St. Juan Diego
Posted on December 24, 2018 by admin No comments
Born: Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin 1474 Cuauhtitlán, Mexico
Died: 1548 (aged 73–74) Tepeyac, Mexico
Venerated: in Roman Catholic Church
Beatified: May 6, 1990, Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City by Pope John Paul II
Canonized: July 31, 2002, Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine: Basilica of Guadalupe
Feast: December 9
Patronage: Indigenous peoples
Saint Juan Diego was born in 1474 as Cuauhtlatoatzin, a native to Mexico. He became the first Roman Catholic indigenous saint from the Americas. Following the early death of his father, Juan Diego 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. He was recognized for his religious fervor, his respectful and gracious attitude toward the Virgin Mary and his Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, and his undying love for his ill uncle. When a group of 12 Franciscan missionaries arrived in Mexico in 1524, he and his wife, Maria Lucia, converted to Catholicism and were among the first to be baptized in the region. Juan Diego 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 Diego was in a hurry to make it to Mass and celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. However, 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 Diego she was the mother of all those who lived in his land and asked him to make a request to the local bishop. She wanted them to build a chapel in her honor there on Tepeyac Hill, which was the site of a former pagan temple. When Juan Diego approached Bishop Juan de Zumarraga telling of what happened, he was presented with doubts and was told to give the Bishop time to reflect on the news. Later, the same day, Juan Diego encountered the Virgin Mary a second time and told her he failed in granting her request. He tried to explain to her he was not an important person, and therefore not the one for the task, but she instead he was the man she wanted.
Juan Diego returned to the Bishop the next day and repeated his request, but now the Bishop asked for proof or a sign the apparition was real and truly of heaven. Juan Diego went straight to Tepeyac and, once again, encountered the Virgin Mary. After explaining to her what the Bishop asked, she agreed and told him she’d provide him with proof on the next day, December 11. However, on the next day, Juan Diego’s uncle became very sick and he was obligated to stay and care for him. Juan Diego set out the next to find a priest for his uncle. He was determined to get there quickly and didn’t want to face the Virgin Mary with shame for missing the previous day’s meeting. 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. He filled his tilma (cloak) with flowers and returned to Mary.
The Virgin Mary arranged the flowers within his cloak and told him this would be the sign he is to present to the bishop. Once Juan Diego 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, Juan Diego found his uncle fully healed from his illness. His uncle explained 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 Juan Diego’s miracle quickly spread, and he became very well-known. However, Juan Diego always remained a humble man. 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. The first miracle surrounding the cloak occurred during the procession to Tepeyac Hill when a participant was shot in the throat by an arrow shot in celebration. After being placed in front of the miraculous image of Mary, the man was healed.
Juan Diego moved into a little hermitage on Tepeyac Hill, and lived a solidarity life of prayer and work. He remained there until his death on December 9, 1548, 17 years after the first apparition. News of Our Lady’s apparitions caused a wave of nearly 3,000 Indians a day to convert to the Christian faith. Details of Juan Diego’s experience and Mary’s words moved them deeply. During the revolutions in Mexico, at the beginning of the 20th century, nonbelievers attempted to destroy the Image with an explosion. The altar?s marble steps, the flower-holders, and the basilica windows were all very damaged, but the pane of glass protecting the Image was not even cracked.
Juan Diego’s 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.
St. Juan Diego was beatified on May 6, 1990 by Pope John Paul II and canonized on July 31, 2002. His feast day is celebrated on December 9 and he is the patron saint of Indigenous people.
Prayer to St. Juan Diego
St. Juan Diego, our first saint from the Americas, pray for us. We ask God the Father to pour forth the protecting love of his Spirit upon all migrants,
taking special heed of those in need of support, who are isolated or separated from their native lands, whether by choice or necessity.
St. Juan Diego, intercede for those torn away from their families in pursuit of work that they may be reunited: husbands with wives and parents with children. As the Virgin of Guadalupe promised you her compassionate prayers for the poor of Mexico, so now raise your merciful pleading for migrant women and children who are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of human trafficking. Seek for them protection from all evil. May we, O Blessed Juan Diego, receive through your prayers, the grace to welcome with love to our country all migrants who seek a home in our parishes and communities.
And we ask that you join your prayers to those of Our Lady, who appeared to you as your Mother and as Mother of all in our land. May she wrap her mantle of protection around all migrant people. We beg for her love, compassion, help, and protection on all immigrants who today experience great sufferings, sorrows, necessities, and misfortunes. In the shared power of Christ and the union of the Holy Spirit, we say: Amen.
Prayer to Saint Juan Diego
O St. Juan Diego, in appearances ofOur Lady of Guadalupe,
you, a humble peasant, were chosen as Her messenger.Your faithfulness in this task is evident still today,in the miraculous image the Virginleft upon your tilma.Intercede for me, I pray,that I might have your childlike trustin the Mother of God,and that my heart might respond to hermaternal promptings. Through such simple confidence,obedience, and love,may I join you one dayin sharing everlasting joy,where our heavenly Mother reignsin the glory of Her Son. Amen
Prayer to Saint Juan Diego
Saint Juan Diego, you are our first American indigenous saint. Please pray that God the Father would protect all migrants through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Ask the Father to pour out the love of the Holy Spirit upon all who are isolated, alone and separated by choice or necessity from their native lands.
May those torn away from their families and forced to leave their country to find work elsewhere be reunited: husbands with wives and parents with children.
We ask especially for migrant women and children who are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of human trafficking. Give them your protection and shield them from evil.
May we as a Church receive the grace to welcome with love migrants who enter into our country, seeking a home in our parishes and communities.
We ask for your prayers and intercession for all immigrants who are desperate, alone and in need of God’s loving support.
And we ask Our Lady, who appeared to you as your Mother and Mother of all in our land, to wrap her mantle of protection around all migrant people.
We beg for her love, compassion, help and protection on all immigrants who today experience great sufferings, sorrows, necessities and misfortunes. Amen.