Our Lady of Guadalupe fiesta is celebrated on December 12 – one of the most important dates in the Mexican calendar. While the name Guadalupe is well-known to most people, the lesser known part of the story about Juan Diego is equally significant in the understanding of why this story is so important in the spiritual life of the Americas. The story of Juan Diego is a sustainist story that leveling out the field—raising up the lowly and pulling down the powerful.
The story is worth retelling here for the benefit of those readers who do not know the story. The summary below is based on Virgil Elizondo’s extensive work on the Guadalupe event in his book: Guadalupe: Mother of the New Creation. As you read the story, be aware of the power positions of the characters and how the divine presence interacted with them.
In 1531, ten years after the conquest of Mexico by Spain, “Everywhere the inhabitants of the lake and the mountain had surrendered.” The church had worked diligently to convert the Indians to Christianity. But under this political backdrop, any transference of the faith was tinted by the emancipation of the native way of life. Nevertheless, Juan Diego had been faithful in following the teaching of the church. He was described as a poor and dignified person. He lived in Cuautitlán, and on a Saturday night, he was on his way to Mexico City to receive his instructions from the priest. At the side of the small hill named Tepeyac, “he heard singing on the summit of the hill: as if different precious birds were singing and their songs would alternate as if the hill was answering them.” When the song ceased, he heard someone calling him. He followed the voice and saw a lady whose clothing “appeared like the sun, and it gave forth rays.” She asked him, “Where are you going?” He explained that he was going to Mexico City to receive instructions from the priest. There she gave her first instruction:
“I very much want and ardently desire that my hermitage be erected in this place. In it I will show and give to all people all my love, my compassion, my help, and my protection, because I am your merciful mother and the mother of all the nations that live on this earth who would love me, who would speak with me, who would search for me, and who would place their confidence in me. There I will hear their laments and remedy and cure all their miseries, misfortunes, and sorrows. And for this merciful wish of mine to be realized, go there to the palace of the bishop of Mexico, and you will tell him in what way I have sent you as a messenger, so that you may make known to him how I very much desire that he build me a home right here, that he may erect my temple on the plain.”
He readily accepted the mission and went to the palace to seek the ear of the bishop – Don Fray Juan de Zumárraga. With some difficulty, he finally got to see and tell the bishop what he had “admired, seen and heard.” But the bishop answered him, “My son, you will have to come another time; I will calmly listen to you at another time. I still have to see, to examine carefully from the very beginning, the reason you have come, and your will and your wish.”
Juan Diego left knowing he had not accomplished his mission. On the same day, he returned to Tepeyac and she again appeared to him. He asked the lady to send “one of the more valuable nobles, a well-known people, one who is respected and esteemed” to be the messenger. But the lady insisted that he was the one. So, the next day, Sunday, Juan Diego again went to the palace to see the bishop. This time, the bishop told him that he could not proceed on her wishes just on the basis of his word and message. A sign from her would be necessary for him to believe that Juan Diego was indeed sent by the Lady from Heaven. He left once again without accomplishing his mission.
When Juan Diego returned home, he discovered that one of his uncles, named Juan Bernardino, had caught the smallpox and was in his last moments. Through the night, his uncle begged him to go to Tlatilolco to call a priest to come and hear his confession before he died. Juan Diego did not return that day to the lady for a sign that he had promised to bring to the bishop. Instead he went to look for a priest the next day. He took another path in order to avoid meeting the lady whom he thought would delay him from getting a priest on time before his uncle died. Yet, the lady came down from the top of the hill and blocked his passage and standing in front of him, said, “Where are you going?”
Juan Diego explained the situation with his uncle. The lady assured him that his uncle was already healed and not to be worried. She then instructed him to climb to the top of the hill where he had seen her before, and cut and gather many diverse flowers and bring them to her. He did as she instructed and was deeply surprised to find all kinds of exquisite flowers from Castile, because it was December, not a time for flowers. He gathered them and placed them in the hollow of his mantle. He took the flowers to the lady who said, “These different flowers are the proof, the sign, that you will take to the bishop. In my name tell him that he is to see in them what I want, and with this he should carry out my wish and my will.” He was further instructed to only open his mantle in the presence of the bishop.
Juan Diego took the flowers to the palace and again, with great difficulty he finally got to see the bishop. He told the bishop everything that had happened and that he did bring a sign, as the bishop had demanded. “He unfolded his white mantle, . . and at that instant the different flowers from Castile fell to the ground. In that very moment she painted herself; the precious image of the Ever-Virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God Teotl, appeared suddenly, just as she is today and is kept in her precious home, in her hermitage of Tepeyac, which is called Guadalupe.”
When the bishop saw her, he and all who accompanied him fell to their knees and were greatly astonished. He prayed to her and begged her to forgive him for not having believed her will, her heart and her word. He immediately started the building of her temple. When Juan Diego returned home, he discovered that the lady had appeared to his uncle and healed him.
The first time I read the whole story, I had the image of Juan Diego, doing what he was told, walking back and forth every week from his home to the church in the city to receive his instructions – a prescribed way of life according to the conquerors of his people. And on that December evening, he was interrupted by the appearance of the Lady of Guadalupe. He was invited to take a Sabbath from his regular oppressive routine and followed the songs of the birds and later the signs of the flowers. Through his experience of encountering the Lady of Guadalupe, he was raised up from a lowly poor Indian to the messenger of the divine, delivering a message that would change the history of the Americas. In the Náhuatl tradition, “Flower and song” represents the truth.
The Náhuatl theologians stated: “It may be that no one on earth can tell the truth, except through flower and song.” Rational discourse clarifies yet limits the mind, while flowers and song stimulate the imagination to ponder the infinite. For the Náhuatl, it was only through poetic communication and beauty that the heart of human beings could enter into communion and communication with the divine— both individually and collectively. For the Náhuatl, truth was expressed through the suggestive harmony of the seen and heard. Through the beauty of the image (flowers) and the melodious sounds (poetic word), the divine could be gradually experienced, and one could gradually come to share in the divine wisdom. (Guadalupe, Mother of the New Creation, pp. 34-35)
This truth as experienced by the powerless disputes the incomplete reality projected by the powerful in society. Through songs and flowers, Juan Diego learned the truth that he was beloved by God even though he and his people were conquered and powerless and were on the verge of dying spiritually, as symbolized by his dying uncle. On the other hand, the bishop, representing the powerful conquerors, did not have the time for Juan Diego – he did not make time to step out of his prescribed power role to truly encounter the powerless Indians. The story of Juan Diego taught us that the powerful often will not listen until the powerless persist in making themselves be known. Juan Diego, empowered by the truth, flower and song, confronted the powerful, causing resources to flow in the direction that supported the starving spiritual of a conquered people.
Invite members of your community to gather and learn about the story of Juan Diego.
- Read the story of Juan Diego in this blog post. Invite ½ of the participants to put themselves in the role of the Bishop and ½ the participants to put themselves in the role of Juan Diego as they listen to the story.
- Invite participants to share how they felt and what they experienced in the roles of the Bishop and Juan Diego.
- Invite participants to further reflect on share on the following question:
- In order to create a sustainable community, what are the actions that the powerful need to take? What are the actions that the powerless need to take?
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Eric H. F. Law
Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
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