Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St Finial
Celebrated on December 12th
The feast in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to the sixteenth century. According to records of the time, a poor Indian named Cuauhtlatohuac was baptized and given the name Juan Diego. He was a 57-year-old widower and lived in a small village near Mexico City. On Saturday morning, December 9, 1531, he was on his way to a nearby barrio to attend Mass in honour of Our Lady.
He was walking by a hill called Tepeyac when he heard beautiful music like the warbling of birds. A radiant cloud appeared and within it a young Native American woman dressed like an Aztec princess. The lady spoke to him in his own language and sent him to the bishop of Mexico, a Franciscan named Juan de Zumarraga asking him to build a chapel at the site of the apparition.
Eventually the bishop told Juan Diego to have the lady give him a sign. About this same time Juan Diego's uncle became seriously ill. The lady told told Juan that his uncle would recover and filled his cloak with roses to take to the bishop.
When Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop's presence, the roses fell to the ground and the bishop was amazed to see a painting of Mary as she had appeared at the hill of Tepeyac. It was December 12, 1531. Juan Diego was canonized in August 2002.
