Our Lady of Guadalupe

by John Steinbeck

uan Diego and his wife Maria Lucia were humble people who lived in the little town of Cuautitlan, north of Mexico City. They had no children so that their dependence on each other was great. One dawn, Maria Lucia was feverish. At midmorning her eyes were swollen and her breath labored. At noon she died.

They had lived in love, and Juan Diego was lost in his sorrow. He had no relatives but the uncle named Juan Bernardino, who had cared for him in his youth. Now Juan Diego took to wandering over the hills, spending his strength the way a grieving man does. In the night, he was wakeful and restless.

Music at the Hill

It is told that one December day, he arose before dawn and walked through the frost of the harsh stormy land until he came to the hill of Tepayac. Just as the day was breaking, he climbed the hill and there came to him, first softly, and then louder, the sound of many birds' songs.

The songs grew to an earthly music so that he stopped and wondered, for the music seemed to come from everywhere. He looked up the hill, and the dawn light was brighter than any he had ever seen; the music swelled and echoed.

Juan Diego went quickly toward the light that shone from the hilltop; a voice from the music said, "Juan Diego, come here." In a moment, his grief was gone and the fullness of beauty was in him. The path up the hill was lined with mesquite and cactus and sharp with stones. He came half running to the brow. The music swelled and retired.

And then, he saw the Queen of Heaven standing in the rocky path with the light around her, so that the stones gathered it and glittered like jewels. And the dark mesquite was very bright. For a moment, Juan Diego gazed at her, and then he backed away in shyness and in fear.

The vision said, "Juan Diego, my son, where do you wa1k?"

And he answered, "My Lady, I was walking in sorrow to find peace for my heart, but now I am not sad."

The Lady said, "Do you know who I am?'' And he answered, "I think - I know."

She spoke quietly in the lights, "I am Mary, the Mother of Jesus. And I wish that here on this bleak hill, a temple may be built in witness of my love for your people. I have seen the suffering of your people and I have come to them through you."

Juan Diego tried to speak, but she silenced him. "You must go to the bishop in Mexico and tell him that here by the hill of Tepayac, my temple must be built from which my love may go out to all of your people."

Juan Diego bowed. "I will go, My Lady," he said, and as he spoke, the light faded into ordinary day and the stones were stones and the mesquite black. The Lady was gone.

Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe's Messenger

Juan Diego went slowly down the path, and the world was pale after his vision. He took the north way through the marshes where the tall reeds grew and his road was the stone causeway, for the Valley of Mexico was a broad lake, and the city stood in the midst of it.

Juan Diego was filled with terror now. He had never traveled to the city in all of his life. After his mud village, the growing buildings and the new churches were things of wonder to him. He asked his directions many times before he came to the palace of the bishop, a lordly building, magnificent, new.

The Bishop of Mexico was a scholarly man. From the first, he had defended the Indians against the brutal soldiers and the nobles of Spain and it was his custom to hear anyone who came to him. When Diego was led to his chamber, the bishop expected a complaint or a petition. Many tragedies passed before him everyday.

Our Lady's voice was imperious. "Juan Diego, I have chosen you for a reason to be understood only gradually, but it will be stronger, because everyone will find the reason for himself. I have many messengers, but I have chosen you, Juan Diego, my son, go as my messenger, and order the bishop to do as I have said. Say to him that Holy Mary ever Virgin, Mother of God, has sent you. That you and no other are the messenger."

The bishop had many duties on a Sunday, and Juan Diego squatted in a corner, waiting. Again and again, he demanded entrance, but the servants refused him. Now Juan Diego's message burned in him and he shouted his demands. Tears were in his eyes and the fury of frustration in his heart. The bishop heard him shouting and quietly gave word to let him in.

Juan Diego fell to the floor before the throne. "Our Lady says you must build a temple!" he cried. "She says it is her wish. Do you hear? She orders the temple to be built in the valley by Tepayac." The bishop said sternly, "You are ill. You are unbalanced."

Juan Diego shouted. "Our Lady orders you!"

The Sign

The bishop sat quietly thinking, and then he said with calculations, "I will tell you... words are empty, and men sometimes see things that are untrue. Ask for a sign beyond doubt. Now go."

“What sign?" Juan Diego demanded.

The bishop smiled and signaled and his servants held Juan Diego's elbows and led him away. When he was gone, the bishop called two men and said, "Follow Juan Diego. See where he goes. And see that he does not hurt himself nor any others."

The men followed Juan Diego and at last, they came to a ravine before the valley below Tepayac, and a rare mist covered Juan Diego from their sight. They could not find him anywhere. At last, they returned to the city and told their story. The bishop sat alone and he was troubled, and Juan Diego remained persistently in his thoughts.

