Celebraciones a Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

The Virgin Appears

According to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, a man of Aztec descent who had converted to Christianity, on December 9, 1531. She asked Juan Diego to build a shrine on the spot where she had appeared, Tepeyac Hill, now in a suburb of Mexico City. The local bishop—an important church official—demanded that Juan Diego provide a sign that would prove the Virgin Mary had really appeared to him before he would agree to build a church on the site. The Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego again on December 12 and miraculously showed him where to pick roses, even though it was winter, to take to the bishop as proof that she had really appeared. Juan Diego collected the roses in his cloak, went before the bishop, and then opened his cloak to show him the roses. Dozens of roses fell to the floor and his cloak had a beautiful picture of the Virgin Mary inside. The bishop was stunned by the miracle and ordered that a church be built in her honor on Tepeyac Hill.

Worshipped throughout the World

Since that time, many people in Mexico have worshipped the Virgin of Guadalupe, as she has come to be called, and her popularity has grown through the centuries. In 1737, many believed she ended a deadly plague that ravaged Mexico City. That same year, she was proclaimed patroness (a saint who protects and leads) of Mexico City. Later she was made patroness of what is now Mexico and parts of modern-day California, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Various popes—who serve as the head of the Roman Catholic Church—have officially recognized her importance for Latin America and even the Philippines in Southeast Asia. Devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe has now spread to many parts of the world. 

From: ​chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.terraamericanart.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/MySymbolsMyIdentity_VirgenHandout.pdf