It is October 12, 1492, and Christopher Columbus discovers the New World, which will later be called America. This marks the beginning of the Spanish colonization of Mexico, which began in 1521. Mentalities, cultures, traditions, cults, and religions meet here. Religious symbols, statues representing Mexicans, and sacrifices are regarded as pagan idols, prompting the start of a Christian campaign that lasts for many years. Approximately 10 years after the conquest, the missionaries had only minor successes in evangelizing the new lands. The turning point came in 1531, when the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, an Indian, on Mount Tepeyac.
The Virgin Mary invited him to go to the bishop and tell him that he wanted to build a church, but the bishop did not believe him. On December 12, the Virgin Mary appeared again to Juan Diego, who was looking for a priest to help him with his seriously ill uncle. She asked him, “I am not here; who is your mother?” She assured him that his uncle would not die. Young Juan Diego asked Mary for a sign so that the bishop would believe him. She advised him to go to the mountain to pick flowers. He did so and returned to the Mother, who then took the flowers and put them in Juan Diego’s cloak. He immediately ran to the bishop and unbuttoned the cloak in front of him, on which appeared a “painted” image of the Virgin Mary. The bishop and those present knelt, moved, and asked for forgiveness for their lack of belief.
With this apparition, the Virgin Mary brought reconciliation between the natives and the Spaniards through the symbols on the cloak. Both cultures were able to accept the message that the Christian faith is not the property of anyone but a gift of love for all. The features of the Virgin Mary’s face are neither European nor Native American, but rather a mix. This tradition prefigures the future and original civilization, Native American Christianity, which was born from the racial integration between the Spaniards and the Indians.
As the final act of this long and captivating story, Mary is at the center of universal history and at the beginning of the history of the New World. She is always ready to offer all her love, compassion, help, and protection to the inhabitants of this land and to all who love her. Our Lady of Guadalupe appears as the one who wants to welcome everyone, both Indians and Spaniards, with the same maternal love.
To welcome the Mother of God, therefore, means to welcome the natives as well. The new temple will help restore dignity to the oppressed. Mary, a missionary of the Good News, transforms reality to create a new people and a new family. After a conquest that brought suffering, division, and resistance, the Virgin of Guadalupe on Tepeyac Hill became a sign of the meeting of two worlds that had been in dramatic opposition until then. Over seven years, eight million natives were converted after the apparitions, an average of about three thousand people a day, reminiscent of Peter’s preaching.
Pius X declared Our Lady of Guadalupe the Patroness of all Latin America. Pius XI of all America. Pius XII referred to her as the Empress of America, while John XXIII called her the Heavenly Missionary of the New World and the Mother of America. And we, Koinonia, address her as Mary, Star of Evangelization.
