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| The days of our Lady Of Guadalupe |
| December 1, 2002 |  The
Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico's patron saint. The church dedicated to Her in Puerto
Vallarta is a landmark which has become known around the world. Each year in this
town, as in the rest of Mexico, major celebrations and peregrinaciones (pilgrimages)
begin on December 1st to culminate with the most spectacular fireworks display
on the 12th, the Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Each restaurant,
hotel, community, association, street and even nightclub has its own designated
time - usually starting around 5 p.m. - to make a "pilgrimage" to the
Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the center of town, where a special brief mass
is held to offer thanks and ask for special favors. People arrive on foot from
all around, including places as far away as Talpa. There
are traditional floats and pre-Hispanic Aztec dancers, chanting, singing and praying.
The crown atop the church is all lit up, bells ring, fireworks burst in the night
skies, and (in previous years) the central square would be filled with stands
offering traditional Mexican foods such as pozole, tamales, strawberries and cream,
fried plantains and churros, a fried sweet pastry. This authentic festivity setting
and the delicious aromas that emanate from all the stands are a delight to all
our senses. This year, Vallarta expects over 250 different pilgrimages to take
place during the twelve days of "La Guadalupe" but there is talk about
moving the food fair to another location. We will be sure to keep you advised
as soon as we receive some definitive information from the local authorities. The
traditions surrounding the Virgin of Guadalupe began in the year 1531, on a Saturday
before dawn, when a 57-year old Aztec Indian who had recently converted to Christianity
and been baptized Juan Diego, was getting ready to go to church and do some errands.
Juan came to a hill called Tepeyac, near what would become the heart of Mexico
City. He heard beautiful birds singing. Next, he heard a voice from the mount
calling his name. He saw a beautiful brown-skinned lady in an aura of blazing
light, and she revealed to him that she was Holy Mary, the Mother of God. She
told him that She wanted him to tell the Bishop to erect a shrine in her name
in the specific spot where She stood. This was the beginning
to a series of four apparitions from the Blessed Virgin to Juan Diego. He related
his vision to the then Archbishop Juan de Zumarraga who, being a skeptic and disbelieving
the entire story, ordered Juan to ask the Mother of God for a sign so that all
would see that the apparitions were real. Dejected and
depressed because his uncle had fallen very ill, Juan went back to the place of
the apparitions to tell the Blessed Virgin what had transpired. It is written
that She answered him: "Know for certain that I am the perfect and perpetual
Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God... here I will show and offer all my love,
my compassion, my help and protection to the people. I am your merciful Mother,
the Mother of all who love me, of those who cry to me, of those who have confidence
in me. Here I will hear their weeping and their sorrows... their necessities and
misfortunes... Listen and let it penetrate your heart... Do not be troubled or
weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain.
Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?
Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the
crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?" A
great miracle occurred: the Holy Mother caused roses of Castilla to bloom - in
the dead of winter, in a place where roses had never bloomed before. Juan Diego
picked the beautiful flowers and brought them to the Bishop in his tilma, a very
thin cactus cloth. When he unfolded the cloth to show the flowers to the Bishop,
a beautiful image of the Virgin Mary appeared on Juan Diego's tilma for all to
see. And his uncle had been cured. Cactus cloth usually
deteriorates very fast, but this tilma is still miraculously intact and inexplicably
remains the same as it was when Juan Diego wore it - like the Shroud of Turin.
The tilma with the picture of the virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God can still be
seen today in the Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City, which was built
on the exact site indicated by Her to Juan Diego back in 1531. That site became
especially significant as it used to be the Aztec temple to Tonanzin, the earth
goddess. This coincidence helped Christian priests in the conversion efforts and
is seen as another miracle in itself. Thus, the Virgin,
or Lady of Guadalupe, is identified with the Aztec earth goddess and mother of
humankind. Today, the Basilica in Mexico City is visited by over 10 million faithful,
making it second only to the Vatican among religious sites. The
origin of the name Guadalupe has always been a matter of controversy. It is nevertheless
believed that the name came about because of the translation from Nahuatl to Spanish
of the words used by the Virgin during her apparition to Juan Bernardino, the
ailing uncle of Juan Diego. It is believed that Our Lady used the Aztec Nahuatl
word "coatlaxopeuh" which is pronounced "quatlasupe" and sound
remarkably like the Spanish word Guadalupe. Coa meaning serpent, tla being the
noun ending which can be interpreted as "the", while xopeuh means to
crush or stamp out. So Our Lady must have called herself the one "who crushes
the serpent". The event as a whole was most important in linking the polytheistic
beliefs of the Indians with those of their Christian converters - then and until
this day. In Mexico City, celebrations in honor of the
Virgin of Guadalupe begin on the evening of December 11th, when hundreds of thousands
of pilgrims from all over Mexico arrive in the square of the Basilica of Guadalupe,
many crawling on their knees in penitence. Gifts to the Virgin include performances
of traditional dances and haunting, prayerful songs. The chanting, singing, and
dancing last throughout the night. Archives
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