The Miracle
On December 9, 1531, on a barren hill called Tepeyac near present-day Mexico City, a beautiful lady appeared to a simple peasant, Juan Diego. The impact of their humble exchange would change the history of Mexico – its reverberations felt throughout the world. The beautiful lady was the holy Mother of God, the Virgin of Guadalupe who asked that a shrine be built on the remote hill of Tepeyac where she could love, help and protect her people, “I am your merciful Mother, the merciful Mother of all of you who live united in this land, of all mankind, of all those who love me, of those who cry out to me, of those who seek me, and of those who have confidence in me.”
Reluctant but obedient, Juan Diego took the Lady’s message to Mexico City to Bishop-elect Zumarraga who asked for a sign to verify Mary’s request. When Juan Diego returned to the Blessed Mother with the Bishop’s request for a sign, she told him to go to the top of the hill and gather flowers and to wrap them in his cloak (tilma) and present them to the Bishop.
It was on December 12, 1531 that the famous event depicted in these paintings occurred. Juan Diego took the flowers, still wrapped in his peasant’s cloak to present to the Bishop. When Juan Diego opened his cloak, beautiful Castilian roses tumbled out onto the floor revealing a large and beautiful picture of the Lady of Tepeyac Hill. With the Bishop’s help, the astonished Juan Diego untied his tilma and held it up so he could see it. The Bishop knelt down and gazed with wonder into the Blessed Mother’s eyes as she looked down at him with a tender expression of a merciful mother’s love.
The original portrait on the original cactus-fiber tilma still exists today, miraculously surviving almost 500 years on fabric that normally disintegrates after 20 or 30 years. It can be seen today in all its original beauty in the majestic shrine built as the Blessed Virgin requested on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City.