It was Saturday, when it was still night. He was going in search of the things of God and of God's messages. And when he arrived at the side of the small hill, which was named Tepeyac, it was already beginning to dawn.
He heard singing on the summit of the hill: as if different precious birds were singing and their songs would alternate, as if the hill was answering them. Their song was most pleasing and very enjoyable, better than that of the coyoltotol or of the tzinizcan or of the other precious birds that sing.
Juan Diego stopped and said to himself: "By chance do I deserve this? Am I worthy of what I am hearing? Maybe I am dreaming? Maybe I only see this in my dreams? Where am I? Maybe I am in the land of my ancestors, of the elders, of our grandparents? In the Land of Flower, in the Earth of our flesh? Maybe over there inside of heaven?"
His gaze was fixed on the summit of the hill, toward the direction from which the sun arises: the beautiful celestial song was coming from there to here. And when the song finally ceased, when everything was calm, he heard that he was being called from the summit of the hill. He heard: "Dignified Juan, dignified Juan Diego."
Then he dared to go to where he was being called. His heart was in no way disturbed, and in no way did he experience any fear; on the contrary, he felt very good, very happy.
He went to the top of the hill, and he saw a lady who was standing and who was calling him to come closer to her side. When he arrived in her presence, he marveled at her perfect beauty. Her clothing appeared like the sun, and it gave forth rays.
And the rock and the cliffs where she was standing, upon receiving the rays like arrows of light, appeared like precious emeralds, appeared like jewels; the earth glowed with the splendors of the rainbow. The mesquites, the cacti, and the weeds that were all around appeared like feathers of the quetzal, and the stems looked like turquoise; the branches, the foliage, and even the thorns sparkled like gold.
He bowed before her, heard her thought and word, which were exceedingly re-creative, very ennobling, alluring, producing love. She said: "Listen, my most abandoned son, dignified Juan: Where are you going?"
And he answered: "My Owner and my Queen: I have to go to your house of Mexico-Tlatelolco, to follow the divine things that our priests, who are the images of our Lord, give to us." Then she conversed with him and unveiled her precious will. She said: "Know and be certain in your heart my most abandoned son, that I am the Ever-Virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the God of Great Truth, Teotl, of the One through Whom We Live, the Creator of Persons, the Owner of What Is Near and Together, the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
I very much want and ardently desire that my hermitage be erected in this place. In it I will show and give to all people my love, my compassion, my help, and my protection, because I am your merciful mother and the mother of all the nations that live on this earth who would love me, who would speak with me, who would search for me, and who would place their confidence in me. There I will hear their laments and remedy and cure their miseries, misfortunes, and sorrows.
And for this merciful wish of mine to be realized, go then to the palace of the bishop of Mexico, and you will tell him what way I have sent you as messenger, so that you may make known to him how I very much desire that he build me a home right here, that he may erect my temples on the plain. You will tell him carefully everything you have seen and admired and heard.
Be absolutely certain that I will be grateful and will repay you; and because of this I will make you joyful; I will give you happiness; and you will earn much that will repay you for your trouble and your work in carrying out what I have entrusted you. Look, my son the most abandoned one, you have heard my statement and my word; now do everything that relates to you."
Then he bowed before her and said to her: "My Owner and my Queen, I am already on the way to make your statement and your word a reality. And now I depart from you, I your poor servant." Then he went down so as to make her commission a reality; he went straight to the road that leads directly to Mexico City. (pp. 6-8) [And that's just the beginning.]
The image on the tilma reveals that Our Lady is of the highest nobility, for she is dressed in the blue-green of divinity. But it also reveals that she is of the earth, for her dress is the color of earth and is adorned with various floral arrangements, indicating the flourishing of the new humanity that she will bring about. The noble and exalted Lady is not an Indian god, for those gods created fear, while she has beautiful eyes that attract us to her. She is divine, yet she sees us as she is not sitting (as a superior would) but is standing equals, calling the lowly to rise from their stooped humiliation. Her face radiates concern and compassion for all those in need. Her hands offer everything that she is to us. Her black band indicates that she is expectant of new life, and the glyph over her womb indicates that she carries within her the life of the baby Sun. In her, there is life, continuity, and transcendence; and most of all, there is hope for salvation here and now, today.
The most important and noble person to have come since the conquest (indeed, since the coming of her Son) does not allow her exalted status to keep her from entering into a close and intimate friendship with Juan Diego and everyone else, without exception. Through her presence on the tilma, she continues to make herself present to all who come to her. (p. 78)
The conquest was killing off Our Lady's children. The new world order would soon seek to destroy all differences or enslave and exploit the weaker other. The mother of the new world order does not want this. She cries out to let her children be born and demands a caring and loving home for all the children of this earth.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is not just another Marian apparition. Guadalupe has to do with the very core of the gospel itself. It is nothing less than an original American Gospel, a narrative of a birth/resurrection experience at the very beginning of the crucifixion of the natives, the Africans, and their mestizo and mulatto children. The condemned and crucified peoples of the Americas were homeless, alone, and without protection. But God would triumph. The final and greatest gift of our Virgin Mother was her miraculous painting in the tilma of Juan Diego, which was given first to the bishop and then to all of us. Her gift of that image—living gift that would keep her memory alive among the people—like Jesus' gift of the Spirit. La Virgen wanted to stay with us for all time, reminding us of her life-giving message, and she does so through her sacred icon.
The image on the tilma is not just a painting. It is a recapitulation of the message that Juan Diego experienced, saw, and heard at Tepeyac. In the native cloth of Juan Diego's tilma—the fiber of the clothing of the poorest of the poor of the conquered and dominated people--the image of the unlimited and very personal love and compassion of the new center of all life and of the universe made its dwelling among us. Like the biblical word that was written on paper made by human hands in a specific place, God's word was painted on the native cloth of indigenous America. Like the biblical word, it would be there for all generations to "read" for our salvation. What the written word has been for generations of biblical believers, the painted word has been for generations of believers in the New World. In Our Lady of Guadalupe at Tepeyac, God pitched a tent and came to dwell among us. The Word became flesh of the Americas through Our Lady of Guadalupe and dwells among us truly as one of us.
Her icon is her living presence looking at us and speaking with us as she did with Juan Diego. In her eyes, we find recognition, acceptance, respect, and confidence. She is always present in the Tepeyacs of the world--the barrios, the slums, the public housing projects, the ghettos, and other such places. She will never leave us because she has been intimately woven into the cloth of our suffering-resurrecting existence. While others crucify us, she resurrects us.
Guadalupe is the most prodigious event since the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Her compassionate rostra y corazon (countenance and heart) are alive not only on the tilma of Juan Diego but also in the faces and hearts of all who see her, call upon her, and believe in her. She is here among us where and when we need her; she is always present to rehabilitate the broken, uplift the downtrodden, console the afflicted, accompany the lonely, and give life to the dying.... She continues to be what she said she was: the merciful Mother who is with us to give us all her love, compassion, help, and protection--to hear our laments and remedy and cure all the miseries, pains, sorrows. (pp. 134-135)
from Virgil Elizondo, Guadalupe: Mother of the New Creation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books,1997).
Robert Lentz' art is available through Trinity Stores.