Juan was born in 1474. Following the early death of his father, he was taken to live with his uncle. From the age of three, he was raised in line with the Aztec pagan religion, but always showed signs of having a mystical sense of life.
When a group of 12 Franciscan missionaries arrived in Mexico in 1524, him and his wife, Maria Lucia, converted to Catholicism and were among the first to be baptized in the region. He was very committed to his new life and would walk long distances to receive religious instruction at the Franciscan mission station at Tlatelolco.
On December 9, 1531, Juan was in a hurry to make it to Mass and celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception but he was stopped by the beautiful sight of a radiant woman who introduced herself, in his native tongue, as the “ever-perfect holy Mary, who has the honor to be the Mother of the True God.”
Mary told Juan she was the mother of all those who lived in his land and asked him to make a request to the local bishop which he did several times, but was denied. The Bishop then asked for proof or a sign that the apparition was real, and truly of heaven.
Juan went straight to Tepeyac and for a 3rd time, encountered the Virgin Mary. After explaining to her what the Bishop asked, she agreed, and told him she’d provide him with proof the next day, which was December 11.
However, on the next day, Juan’s uncle became very sick and he was obligated to stay and care for him. He set out to find a priest for his uncle the next day as he was determined to get there quickly and didn’t want to face the Virgin Mary with shame for missing the previous day’s commitment.
But the Virgin Mary intercepted him and asked what was wrong. He explained his situation and promised to return after he found his uncle a priest.
She looked at him and asked “No estoy yo aqui que soy tu madre?” (Am I not here, I who am your mother?). She promised him his uncle would be cured and asked him to climb to the hill and collect the flowers growing there. He obeyed and found many flowers blooming in December on the rocky land, which was unusual. He filled his tilma, a cloak, with flowers and returned to Mary.
The Virgin Mary arranged the flowers within his cloak and told him this would be the sign to present to the bishop. Once he found the bishop, he opened his cloak, and the bishop was presented with a miraculous imprinted image of the Virgin Mary on the flower-filled cloak.
The next day, he found his uncle fully healed from his illness. His uncle explained that he, too, saw the Virgin Mary. She also instructed him on her desires to have a church built on Tepeyac Hill, but she also told him she wanted to be known with the title of Guadalupe.
News of the miracle quickly spread, and he became very well-known but remained humble. The bishop first kept Juan Diego’s imprinted cloak in his private chapel, but then placed it on public display in the church built on Tepeyac Hill the next year.
News of Our Lady’s apparitions caused a wave of nearly 3,000 converts a day. Details of Juan’s experience and Mary’s words moved them deeply.
The imprinted cloak has remained perfectly preserved from 1531 to present time. The “Basilica of Guadalupe” on Tepeyac Hill has become one of the world’s most-visited Catholic shrines.
Mission Basilica San Diego De Alcalá of which San Diego, CA is named was California’s first mission. Established in 1769 by Father Junipero Serra, it was moved to its current location in 1774. Father Luis Jayme was martyred there in 1775.
He is the patron saint of indigenous people
His feast day is December 9.
For God’s Glory.
