The True Message of Guadalupe

The true message of Our Lady of Guadalupe (1531): Juan Diego Cuauttlatoatzin, the conversion of the Aztecs, and the context of the Spanish conquest (1519-1521)

The cultural situation of the indigenous peoples

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Aztec empire was an aggregate of 23 million citizens from different ethnic groups, many of whom hated the Aztecs, considering them bloodthirsty. The Aztecs, for their part, took upon themselves responsibility for the survival of the universe, with everything centered on the Sun, their greatest deity, fed with the hearts and blood of prisoners. It should be added that before the Aztec empire there was a religious wisdom that came from the Toltecs and was developed by the Texcocans. It had arrived at belief in one God (Tloque Nahuaque), also called the Unknown God, the true God. He was so exalted that He could not be reached; He did not love human sacrifices, but flowers and songs, which were considered a sign of divine truth.

The seer Juan Diego Cuauttlatoatzin was an indigenous man from Texcoco who shared in this culture, and in his encounter with Our Lady of Guadalupe he experienced with immense joy that the one true God loves him through His Mother.

In just two years, from 1519 to 1521, against all human expectations, the Spaniards conquered the Aztec empire. Hernán Cortés, a man of war endowed with an impressive charisma for leadership, penetrated to the heart of the empire, forging alliances with the peoples subjugated by the Aztecs and taking advantage of a prophecy about the coming of a god with the same features as the Europeans, Quetzalcoatl. Added to this were the diseases brought by the Spaniards, such as smallpox, which killed half of the indigenous population. The drama the Indians lived through with the conquest consisted not only in the collapse of the military, social, economic, and political structure and of the empire, but also and above all in the collapse of the religious structure, which gave meaning to their existence.

The situation of the Church

At the same time, not a few Spaniards went through a crisis of conscience, reproaching themselves as Christians for conquering territories that did not belong to them, for plundering the goods of others, and even for enslaving their former owners. This problem was strongly emphasized not only by the missionaries but also by right-minded Spaniards. There were even long debates about it at the University of Salamanca, in Spain. The debates over the legitimacy of the invasion and of the plundering of other people’s goods were very bitter. Doubts were even raised about the rationality of the Indians. Some argued that, if the Indians did not prove that they were human, their goods could be plundered. Moreover, their worship of idols made them guilty of idolatry.

The first Franciscans arrived in Mexico in 1523: two priests died in the first months, and one friar remained to welcome, in 1524, the twelve Franciscan missionaries known as the twelve apostles, to whom the evangelization of the new land had been officially entrusted by the bull Omnimoda. In 1527, Pope Clement VII appointed as bishop of Mexico a very humble, simple, intelligent, and orthodox Franciscan friar: Fray Juan de Zumárraga.

Before 1531 there were about 35 missionaries, some of them Dominicans, and very few diocesan priests. They began to give the Church an official structure, a Church that was missionary by vocation. The Franciscans, holy and learned men by the standards of their time, sought to evangelize according to the theology of the day, moved by the desire to snatch the souls of the Indians from the clutches of the devil, who manifested himself through the gods. Conversions did occur, of course, but in small numbers.

We must also consider the internal problems of the Spaniards. In 1528, the terrible Nuño de Guzmán, or infernal demon of greed, as the first bishop of Mexico, Fray Juan de Zumárraga, described him, was president of the First Audiencia. In other words, the principal civil government was committing many crimes, kidnappings, rapes, and robberies, creating a veritable climate of terror and provoking the indignation of the missionaries who defended the indigenous people.

This chaos reaches its climax with some brutal acts decided on by Nuño de Guzmán: he decrees the death penalty for any Indian who approaches the bishop. He imprisons, tortures, and kills the Spaniards who defend the Indians, obviously provoking outrage. He strikes at the Franciscans who intervene to save the lives of these victims and, finally, backed by the members of the First Audiencia, he tries to kill Bishop Fray Juan de Zumárraga with lances. It is a true miracle that the bishop manages to save his own life.

The bishop responds by excommunicating the members of the First Audiencia and placing Mexico City under interdict. With great indignation, he orders the sacred furnishings to be removed from the altars and the Blessed Sacrament to be consumed, and he orders the priests to leave the city immediately. Aware that there was no human solution, Fray Juan de Zumárraga wrote to the King of Spain in 1529: “it seems right to me to inform Your Most Serene Majesty that the things happening here are of such gravity that, if God does not intervene with the remedy of His hand, this land is on the verge of total collapse”.

