FEAST: DECEMBER 12
This day, we celebrate the apparition of the Blessed Mother to Jaun Diego, a poor Christian Aztec which revolutionized Christianity in the Americas. In her apparition, Mary instructed Juan Diego to go to the bishop and tell him to build a shrine at the site of her apparition. The bishop did not believe Juan Diego and returned dismayed. Mary again appeared to him and told him she would give the bishop a sign. In the middle of winter, Jaun Diego was given Castilian roses to wrap in his tilma and show the bishop. When Jaun Diego showed the bishop the roses, an image also appeared on his tilma of the Blessed Mother. The bishop immediately repented of his disbelief and ordered the construction of the shrine to commence immediately.
On this feast day, on the very spot of the apparition, there is a basilica in Mary’s honor. The tilma on which her image was imprinted is on display for all pilgrims to see. Modern science has no explanation of how the image remains on the tilma, or why the tilma still remains intact. The miracle of Our Lady of Guadeloupe continues today, and she is the patron saint of the Americas.
