By Mónica Muñoz
One of the most beloved invocations of the Virgin Mary is Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin and his uncle, Juan Bernardino.
The “Guadalupan Event,” one of the most important Marian apparitions in the world, took place from December 9 to 12, 1531. It was witnessed primarily by a humble indigenous man from Mexico: Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. He was a layman and was going to take his catechism lessons in Tlalteloco when he was called by Our Lady of Guadalupe.
We know from the Nican Mopohua (the account of the apparitions, written in Nahuatl), and from other historical writings, that this apparition was unique in the world. Neither before nor since has such a perfect image of Mary been supernaturally given to us. Her image was impressed on Juan Diego’s tilma, which is still on display today in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Tepeyac, Mexico.
Juan Bernardino
Another extraordinary aspect of the Guadalupan apparitions is that the Blessed Virgin also appeared to Juan Bernardino, Juan Diego’s uncle.
The text narrates that this happens during the third apparition. Juan Diego was in a hurry to find a priest for his dying uncle. Naively, he wanted to elude the Blessed Virgin, so he took another path.
But she, who was watching him, went out to meet him and asked where he was going. Juan Diego told her of his uncle’s illness, and Our Lady assured him that he had nothing to worry about, for his uncle was already healed. As Juan Diego would later learn, Our Lady visited his uncle at that very moment to heal him and give him a message.
Revelation of her holy name
Monsignor Eduardo Chavez, canon of the Basilica of Guadalupe and specialist in the subject, mentions that Juan Bernardino was the person the Blessed Virgin was speaking to when she asked to be called “Ever-Virgin Saint Mary of Guadalupe.” He further clarifies the following:
No Spaniard gave [the title] to her; she wanted to be called that way. [The title of “Guadalupe”] was known by the Spaniards, of course, but she wanted to be called with these two names: Mary, of Jewish origin, and Guadalupe, of Arab origin. We’re talking precisely about the two great peoples that were expelled from Spain at that time, the sixteenth century.
Mother of Humanity
Monsignor Chávez explains that Our Lady of Guadalupe is uniting all the children of God in these two great cultures.
“Why? Because the Jews and the Arabs are children of Abraham. They are brothers and sisters, and they fight to kill each other. If you don’t believe me, turn on the news and you’ll see,” he adds, “and what does Our Lady of Guadalupe do? Unite us all as brothers and sisters!”
He goes on to say that she said to Juan Diego in her first apparition, “I am your Mother, the mother of all those on this earth who are joined into one,” referring to the entire American continent, “and of the most varied races, nations, those who love me, those who seek me, those who cry out to me, those who trust in me,” speaking of the whole world.
Therefore, she is the “Mother of Humanity,” concludes the canon.
