Today, December 12, is the memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
On December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, an Indian convert to the Catholic faith, was walking to a nearby village so that he could attend Mass. On his way, a woman appeared to him amidst the sound of heavenly music.
The woman said to him: “I am your merciful Mother, to you and to all mankind who love me and trust in me and invoke my help. Go to the house of the bishop in Mexico City and tell him that the Virgin Mary sent you to make known to him her great desire.”
Initially, St. Juan Diego failed to follow this instruction. He succeeded eventually in later apparitions and brought fresh, out-of-season mountain roses to the bishop—indeed a miracle.
As he reached the bishop’s residence and came face-to-face with the bishop, St. Juan Diego opened his cloak (tilma) to show him the roses. When he did so, the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared, miraculously, upon the threads of this cloak. Amazingly, scientifically speaking, is that the image is not painted. Each and every thread has changed color so as to create this holy image. The cloak is made from a cactus that normally disintegrates within 10 years. The tilma is now almost 500 years old and remains as fresh as it was on that day of the apparitions.