On July 31, 2002 Pope Paul II went to Tepeyac, a place outside of Mexico City, to canonize the 16th century indigenous saint, Juan Diego, whose influence on Catholicism in the New World has been immense. Juan Diego is famous, in fact more well-known than any king, queen, missionary or “conquistador” of that time. He is always associated with Our Lady of Guadalupe, “the Empress of the Americas.” His life and faith continue to live on in the memory of the people of “las Américas.” Juan Diego is now recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church whose feast day is December 9th, the day of the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to him in 1531.
Little is known of the early life of Juan Diego, whose original name was Cuauhtlatoatzin, “the Talking Eagle.” His name connotes that he spoke with authority. However, tradition and archaeological sources along with the most important and oldest indigenous document on the apparition of Guadalupe, El Nican Mopohua, written in Náhuatl in 1556 provide pertinent information on the life of Juan Diego and the apparitions. He was born in what is today Mexico City and was a member of the Chichimeca people, one of the more culturally advanced indigenous groups. We know without a doubt that he was an Aztec, but we do not know exactly what he looked like. There are no paintings of him until the 17th century. He described himself as poor, but he might have meant poor in spirit. Some have even suggested that he was an Aztec prince. He had been married, but had no children. When he was 50 years old he and his wife were among the first indigenous people to accept baptism and convert to Christianity. It is noted in church records that Juan Diego was baptized by Father Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. Changing his religion was difficult for Juan Diego, but he had courage to begin a new life. We also know by 1531, Juan Diego was a widower. Unlike the visionaries of Lourdes and Fatima, Juan Diego was not a child, but an “elderly” man who had been in his life a “macehual,” a tiller of the soil. This term describing his life also leads us to believe that he led a simple but dignified life.
There have been critics who have challenged the Church stating that Juan Diego never existed, but he is a fabrication by Spanish conquerors to convert Mexico’s native tribes to Catholicism. Therefore, if one believes this then consequently the Blessed Virgin Mary never appeared to Juan Diego. So, some fifteen years ago a historical commission was convened to prove the existence of Juan Diego and included among the experts were Father José Luis Guerrero, who is a specialist on ancient Nahuatl language and culture, and Father Eduardo Chavez, a professional historian. Their research took them to consult many archives throughout the world and thus, they assembled crucial evidence. Father Chavez was quoted as saying, “No one piece of evidence alone proves Juan Diego’s existence. However, when the pieces are put together, his existence and life cannot be denied.” Father Guerrero has concurred with Father Chavez agreeing that Juan Diego’s existence is also demonstrated by the massive conversion of the country’s indigenous people to Catholicism in the 1500s. More than 10 million Aztecs became Catholics during the years from 1531 to 1541. For so many to convert, the commission claims that something powerful had to have happened. The belief is that the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, appeared to Juan Diego.
According to tradition, Juan Diego first saw the Virgin Mary on December 9, 1531 while on his way to Mass. She was surrounded by a heavenly light on Tepeyac Hill, a former sanctuary to the Aztec goddess Tonanzin. She spoke to him in his native language and asked him to tell the bishop to build a shrine to her on that hill. Not believing Juan Diego, the Spanish Bishop Zamárraga asked for proof, a heavenly sign. On that same day Mary promised to give Juan Diego a sign. Juan Diego’s uncle Juan Bernardino was dying at that time. So, on the next day instead of going to the Lady as promised, Juan Diego took another route to find a priest to hear his uncle’s confession. In his travels, the Lady appeared to him asking Juan Diego these famous words: “No estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre?” (“It is not I who am here who is your mother?”). At that moment his uncle was healed and La Virgen directed Juan Diego to go on top of Tepeyac Hill and he would find what the bishop had requested. He obeyed and found roses from Spain flowering there even though it was winter time. He gathered the flowers and took them to Our Lady, who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them to the Bishop as “proof.” When Juan Diego went to the Bishop, he opened the “tilma” -- the rough, cloak woven by vegetable fibers worn by lower class Indians draped over their shoulders and ankle-length -- then immediately the flowers fell to the ground and there remained impressed in place of the flowers an image of the Blessed Mother as she had appeared at Tepeyac. Juan Diego said that the Lady referred to herself in his native language as “Coatlaxopeuh” (“the one who crushes the serpent”), but the Bishop, who was from Spain, understood “Guadalupe,” a place in Southern Spain. Thereby, we have the name of “Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
With the bishop’s permission, Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. There he cared for the church and guided the many pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus Christ. He lived a holy life having been chosen as Our Lady’s messenger, and dedicated his entire life and being to prayer and the practice of virtue. He died in 1548 and was buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The one miracle attributed to Juan Diego occurred in 1990 in Mexico City. There was a young man named Juan José Barragán who tried to commit suicide by jumping off a three-story building. Dr. Homero Hernández Illescas, who oversaw his treatment, stated that this man’s injuries were massive. The doctor added in an interview that Barragán had smashed his skull and spinal column and that there was unequivocally no chance for survival. The mother of Barragán prayed to Juan Diego for help. Three days later, the young man stood up and walked out of the intensive care unit of the hospital with all of his injuries healed. The medical records were subsequently sent to the Vatican which investigated and concluded that Juan Diego had performed a miracle. John Paul II certified the miracle and prepared the way for Juan Diego’s canonization. Earlier, the Pope had waived the usual requirement that a second miracle be required for canonization.
The miraculous image on la tilma is preserved in the most visited shrine in the world, Our Lady of Guadalupe, which shows a woman with native, dark features and dress. She is surrounded by rays of light, and supported by an angel. The moon is under her feet and her mantle is covered with gold stars. The black girdle around her wait signifies that she is pregnant. Thus, the image depicts how Christ is born again among the peoples of the New World, and of course, she is the patroness of life for all Catholics. The image on the “tilma” is made of vegetable fibers that should have disintegrated after only 20 years. This is part of the miracle of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the “tilma” is almost 500 years old now!
Juan Diego is a wonderful example of an honest, just and virtuous man. He was a real person, a man of flesh and bones, who was a loyal son of the Church. He deeply loved the Virgin Mary and was a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. May he intercede for us so that we, like Saint Juan Diego, may always follow Christ through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe in our words and deeds!
The Rev. Gus Puleo is pastor of St. Patrick Church in Norristown and adjunct professor of Spanish at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. He is a graduate of Norristown High School and attended Georgetown University, where he received B.A. and B.S. in Spanish and linguistics. He has master’s degrees in Spanish, linguistics and divinity from Middlebury College, Georgetown University and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania.
