A powerpoint presentation on the Apparition of Our Lady to Juan Diego in Mexico in 1531.

1. Our Lady of Guadalupe

2. Introduction
• Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe: December
12
• Apparition occurred in 1531, ten years after the
seizure of Mexico City.
• The narration about the apparition of Our Lady to
Juan Diego are contained in a document called
Nican Mopohua (which means Here is stated…or
Here is told) or Huei Tlamauitzoltica, written in
Nahuatl, the Aztec language.

3. Nican Mopohua
• It was written around the
middle of the sixteenth
century by an Indian
scholar named Antonio
Valeriano.
• Unfortunately, the
original work has not
been found.
• A copy was first published
in Nahuatl by Luis Lasso
de la Vega in 1649.

4. Mexico City before 1531
• Mexico City is ruled by
the Aztecs
• Human sacrifices are
done
• Cannibalism is apparent
• The mightiest god was
Quetzelcoatl, the
feathered or stone
Source: http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=38740 serpent
• They have a great Mother
God called Tonantzin

5. Story of the Apparition
• First Apparition: Saturday, December 9, 1531
• On his way to the church in Mexico –
Tlatilolco, while walking near the little hill
called Tepeyac, he heard singing like the song
of many precious birds
• When the singing suddenly stopped, he heard
someone calling him, “Juanito, Dearest Juan
Diego”

6. Our Lady’s Words
• “Know, know for
sure, my dearest and
youngest son, that I am
the perfect ever virgin
holy Mary, Mother of
the One Great God of
truth who gives us
life…I want very much
that they build my
sacred little house
•
here…” Source: http://users.polisci.wisc.edu/LA260/guadalupe.htm

7. Second Apparition: end of day
(Saturday, December 9, 1531)
• Juan Diego begs our Lady to have one of the
nobles or one who is held in esteem to deliver
the message.
• Our Lady told him “Listen, my youngest and
dearest son, know for sure that I have no lack of
servants or messengers to whom I can give the
task of carrying my breath, my word…; but it is
very necessary that you, personally, go and
plead, that my wish, my will, become a reality…”

8. Third Apparition: Sunday, December
10, 1531
• He went to Tlattilolco to go to mass and see
the bishop.
• The bishop still did not believe him and told
Juan Diego that a sign was necessary to
believe that Our Lady is sending him.
• Juan Diego told the bishop to think about the
sign and Juan Diego will ask the Virgin for it.

9. • As soon as he was
dismissed, the bishop
asked some of his staff to
follow him.
• The Virgin said “That’s
fine, my dear son, you will
come back here tomorrow
so that you may take the
bishop the sign he has
asked you for…So, go now.
I will be waiting here for
you tomorrow. “ Source: http://foros.catholic.net/viewtopic.php?t=37052

10. Monday, December 11
• Juan Diego did not return because when
he arrived at his house, he found his
uncle, Juan Bernardino, to be very ill.
• He went to find the healer but it was
too late; he was very ill.
• His uncle asked him to call a priest so he
can confess and to get him ready for
death.

11. Fourth Apparition: Tuesday, Dec. 12
After Juan Diego explained
the sickness of his
uncle, the Lady said
“Listen. Put it into your
heart, my youngest and
dearest son, that the thing
that frightened you, the
thing that afflicted you is
nothing. Do not let it
disturb you…” • Source: http://www.bestcatholic.com/guadalupe.shtml

12. Am I not here, I, who am your mother?
“Are you not under my shadow
and protection? Am I not the
source of your joy? Are you not
in the hollow of my mantle, in
the crossing of my arms? Do
you need something more? Do
not let your uncle’s illness
pressure you with grief, because
he will not die of it now, you may
be certain that he is already Source: http://foros.catholic.net/viewtopic.php?t=37052
well.”

13. At the bishop’s house
After retelling the bishop
his encounter with the
Virgin and the sign that
the Virgin gave him, Juan
Diego held out his tilma
and as the flowers fall to
the floor, the image of the
Virgin appeared in the
tilma.
Source: http://www.followthissite.com/guadalupe.php

14. Miracles
• Conversion of the Aztecs
• By 1539, eight million Aztecs have converted
• Total eradication of human sacrifices
• Countless stories of healing and ending of
plagues and floods through the intercession of
Our Lady
• The miraculous preservation of the sacred
image from destruction

15. The tilma (ayate)
• Made from maguey
cactus
• The tilma is supposed to
last for 15 years only but
it is still in perfect
condition after 481 years.
• Preserved from
destruction when nitric
acid was accidentally
spilled in 1791.
• Survived bomb explosion Source: http://gomexico.about.com/od/fooddrink/ss/mezcal_process.htm
on November 14, 1921.

16. The Bent Cross
Source: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/mexico/mexico-city-basilica-guadalupe

17. The Image
• Image of the Virgin with
Jesus still in her womb
• The ribbon symbolizes
maternity for Spaniards
but virginity for the
indigenous
• No animal, plant or
chemical matches the
paint
• Image on the eye shows
the people seen by the
Virgin when Juan Diego
laid the tilma

18. The Name “Guadalupe”
• Guadalupe is an Arabic word
meaning “river of love”
• When the Virgin appeared to
Juan Diego’s uncle Juan
Bernardino and ask her for
her name, his uncle heard
the word coatlaxopueh
(pronounced as quatlasupe)
meaning “the one who steps
or crushes the serpent”.

19. Reference:
Johnston, Francis. The Wonders of Guadalupe.
Rockford, IL: Tan Book and Publishers, 1981.
Nican Mopohua (Text in English). Available on
http://ndclmurray.weebly.com/uploads/3/1/6/2/3162790/nican_mop
ohua_english.pdf
Nican Mopohua (Text in Spanish). Available on
http://www.virgendeguadalupe.mx/acontecimiento-
guadalupano/relato-apariciones#espa%C3%B1ol
Our Lady of Guadalupe. http://www.sancta.org/