St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin helped bring Christianity to the people of Mexico
After Lewis the Lion had happily visited some of the Aztec archeological remains in the heart of Mexico City, he was taken to a very special place for Mexican Roman Catholics just a few miles away. Like most of South America, Mexico too is a Roman Catholic country and this particular site is the most visited place for Catholic pilgrimage after the Vatican in Rome: the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The Modern and the Ancient Basilicas of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Lewis the Lion had never even heard of this place but was interested to learn the story behind it and how it came to be.
The bronze plaque tells the story of St. Juan Diego
After the Spanish brought Christianity to Mexico, in 1531 a humble man, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, came forward to say that Our Lady, Jesus’ mother had appeared to him, looking like a beautiful Aztec princess and told him that she wanted him to build a church on the Tepeyac Hill.
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The bishop at first didn’t believe him for he was an indigenous Mexican. So he was asked to prove it.
People bring roses to the altar
As Juan Diego made his way to meet Our Lady, roses appeared in the frozen ground where she had requested the church to be built. He clutched them to his chest as he made his way to meet the bishop. When he arrived, the roses dropped from his cloak but beneath them was the most extraordinary, glowing imprint of Our Lady. An image which married together many or the Aztec and Christian symbols.
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which appeared on St Juan Diego’s clothes
After this apparition, many people in Mexico converted to Christianity and a church was built as Our Lady had requested. This church is located near where the modern day Basilica is. There have in fact been several churches built near this site, some of which are subsiding heavily due to the unstable ground. The modern round basilica was built in 1976 to cater for huge congregations (up to 10,000 people) but even that has sunk by a few metres since it was built.
The Basilica is huge and can fit an enormous congregation
The Basilica has a modern, circular design
Inside the Modern Basilica are moving walkways or travelators which move the many pilgrims past the image of Our Lady that was shown to St. Juan Diego.
Moving walkways take the pilgrims near the holy painting
Lewis the Lion waits his turn to go on the travelator past the holy picture
This makes sure that everybody gets to see the image without blocking it.
The painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe is displayed high on the Basilica’s wall
Outside the Modern Basilica is a huge square where there are the Stations of the Cross marked out around the edges.
The square has the Stations of the Cross around the edges
To the left of the Modern Basilica stands the Ancient Basilica where construction started in 1531. Lewis the Lion felt a little bit uneasy as he was in this building as it was so lopsided that the lights chain hung at very different angles to the walls! Nonetheless, it was a beautiful building as you can see in these pictures.
Lewis the Lion stands outside the Ancient Basilica
A staue of St Juan Diego inside the old basilica
The story of St Juan Diego is on the front of the Ancient Basilica
Lewis the Lion just enjoyed standing in the busy, main square and watching the world go by. Many people carried roses towards the Basilica as a gift to Our Lady
Pilgrims carry bunches of roses to the Basilica
and there were many religious people and parades with music and singing.
Nuns from the Little Sisters of the Poor head towards the Basilica
There were also some statues of a familiar face in and around this religious precinct: Pope John Paul II, the last Roman Catholic pope before Pope Benedict XVI.
A statue of Pope John Paul II stands outside the Basilica
That’s because Pope John Paul II holds a special place in the hearts of Mexicans as he declared Juan Diego the first native-American saint when he visited Mexico in 2002. There were even statues around Mexico City which had the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe emblazoned on Pope John Paul II’s robes as you can see here.
A statue of John Paul II with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Outside the religious area, Lewis the Lion noticed many religious souvenir shops, although the church had signs displayed to say that they were nothing to do with the Church itself. However, Lewis the Lion imagined that if this site drew in as many pilgrims as it did, they would probably want a souvenir from their visit.
Religious souvenirs are sold outside the Basilica of Guadalupe
If you would like to learn more about Saint Juan Diego, click on this link.
Why was he such a special man? What can we learn from him?
