“Teach us the path that leads to the Brown Virgin of Tepeyac”
(John Paul II)
First Apparition
The Encounter with the Lady of Tepeyac
December 9, 1531 (Morning)
As Juan Diego was climbing Tepeyac Hill to attend Mass, he heard a gentle and extraordinary song. As he drew near, he saw a radiant Lady who introduced herself as:
“The perfect and ever Virgin Saint Mary, Mother of the true God.”
She asked him to go before Bishop Juan de Zumárraga and request the construction of a temple in that place, where she could manifest her love and hear the petitions of all her children.
Juan Diego obeyed, but the bishop asked for a sign.
Second Apparition
My Lady, My Little One
December 9, 1531 (Afternoon)
Juan Diego returned saddened, feeling that he had not succeeded in conveying the greatness of the Lady’s message. As he climbed Tepeyac once again, Mary came to meet him.
Juan Diego said to her humbly:
“My Lady, Queen, my Lady, my little one, I went and delivered your message... But it seems they do not believe it. The bishop says he needs a sign to know that it is truly your word.”
The Virgin replied with tenderness and firmness, showing neither irritation nor impatience:
“That is well, my little son. Tomorrow you shall return and bring him my word once again. I will reward your weariness and your labor.”
Thus, Mary encouraged him to persevere with confidence. She did not send him as an ordinary messenger, but as her ambassador, her “poor and beloved little Juan Diego.”
Juan Diego agreed, ready to return the next day.
Third Apparition
December 10, 1531 (Afternoon)
The bishop, prudent yet moved by the sincerity and transparency of the indigenous man, told him:
That he would believe if the Lady sent an unmistakable sign, something that would leave no room for doubt.
He discreetly ordered some servants to follow Juan Diego on his return journey, to verify whether he was telling the truth about the place where the Lady appeared to him. They attempted to follow him, but inexplicably lost his trail, a fact that was also recorded.
Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac and told everything to the Virgin. She said to him:
“That is well, my little son. Come here tomorrow so that you may carry the sign that has been requested.”
It was Saturday afternoon. For the following day—Sunday, December 11—the Lady had prepared the miracle.
Fourth Apparition
“Am I not here, I who am your Mother?”
December 12, 1531
Upon arriving home, Juan Diego found his uncle, Juan Bernardino, gravely ill.
He spent that day and the night caring for him. At dawn on Monday the 12th, his uncle asked him to bring a priest so that he could receive the sacraments before dying.
Distressed, Juan Diego decided to avoid the usual route through Tepeyac, thinking:
“I do not want to trouble the Lady... right now it is urgent to find a priest.”
So he went around the hill on the opposite side, trying to pass unnoticed.
But the Virgin came out to meet him.
“She intercepted him and blocked his path.”
Mary, with a gentle expression, asked him:
“Where are you going, my little son? What path is this that you are taking?”
Ashamed, Juan Diego explained the situation:
“My Lady, my little girl, my little one, forgive me.
My uncle is very sick, and I am going to bring a priest to hear his confession.
Tomorrow I will return to fulfill your request.”
Then one of the most sublime moments of the apparitions took place.
“Am I not here, I who am your Mother?”
The Lady replied with heavenly tenderness:
“Listen and understand well, my son, the least of all,
that what frightens and afflicts you is nothing.
Am I not here, I who am your Mother?
Are you not under my shadow and protection?
Am I not the source of your joy?
Are you not in the fold of my mantle and in the embrace of my arms?
What more do you need?
Let nothing trouble or afflict you.
Do not fear your uncle’s illness; he will not die from it.
He is already healed.”
Juan Bernardino was miraculously cured.
The Virgin Performs the Miracle
The Blessed Virgin instructed him:
“Go up, my little son, to the top of the hill.
There you will find flowers.
Gather them and bring them to me.”
Juan Diego obeyed. Although it was winter and Tepeyac was barren, he found Castilian roses, fresh, fragrant, and covered with dew.
He gathered them and placed them in his tilma.
When he returned, the Virgin arranged the flowers with her own hands and gave him these instructions:
“My son, this is the sign you shall carry to the bishop.
My message is within your tilma.
Do not show what you carry except before him.”
Juan Diego immediately departed for the bishop’s palace.
The Miracle of the Tilma
After a long wait, he was brought before the bishop. Juan Diego opened his tilma to show the flowers... and the miracle occurred.
“And as soon as the flowers fell, the beloved Image of the Perfect Virgin Mary appeared, exactly as it is seen today.”
Bishop Zumárraga fell to his knees in tears, recognizing that it was a divine sign.
After the Miracle
Juan Diego’s uncle, now completely healed, declared that the Virgin had also appeared to him and had told him that her name would be:
“Saint Mary of Guadalupe.”
The devotion spread immediately, and thousands of indigenous people requested Baptism upon beholding the image.
