TEN years after the Spanish conquistadores defeated the Aztec Empire, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to an Indio, Juan Diego, on Tepeyac hill near Mexico City. Despite the initial resistance of the Spanish missionary bishop, the church eventually came to accept as authentic the story of Juan Diego that the Blessed Virgin Mary had appeared to him four times between December 9 and December 12, 1531. According to the tradition, a miracle convinced church authorities that the apparitions were authentic. An image of a dark-skinned Mary, with Aztec features, was painted miraculously on the cloak of Juan Diego.
Our Lady of Guadalupe became a powerful spiritual force in the history of Central and South America, for the image showed the compassion of a loving God for the native peoples who fell before the forces of the Spaniards. Pope Benedict XIV designated a feast for Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1754, placing the feast day on the same day as the last apparition to Juan Diego. By that time the popularity of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe had grown tremendously and devotion to Mary had spread widely throughout the Spanish colonial empire. Thus, Benedict XIV named Our Lady of Guadalupe as the patron saint of "New Spain."
About 150 years later, in 1910, Our Lady of Guadalupe was named the patron saint of all Latin America under the title the Queen of Mexico and the Empress of the Americas. In 1999, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was designated all the countries of the Americans.
A significant element of this feast is that, long before clergy and theologians thought about bringing the church’s traditional sacraments and devotions into the cultures of peoples who were being evangelized, the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe had encouraged the native cultures and peoples of the Americas.
Today, Tepeyac is a major pilgrimage site for Catholics who come to church there to pray before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Her image continues to inspire Latin American churches to inculturate the Christian faith, that is, to express the basic beliefs of the church in fresh new ways which reflect the genius of the cultures and the customs of the people.