The cloud moved along with Juan Diego and it grew luminous, and in the midst of it, the Lady appeared. In his weariness, Juan Diego bowed and he said, "The bishop wants a sign. He will not believe words. But he would not say what sign."

The Lady's voice was sweet to the weary man. "Go to your rest," she said. "and in the morning, come again and I will give you a sign." Then Juan Diego went toward his house. But on the way, a neighbor came to him saying, "Your uncle is dying of the fever called cocolxtle. the same that destroyed your wife."

Juan Diego went toward his uncle's house and found the old man with red, swollen eyes and a shallow breath. His uncle whispered to him, "Go to Father de Grado. He knows curing herbs. And if they fail, he will give me the rites of the Church."

Juan Diego went to find help for his uncle. His promise to the Holy Mother worried him, but it seemed good to him to have a humble duty to do, for her mission frightened him.

He thought: I will not take the short cut over the hill of Tepayac. I will go the longer way around the hill and then the Holy Mother will not see me, and I can put aside the duty. He said to himself, "She could not blame me for trying to help my uncle."

He took the longer path and he felt the mesquite bushes pulling at his cloak. His feet stumbled on the rocks in the dark way. And suddenly, the light broke around him and the Lady stood before him. In grief and shame, Juan Diego knelt before her. "I was coming to the hill as soon as I could get help for my uncle," he said.

She replied with compassion, "You cannot go around, my son. You cannot ever go around. Particularly you. Forget your uncle. He is well now. I have made him well. Go now to the right path over the hill of Tepayac and gather what you find there." Then Juan Diego went back to the hill path and in the desolate place, he saw roses of Castille, fresh and lovely, growing in a place where roses could not grow and blooming in a frosty month when roses do not bloom. In the dawn, he gathered the flowers and then the Virgin was beside him, and she took the blooms from him and laid them in his cloak. "This is my sign," she said. "Go now to the bishop."

...And Then Believed

Juan Diego came to the palace and he entered carrying the roses wrapped in his cloak. The servants in the hall jeered at him, and they struck him and pulled at him to put him out of the hall. But Juan Diego guarded his cloak. "It is the sign!" he cried. "I have brought the sign from the Holy Mother!" As they pushed him, a corner of his cloak came free and they saw the roses and they were silent. One man put his hand to the flowers and he could not touch them. And then he went quietly to the door of the bishop's chamber and opened it, and Juan Diego entered.

The bishop looked at the Indian with annoyance, but Juan Diego was not afraid. "Here is the sign." he said and released the corners of his cloak, and the roses - uncrushed and unwilted - fell to the hard floor.

And then the bishop saw the cloak of Juan Diego, and got to his knees. On the rough cactus-fiber cloak of the Indian, Juan Diego, was the image of the Mother of God.

At Tepayac, they raised a simple hermitage on the place where she had appeared, to serve until the temple could be fashioned. And Juan Diego built a new mud house nearby and planted a garden. He swept out the chapel and cared for it until he died. He was very happy. And it is possible he did not know that through his heart, Our Lady of Guadalupe had become the Holy Mother of his people. Juan Diego came to the palace and he entered carrying the roses wrapped in his cloak. The servants in the hall jeered at him, and they struck him and pulled at him to put him out of the hall. But Juan Diego guarded his cloak. "It is the sign!" he cried. "I have brought the sign from the Holy Mother!" As they pushed him, a corner of his cloak came free and they saw the roses and they were silent. One man put his hand to the flowers and he could not touch them. And then he went quietly to the door of the bishop's chamber and opened it, and Juan Diego entered.

The bishop looked at the Indian with annoyance, but Juan Diego was not afraid. "Here is the sign." he said and released the corners of his cloak, and the roses - uncrushed and unwilted - fell to the hard floor.

And then the bishop saw the cloak of Juan Diego, and got to his knees. On the rough cactus-fiber cloak of the Indian, Juan Diego, was the image of the Mother of God.

At Tepayac, they raised a simple hermitage on the place where she had appeared, to serve until the temple could be fashioned. And Juan Diego built a new mud house nearby and planted a garden. He swept out the chapel and cared for it until he died. He was very happy. And it is possible he did not know that through his heart, Our Lady of Guadalupe had become the Holy Mother of his people. 

The Second Coming of Christ will take place in your lifetime. According to this book which contains a series of incredible messages and prophecies to an Irish seer, our present generation will witness the Second Coming of Christ. Click here to read a book review that summarises the key messages of the book.

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