Guadalupe, Mexico (1531)

Summary

Mary proclaimed herself "the Mother of the true God who gives life" and left her image permanently upon the tilma of St. Juan Diego, a man newly converted to Christianity. Her likeness was given as a sign to Bishop Zumarraga, who abided by her wishes and constructed a church on Mt. Tepeyacac, the site of the apparitions. Millions of natives were converted to Christianity during the period following her visit. Our Lady of Guadalupe has been designated as the Patron Saint of the Americas.

1474

Quauhtlatoatzin (Juan Diego) is born in Cuautitlan.

1476

Juan de Zumarraga was born in Spain.

1492

Christopher Columbus lands on an island in the Americas and named it San Salvador.

1514

The first Marian Shrine in the New World is established in the city of Higuey.

1519

Hernan Cortez lands in Mexico

1521

The capital city of the Aztecs falls under Cortez

1524

The first 12 Franciscans arrive in Mexico City

1525

Quauhtlatoatzin is baptized by a Franciscan priest and receives the Christian name of Juan Diego

1528

Friar Juan de Zumarraga arrives in the New World

1529

Juan Diego’s wife, Maria, dies

Dec 9, 1531

The Virgin appears to Juan Diego on top of mount Tepeyacac speaking to him in Nahuatl, his native tongue. She called him “Xocoyte,” her little son. She requests that he petition the bishop of Mexico that a “teocalli,” a sacred little house, be built on the spot. Juan Diego, calling her her “Xocoyata,” his littlest daughter, agrees to comply with her mandate and meets with the Bishop who listens to the message but does not believe his words. On his return he encounters the Virgin again who insists that he return to the Bishop with the same message the next day.

Dec 10, 1531

Juan does not return to the bishop the next day because his uncle Juan Bernardino takes ill and requests Juan Diego to find a priest for his final confession.

Dec 11, 1531

Juan goes from his home to Tlatilolco to summon a priest and despite trying to avoid her, encounters along the way the Virgin who promises that his uncle will be cured. She urges him to climb to the top of the hilltop and gather the roses growing there in December as the sign for the Bishop to believe. When the Bishop finally received him, Juan unfurled his tilma and revealed the image of the Virgin miraculously painted there.

Dec 12, 1531

Juan Diego shows the Bishop the location of the apparition on which the church was to be built. He then returned to his uncle who was cured of his illness and had an experienced a visitation from the Virgin himself.

Dec 24, 1531

Bishop Zumarraga writes a letter to Cortez stating: "I want to dedicate my cathedral to the Immaculate Conception because it was during that feast that God and his Blessed Mother deigned to shower the land you won with great favor."

1533

The first sanctuary is erected at the request of the Virgin. 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. Here he cared for the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Virgin.

1541

Franciscan priest and early historian of New Spain “Motolinia” writes that some nine million Aztecs had become Christians

May 30, 1548

Juan Diego dies and is buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe.

1555

In the Provincial Counsel, the second archbishop of Mexico, Alonso de Montúfar, formulates canons that indirectly approved the apparitions.

1556

Archbishop Montúfar begins the erection of the second church

1561

The Valeriano Relation (the Nican Mopohua) is written by an Indian named Antonio Valeriano between 1551 and 1561.

1564

An image is carried on the first formal expedition to the Philippine Islands

1567

The new church ordered by Archbishop Montufar is completed.

1570

Archbishop Montufar sends an oil painted copy of the image of Guadalupe to King Philip II of Spain

1571

Admiral Doria carries a copy of the image aboard ship during the battle of Lepanto and attributes the victory over the Ottoman Empire to the Virgin of Guadalupe

1573

The “Primitive Relation” is written by the historian Juan de Tovar, who transcribed the story from a still earlier source, probably Juan Gonzalez, Bishop’s Zumarraga’s translator.

1647

The image is covered with glass for the first time.

1648

The priest Miguel Sanchez publishes “Image of the Virgin Mary, Guadalupan Mother of God” in Mexico City

1649

Luis Lasso de la Vega publishes the “Huey Tlanahuicoltica”, telling the story in Nahuatl. It refers to earlier Nahuatl sources.

1666

A formal inquiry and investigation, named Informaciones Guadalupana, is conducted by the Church from February 18 to March 22. Juan Diego was called a "holy man".

1695

The first stone of the new sanctuary is laid..

1709

The new sanctuary is solemnly dedicated

1723

Another formal investigation is ordered by Archbishop Lanziego y Eguilaz

1737

The Most Holy Mary of Guadalupe is chosen as the patroness of the city of Mexico

1746

The patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe is accepted for all of New Spain (California to El Salvador)

1746

The knight Boturini Benaducci promotes the solemn and official coronation of the image

1754

Benedict XIV approves the patronage of New Spain and granted a Mass and Office proper to the celebration of the feast on December 12

1756

Painter Miguel Cabrera publishes his extensive study of the Image in the book “American Marvel”

1757

The Virgin of Guadalupe is declared patroness of the citizens of Ciudad Ponce in Puerto Rico

1767

The religious of the Society of Jesus are expelled from the Spanish dominions, and the image is carried to various parts of the world

1895

The coronation of the image is performed, with pontifical authority and the a great part of the episcopate of the Americas in attendance

1910

Pius X declares the Virgin of Guadalupe Patroness of Latin America

1911

A church is built on the site of Juan Bernardino’s home

1921

A bomb placed beneath the image explodes but the tilma survives

1924

A very important 16th century source documenting the miracle is found in Peru by anthropologist M. Saville. It is a pictorial calendar known as the Codex Seville-Tetlapalco and shows the image of our Lady located in the position representing the year 1531

