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Juan Diego

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe
The appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe began in December of 1531 with a newly converted Catholic Juan Diego. The virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego and instructed him to build a shrine on Tepeyac Hill, near Mexico City. When Diego consulted a bishop about constructing a shrine to the virgin Mary, the bishop demanded that the shrine would only be built based on a divine proof of Mary’s appearance. Thereafter, in a second appearance to Juan Diego, Mary instructed him to gather a dozen roses and bring them to the bishop. Diego then gathered the roses in his tilma and opened it in front of the bishop. The roses fell to the floor revealing the image of Mary imprinted on the tilma.

The intricate detail of the image is largely significant to the audience for which it was created. Each and every symbol on the tilma was deliberately crafted to hold a divine significance. Many of the details were put in place to build on the trusted beliefs of the Mexican people. Things such as the bright aura surrounding her, which played off of the ancient Aztec faith in the sun. Other details not only entrust the audience, but also profess the incredible nature of the miracle. Within the virgin’s eye, there are human figures no bigger than 8 or 9 mm in length, a detail which experts say would be near impossible to project onto such a rough material cloth.

Beginning with this miracle and a series of divine actions after, Mexico slowly moved from a nation doubtful in Christianity, to a country which placed great belief and pride in their new faith. Before Guadalupe, Mexicans had only known Catholicism to the extent that they were taught from the missionaries. After the miracle of Guadalupe, the Mexican faith could be based more upon real personal evidence on their native domain. The fact that Catholicism could ring throughout the country beginning with Guadalupe made her a focal point of Mexican Catholicism, and for most Latino Catholics. To this day citizens of Mexico are known for having a strong belief in Catholicism; much of their belief can be attributed to the miracle of our lady of Guadalupe.

Aside from Mexico, the miracle is rejoiced amongst Catholics world wide as a profession of divine evangelism for the catholic faith as a whole. It is just another way of God to shed his light upon people that were in need of faith, and it was done in a miraculous and undeniable manner which is globally recognized as a miracle of God.

Sources

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http://www.virginmotherofguadalupe.com/our-lady-of-guadalupe-image/message-symbols

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http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=456

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http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/629932/Our-Lady-of-Guadalupe


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