The
Messages of Guadalupe
Excerpted from an English translation of Luis Lasso de la Vega's
1649 copy of the the Nican Mopohua written in Nahuatl by
the Indian scholar Antonio Valeriano in the mid-16th century.
FIRST APPARITION (SATURDAY)
The Blessed Virgin: “Juanito,
the most humble of my sons, where are you going?”
Juan Diego: “My Lady and Child, I have
to reach your church in Mexico, Tlatilolco, to pursue things
divine, taught and given to us by our priests, delegates of
Our Lord.”
The Virgin: “Know and understand well,
you the most humble of my son, that I am the ever virgin Holy
Mary, Mother of the True God for whom we live, of the Creator
of all things, Lord of heaven and the earth. I wish that a
temple be erected here quickly, so I may therein exhibit and
give all my love, compassion, help, and protection, because
I am your merciful mother, to you, and to all the inhabitants
on this land and all the rest who love me, invoke and confide
in me; listen there to their lamentations, and remedy all
their miseries, afflictions and sorrows. And to accomplish
what my clemency pretends, go to the palace of the bishop
of Mexico, and you will say to him that I manifest my great
desire, that here on this plain a temple be built to me; you
will accurately relate all you have seen and admired, and
what you have heard. Be assured that I will be most grateful
and will reward you, because I will make you happy and worthy
of recompense for the effort and fatigue in what you will
obtain of what I have entrusted. Behold, you have heard my
mandate, my humble son; go and put forth all your effort.”
Juan Diego: “My Lady, I am going to
comply with your mandate; now I must part from you, I, your
humble servant.”
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SECOND APPARITION (SATURDAY)
Juan Diego: “Lady,
the least of my daughters, my Child, I went where you sent
me to comply with your command. With difficulty I entered
the prelate’s study. I saw him and exposed your message,
just as you instructed me. He received me benevolently and
listened attentively, but when he replied, it appeared that
he did not believe me. He said: “You will return; I
will hear you at my pleasure. I will review from the beginning
the wish and desire which you have brought.” I perfectly
understood by the manner he replied that he believes it to
be an invention of mine that you wish that a temple be built
here to you, and that it is not your order; for which I exceedingly
beg, Lady and my Child, that you entrust the delivery of your
message to someone of importance, well known, respected, and
esteemed, so that they may believe in him; because I am a
nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a
leaf, and you, my Child, the least of my children, my Lady,
you send me to a place where I never visit nor repose. Please
excuse the great unpleasantness and let not fretfulness befall,
my Lady and my All.”
The Blessed Virgin: “Hark, my son the least,
you must understand that I have many servants and messengers,
to whom I must entrust the delivery of my message, and carry
my wish, but it is of precise detail that you yourself solicit
and assist and that through your mediation my wish be complied.
I earnestly implore, my son the least, and with sternness
I command that you again go tomorrow and see the bishop. You
go in my name, and make known my wish in its entirety that
he has to start the erection of a temple which I ask of him.
And again tell him that I, in person, the ever-virgin Holy
Mary, Mother of God, sent you.”
Juan Diego: “Lady, my Child, let me
not cause you affliction. Gladly and willingly I will go to
comply your mandate. Under no condition will I fail to do
it, for not even the way is distressing. I will go to do your
wish, but perhaps I will not be heard with liking, or if I
am heard I might not be believed. Tomorrow afternoon, at sunset,
I will come to bring you the result of your message with the
prelate’s reply. I now take leave, my Child, the least,
my Child and Lady. Rest in the meantime.” |
THIRD APPARITION (SUNDAY)
The Blessed Virgin: “Well
and good, my little dear, you will return here tomorrow, so
you may take to the bishop the sign he has requested. With
this he will believe you, and in this regard he will not doubt
you nor will he be suspicious of you; and know, my little
dear, that I will reward your solicitude and effort and fatigue
spent of my behalf. Lo! go now. I will await you here tomorrow.”
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FOURTH APPARITION (TUESDAY)
The Blessed Virgin Mary:
“What’s there, my son the least? Where are you
going?”
Juan Diego: “My Child, the most tender
of my daughters, Lady, God grant you are content. How are
you this morning? Is your health good, Lady and my Child?
I am going to cause you grief. Know, my Child, that a servant
of yours is very sick, my uncle. He has contracted the plague,
and is near death. I am hurrying to your house in Mexico to
call one of your priests, beloved by our Lord, to hear his
confession and absolve him, because, since we were born, we
came to guard the work of our death. But if I go, I shall
return here soon, so I may go to deliver your message. Lady
and my Child, forgive me, be patient with me for the time
being. I will not deceive you, the least of my daughters.
Tomorrow I will come in all haste.”
The Blessed Virgin Mary: “Hear me and understand
well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve
you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness,
nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your
Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health?
Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish?
Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything. Do not be afflicted
by the illness of your uncle, who will not die now of it.
be assured that he is now cured.”
“Climb, my son the least, to the top of the hill; there
where you saw me and I gave you orders, you will find different
flowers. Cut them, gather them, assemble them, then come and
bring them before my presence.”
“My son the least, this diversity of roses is the proof
and the sign which you will take to the bishop. You will tell
him in my name that he will see in them my wish and that he
will have to comply to it. You are my ambassador, most worthy
of all confidence. Rigorously I command you that only before
the presence of the bishop will you unfold your mantle and
disclose what you are carrying. You will relate all and well;
you will tell that I ordered you to climb to the hilltop,
to go and cut flowers; and all that you saw and admired, so
you can induce the prelate to give his support, with the aim
that a temple be built and erected as I have asked.”
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