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Manila Bulletin

Opinion

I am the handmaid of the Lord

Opinion

I am the handmaid of the Lord

By Manila Bulletin

REFLECTIONS TODAY

Gospel • Luke 1:26-38

The Annunciation proclaimed on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe reminds us of another “annunciation”: that of the glorious Virgin Mary to a humble Mexican peasant, Juan Diego. On December 9, 1531, Juan Diego saw a vision of a maiden at the Hill of Tepeyac, a suburb in Mexico City. Speaking to Juan Diego in his native Nahuatl language (the language of the Aztec empire), the maiden identified herself as the Virgin Mary, “mother of the very true deity,” and asked for a church to be built at that site in her honor. Juan Diego then sought out the Archbishop of Mexico City. As the archbishop did not accept the idea, Juan Diego tried to avoid meeting the Virgin. On the fourth apparition, Juan Diego explained what had happened, and the Virgin gently chided him for not having had recourse to her. In the words which have become the most famous phrase of the Guadalupe event, she asked, “No estoy yo aqui que soy tu madre?” (Am I not here, I who am your mother?). She told him to gather flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill, which was normally barren, especially in December. Juan followed her instructions, and he found Castilian roses blooming there.

The Virgin arranged the flowers in Juan’s tilma or cloak, and when Juan Diego opened his cloak before the Archbishop on Dec. 12, the flowers fell to the floor, and on the fabric was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Juan Diego’s tilma has become Mexico’s most popular religious and cultural symbol, and has received widespread ecclesiastical and popular support.

Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2023.” Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.

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REFLECTIONS 365 Days with the Lord

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