1928

A coronation of the image was made in Santa Fe, Argentina

1929

First documented note of an apparent reflected image of a man’s head in the right eye of the Virgin, by photographer Alfonso Marcue

1935

Pius XI extended the patronage of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the Philippines

1945

Pius XII states that the Virgin of Guadalupe was the “Queen of Mexico and Empress of the Americas” and that she had been painted “by brushes that were not of this world”

1946

Pope Pius XII declares her to be the Patroness of the Americas

1951

Carlos Salinas examines the tilma and observes the apparent reflection of a man’s head in the right eye of the Virgin

1956

Dr. Torroela-Bueno, an ophthalmologist, examines the eyes of the Virgin on the tilma

1958

Dr. Rafael Torija-Lavoignet publishes his study of the Purkinje-Sanson effect as exhibited in the Guadalupan image

1961

Pope John XXIII prays to her as Mother of the Americas. He addresses her as Mother and Teacher of the Faith to the peoples of the Americas

1962

Dr. Charles Wahlig, O.D. announces the discovery of two images apparently reflected in the eyes of the Virgin when studying a photograph enlarged twenty five times

1966

Pope Paul VI sends a Golden Rose to the Basilica

1975

Glass is removed so the image could be examined by another ophthalmologist, Dr. Enrique Grave

1976

The New Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, located four miles from central Mexico City, is dedicated

1979

Dr. Philip Callahan takes 40 frames of infra-red photographs of the image. Later concluded that the original image is unexplainable as a human work

1979

Pope John Paul II called her the “Star of Evangelization”, knelt before her image, invoked her motherly assistance and called upon her as Mother of the Americas

1979

Dr. Jose Aste-Tonsmann announces the finding of at least four human figures apparently reflected in both eyes of the Virgin. Dr. Tosmann used sophisticated image processing techniques with digitized photographs of both eyes.

1987

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints declares Juan Diego venerable

1988

The liturgical celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 is raised to the status of a feast in all dioceses in the United States

May 6, 1990

Juan Diego is beatified on 6 May 1990 by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Mexico City. The Pope declares Dec. 9 the feast of Juan Diego and invokes him as “protector and advocate of the indigenous peoples.”

1992

Pope John Paul II dedicates a chapel in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Peter’s Basilica

1996

Controversy over the historical authenticity of Juan Diego is stirred in 1996 by Father William Schulenburg, a longtime abbot of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who calls Juan Diego a "mythical
character".

Oct. 28, 1998

The Vatican subsequently established a commission of 30 researchers from various countries to investigate the question of the historical authenticity of Juan Diego. The commission successfully proved that Juan Diego had indeed existed, and the results of their research were presented to the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Among research documents submitted at that time were 27 Guadalupe Indian documents. One called the “Escalada,” co-authored by Valeriano and Franciscan Friar Bernardino de Sahagun, contained a death certificate of Juan Diego.

1999

Pope John Paul II, during his third visit to the sanctuary, declares the date of December the 12th as a Liturgical Holy Day for the whole continent

July 31, 2002

Juan Diego is canonized by Pope John Paul II in Mexico City

The tilma was made from cactus fibres and as such should have turned into dust after approximately twenty years. Instead it has survived and been on diplay to the faithful for nearly 500 years despite being exposed to the smoke of candles throughout the centuries. Infrared spectroscopy has confirmed the integrity of the image.

The image on the tilma is composed of pigments that have not been identified by chemical analysis as being the product of animal, vegetable, or mineral dye. No undersketch has been identified below the painting.

Examination of the eyes of the image by photographers and ophtamalogists has suggested that the reflections of Juan Diego, the bishop, and the interpeter can be distinguished.

Additionally, the apparitions and the resulting tilma contributed in no small way to the Christianization of Mexico with several million Aztecs converting to Christianity in the ensuing years.

Read about the research of Peruvian scientist José Aste Tonsmann.

Read an interview with Tonsmann.

1. Eyes
The eyes of the image are looking down, a postion of humility, revealing that, as great as she is, she is not a god. Indian gods never looked down; they looked straight ahead.

2. Face
The woman's face shows great compassion. The Indians felt that the face was the window of the inner person, a means by which one could read who a person was -- the way a person would act. A good woman to the Indians was one whose femininity showed in her face. The head of the woman in the image shows her with dark skin and dark hair like that of the Indians.

3. Hands
Her hands are not poised in the traditional Western style of prayer, but in an Indian manner of offering, indicating that something is being offered, that something is to come from her.

4. Maternity Band
The maternity band around the woman's waist was the sign of a pregnant woman, a mother who is about to give birth, it was a sign to the Indians that someone is yet to come.

5. Stars
The stars on the mantle are a sign that a new civilization, or era, is beginning. The Indian tradition recognized the end and the beginning of different eras throughout the ages, and the destruction of a particular civilization or era was always accompanied by a comet, or a body of stars.

6. Sun Rays
The rays of sun in the image recalled for the Indians that the sun played a key role in their civilization. But the woman in the image is greater than even the sun. She hides the sun, and only the rays come forth. She hides the sun but does not extinguish it.

7. Mantle
The predominant color in the image's mantle is turquoise, the blue-green color reserved for the great god Omecihuatl. Although the Indians had many "intermediary gods." Omecihuatl was considered the supreme god. It was a mother-father god who sometimes was represented as a man and sometimes as a woman. It was a source of unity for everything that exists.

8. Moon
The woman is standing on the moon, indicating that she is greater than the god of night, the moon god.

9. Angel
The angel at the bottom of the image was seen by the Indians as an "intermediary god" carrying in a new era, the beginning of a new civilization. One era was at an end -- had died -- and a new one was beginning, was being born.