It should be added that the mestizos do not enjoy a good reputation either, since the natives regard them as a product of rape, and the Spaniards as a product of war. The first missionaries describe the terrible situation of these despised and abandoned beings, reduced to the point of scavenging like dogs for scraps in the refuse of the markets in order to survive. Without doubt, God hears the prayerful cry that Don Fray Juan de Zumárraga raised in such anguish, and He intervenes through Holy Mary of Guadalupe to go out to meet His children who are so much in need of Him. And this extraordinary action opens a very important phase in the history of salvation of the Latin American continent, for, as Saint John Paul II stated in Ecclesia in America no. 70:

“the mestizo face of the Virgin of Guadalupe was, from the beginning, a symbol of the inculturation of evangelization, of which she was the star and the guide. Through her powerful intercession, evangelization will be able to penetrate the hearts of the men and women of America and permeate their cultures, transforming them from within”.

The Apparitions

Before dawn on Saturday, December 9, 1531, a widower, Juan Diego (1474-1548), whose birth name was Cuautlacoactzin, meaning he who speaks like an eagle, an Indian who had converted to Christianity six or seven years earlier, an orphan originally from Tlayacac in Cuautitlan, reaches the foot of Tepeyac hill, northwest of Mexico City.

Day was breaking, and he heard singing on the hill, like the song of many beautiful birds. He looked toward the east, toward the top of the hill, from where this precious heavenly song was coming, when suddenly the singing stopped and silence reigned. Then he heard a voice coming from the hill, saying: Juanito, Juan Dieguito. So he ventured toward the place from which he had been called. When he reached the top, he saw a Lady standing there, who told him to come closer.

As he did so, he marveled at her superhuman grandeur. Her garments shone like the sun. The rock on which her feet rested gleamed with light as if it were encircled by a ring of precious stones, and the ground glistened like a rainbow.

The mesquites, nopals, and other weeds that grow in that place looked like emeralds, their foliage like turquoise, their branches and thorns like gold. He bowed before her and heard her word, soft and gentle, like that of someone who captivates and delights you deeply.

Juanito, the humblest of my children, where are you going?

“My Lady, I have to get to Mexico City, to follow the divine things that are taught and given to us by our priests and our delegates, and by Our Lord”.

“Know and understand well, you the youngest of my children, that I am the ever-holy Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God for whom we exist, of the Creator of all things, Lord of heaven and earth.

I would like a church to be built in this place, quickly, so that I may show you and give you my love, my compassion, my help, and my protection, since I am your merciful Mother, to you, to all the inhabitants of this land, and to all those who love me, call upon me, and trust in me.

I hear your laments and remedy your miseries, your needs, and your sorrows. To fulfill what my clemency requires, go to the Bishop’s Palace in Mexico City and tell him that I express a great desire: that here, on this plain, a church be built in my honor.

You will tell him in detail all that you have seen and admired, and what you have heard. Know that I will be extremely grateful to you and will reward you, for I will make you happy and worthy of reward for the dedication and effort you will put into this mission. Behold, you have heard my instructions, my humble son; go and make every effort you can”.

At this, he bowed before her and said:

“My Lady, I will obey your instructions. Now I, your humble servant, must take my leave of you”.

Juan goes straight to the bishop’s palace in Mexico City. He asks to speak with the bishop of the diocese, Don Juan de Zumárraga, a Franciscan. After a long wait, the prelate agrees to receive him. Juan Diego tells him what he has just experienced.

“You may go now, my son, and I will be glad to hear you. I will reconsider everything from the beginning and reflect on the wishes and desires for which you have come”, said the prelate.

Disappointed, Juan Diego leaves the palace and returns to Tepeyac hill. The Lady is waiting for him. He kneels before her and says to her:

“My Lady, I went where you sent me, to obey your instructions. With great difficulty I entered the prelate’s office. I saw him and conveyed your message to him. He received me kindly and listened to me attentively, but his answer showed that he did not believe me. I earnestly beg you, my Lady, to entrust the fulfillment of your message to someone important, well known, who inspires respect and esteem, so that that person may be believed. For I am nothing; I am a rope. Please forgive me for this great displeasure, and do not be angry, my Lady”

The Lady answered him:

“Listen, you must understand that I have many servants and messengers to whom I can entrust the fulfillment of my message and the carrying out of my desire, but it is precisely to you that I turn and [whom] I ask to help me, so that through your mediation my wish may be fulfilled. I ardently implore you, you the youngest of my children, and I firmly command you to go tomorrow to meet with the bishop. You will go there in my name and make known to him my whole wish, according to which I ask him to begin building a church. And tell him also that it is I in person, the ever virgin and holy Mary, Mother of God, who sent you”.

