am I not here, I who am your mother? “What, are you not in my lap, and do you run on my behalf? Do you still need anything else? 120.- Please, let nothing else distress you.”
This discourse arises at a time of distress for Juan Diego, who is worried about his uncle’s illness. The Virgin Mary responds by offering:
Companionship, maternal tenderness, and hope in the face of illness and fear.
For generations, this scene has become one of the most spiritually comforting Marian texts in the history of the Church.
Source of strength and perseverance
Once Mary offers herself as his Mother, she entrusts Juan Diego with the task:
NM 25. “I love you very much, I long for you to have the kindness to build me my little temple here.”
NM 32. “For there I will always be ready to listen to my children, their cries, their sadness, to purify, to heal all their different miseries, their sorrows, their pains.”
Mary asks for a church to be built, but…
It is not an easy task, since to do so, Juan Diego, a simple, uneducated indigenous man, must go before the bishop.
NM 33 “And to carry out with certainty what He (God) intends… tell him how great and ardent is my desire that he build my temple on the plain.” 34.- And rest assured that I will be very grateful to you and repay you. 35 I hope you will agree to go and be so kind as to put all your effort into it.”
Juan Diego goes to the bishop, but the first visit is a failure. So, he tells the Virgin Mary what has happened. She gives him strength, fills him with hope, and asks him to persevere in his task.
NM 59.- “The Virgin says to Juan Diego: “…it is essential that it be you who negotiates and manages… 60. …and I strictly command you to go again tomorrow to see the bishop.”
With that, the indigenous man returns to the bishop, who asks him for a concrete sign of Mary’s presence.
NM125.- “She deigned to say to him: ‘Go up, my dearest son, to the top of the hill, where you saw me and where I gave you orders. 126.- There you will see that various flowers are planted: cut them, gather them, and put them together. Then bring them down here, here, before me, bring them to me…’”
So, Juan Diego fills his tilma (his cloak) with flowers gathered from the mountain, a place of arid land, and takes them to the bishop. Everyone is greatly surprised when the image of Mary of Guadalupe appears on the tilma.
Her image combines indigenous symbolism (the turquoise cloak, the nahui ollin flower, the ribbon representing pregnancy) and Christian symbolism (mixed European features, such as the morning star and the sun).
Promise of help
In the account of her apparitions, the Blessed Mother of Guadalupe promises her “love, [her] compassion, [her] help, and [her] protection” to all who seek her and trust in her, offering relief from suffering and misfortune.
She is a symbol of merciful motherhood who listens to the “cries and pains” of her people, generating deep hope and trust in her intercession.
The Basilica of Guadalupe brings together all people regardless of social, cultural, or religious distinctions. The very experience of the shrine is a living sign of unity and comfort, because the Blessed Mother attracts, listens to, and embraces everyone equally. She is a symbol of the “mission of the continent of hope,” encouraging the building of a just society.
“Mother of Guadalupe,
John Paul II, 1979
luminous presence in our history,
renew in us the hope
and teach us to walk as brothers and sisters.
May your tenderness sustain us,
your gaze comfort us
and your example inspire us to build peace and unity,
so that Christ may reign in our hearts.”
