The Mexican Devotion:

Our Lady of Guadalupe, the brown-skinned virgin

Virgin of Guadalupe is considered the patron saint of Mexico. Also known as the brown-skinned virgin, she is depicted with brown skin, an angel and moon at her feet, and rays of sunlight that encircle her. The Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe has become the recognized symbol of Catholic Mexicans

“You cannot truly be considered a Mexican unless you believe in the Virgin of Guadalupe”
— the Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes once said.

The Backstory

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 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. Mary appeared to Juan Diego again on 12 December miraculously. Although it was winter and nothing should have been in bloom, Juan Diego found an abundance of flowers of a type he had never seen before. The Virgin bundled the flowers into Juan's cloak, known as a tilma. When Juan Diego presented the tilma of exotic flowers to Zumárraga, the flowers fell out and he recognized them as Castilian roses, which are not found in Mexico. What was even more significant, however, was that the tilma had been miraculously imprinted with a colorful image of the Virgin herself which is present at the Basilica.

About the Image: Tilma

  • Instead of the typical “white” Madonna, Our Lady of Guadalupe appears with the dark complexion of the indigenous people. She is a mestizo, a combination of Mexican and Spanish.

  • She is pictured in prayer, dressed from neck to foot in a pink robe and blue-green cerulean mantle, emblazoned with eight-point stars with two black tassels tied at the waist.

  • A feathered cherubic angel with outstretched arms carries the robe on her exposed feet.

  • Straight and wavy gold rays of sun interchange behind her.

  • She stands upon a crescent moon, allegedly colored silver in the past, but now has turned dark.

How do people celebrate?

Each December 12th, the Mexican Catholic community of Scott County celebrates the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

  1. It is an important holiday in Mexico.

  2. In preparation for the feast day, many individuals in the community erect altars in their home. In many cases they are made of a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe that is surrounded by candles and flowers.

  3. In preparation for the Feast Day, several in the congregation gather to say the rosary on a nightly basis. Several pick-up trucks are decorated for the event and are parked in a large circle. In the bed of each truck stand children form the congregation, dressed as Juan Diego and Our Lady, reenacting the story of Mary’s appearances.

  4. After that they pray the rosary, attend mass. Following the mass is a large fiesta with food and music.

From the OITS literary team,

Here are 7 astounding truths of the Tilma that carried the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to Juan Diego a man of Aztec descendant, who converted to Christianity on Dec 9th, 1531

1.  It is said that the Virgin bundled the flowers into Juan's cloak, known as a tilma. The flowers were Castilian roses, that don’t grow in that region (apart from the fact that roses don’t grow in winter)

2.  Tilma was made of the cheapest cactus fiber and did not decay for now even after some 500 years (normally the lifespan for such tilma’s may be 7 years)

3.  The findings show that the image that appeared on the tilma, is kind of made with a single stroke, and the colors have remained as fresh.

4.  There is an appealing sight about the mother in the Tilma, she looks like the native (Aztec) and when seen closely, looks like a young Jewish girl

5.  The stars in the mantel appeared exactly like the night of Dec 12th, 1531 (many years later the astrologers proved this with the historic constellation that they have access to)

6.  In 1929, there was a bomb blast in the church, which damaged the marble altar and bent the copper cross, but there was no damage done to the Tilma, Mother Mary protected it as it was that important.

7.  It is said that the eyes in the image of Mother Mary have the reflection of Jaun, also the temperature of the Tilma is always 98.6 degrees Celsius.

Credit: This page was put together with the help of Barbara Kamath of OITS group.