Juan Diego answers the Lady:

“I do not wish to displease you. I will obey your instructions gladly, most gladly. Tomorrow afternoon, at sunset, I will come back to bring the prelate’s answer to your message”.

The next day, around ten o’clock in the morning, Juan Diego returned to the bishop’s palace. He is kept waiting. The bishop receives him and questions him closely about the apparitions. Then he ends the conversation by asking for a sign from the Lady of Tepeyac.

Juan Diego exclaims:

“Your Excellency, Your Excellency, listen! What should the sign be that you ask for? Truly, I will go and ask the Lady of Heaven who sent me”.

Bishop Zumárraga asks his aides to keep watch on Juan Diego. They follow him but lose sight of him as he crosses the stream on a bridge near Tepeyac. The report they give the bishop is negative: Juan Diego is a liar.

In the evening, the Lady appears to Juan Diego, in the same place as always. She says to him:

“Very well, my little one, you will go back there tomorrow to bring the bishop the sign he asked of you. Then he will believe you. And know, my little one, that I will reward you for your solicitude, for your efforts on my behalf. I will wait for you here tomorrow”.

On Monday, December 11, 1531, Juan Diego does not go back to see the bishop: his uncle, Juan Bernardino, is gravely ill and asks him to go and find a priest to hear his confession before he dies.

The next day, at dawn, Juan leaves home to go to the church of Tlatelolco. On the way, he comes to the fork in the road that leads to the top of Tepeyac hill. And he says to himself: “If I keep going this way, the Lady will surely see me, and she might hold me back so that I take the sign to the prelate as agreed”.

He decides to go around the hill. Suddenly he sees the Lady coming down from the top of the hill and approaching him. What is it, my little son? Where are you going? she asks him. Juan Diego explains to her his uncle’s grave condition.

She answers him:

“Listen to me and understand well. Nothing should frighten or distress you. Your heart is not troubled. Do not fear this illness or any other illness or suffering. Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Do not be sad about your uncle’s illness: he will not die. Do not worry: he is healed now. Go up to the top of the hill. Where you saw me and where I gave you instructions, you will see a variety of flowers. Cut them, pick them, gather them, and then come and bring them before me”.

On reaching the top of the hill, Juan Diego sees that roses have bloomed in that season. He picks them and gathers them in his tilma (mantle), then goes down toward the Lady.

“This variety of roses is a test and a sign that you will bring to the bishop. You will tell him in my name that he will see my wish here and that he must act accordingly. You are my ambassador, most worthy of my trust. I strictly command you not to open your mantle except in the presence of the bishop, and to show him what you are wearing”.

Juan hurries to the bishop, who keeps him waiting. Suspicious, many ask him to show what is hidden in his mantle. As they draw near, they are astonished to see roses in full bloom in mid-December. One of them informs the bishop of this. The prelate orders him to come in. Juan Diego tells him what the apparition asked him to do and how he picked the roses on the top of the hill.

He says to him: Here. Receive them. The Indian then opens his cloak. The roses fall to the floor, revealing an image of the Virgin on the fabric of the tilma. The bishop and Juan Diego fall to their knees. After praying, the prelate places the mantle in his private chapel. The next day, Bishop Zumárraga asks Juan Diego to show him the place where the apparition wants a church. On returning home, Juan Diego finds his uncle healed.

His uncle relates that he too saw the Virgin, who told him about his nephew’s mission to the bishop and said that she wished to be called Our Lady of Guadalupe. A miraculous spring gushed forth at the place of the apparition.

To explore more deeply the Marian dimension of the Guadalupe apparitions, see Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, on the authentic cult of Mary, as well as Marian apparitions.

Delve deeper into your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian apparitions, and the Postgraduate Program in Mariology.

See the complete list of Marian apparitions recognized by the Church.