On December 9, 1531, fifty-seven-year-old Juan Diego was walking to Mass. He is a convert to the faith and a widower. As he walks, he begins to hear the most beautiful music. Following the sound, he climbs Tepeyac Hill, located in what is now Mexico City.
When Juan Diego arrives at the top, he sees a beautiful apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She speaks to Juan Diego, calming him, then telling him that she would like a church to be built on that spot for the people of Mexico. It is to be a place where they can come for healing and worship. She instructs him to go to the local bishop and give him this message, adding, “Now go and put forth your best effort.”
Juan Diego does as he is told, but the bishop is highly skeptical, thinking this peasant is either mad or a trickster. So, he sends him away.
Juan Diego returns to Tepeyac Hill, where he sees the Virgin again. He tells her what she already knew—he had failed. Mary tells him that he is to go again on the following morning and try again. Juan Diego is obedient, but the result is essentially the same; however, the bishop tells him if the visions are real, he is to bring some sign the following day. Juan Diego agrees, but when he returns home, he finds his uncle, who he lives with, very ill—near death. He cannot return to the bishop but must stay and care for him.
Two days later, Juan Diego is convinced that his uncle will die, so he goes in search of a priest. Along the way, he again encounters Our Lady. He explains everything that has happened, yet she says, “Am I not your mother? Are you not in the crossing of my arms?” In other words, she says, “Don’t you trust that I will care for you?” He says that he will believe, and she gives him additional instructions.
Juan Diego is to go that moment and again climb Tepeyac Hill. There, he will find flowers that he has never seen before. He is to gather the flowers in his tunic and take them to the bishop as a sign. It is the middle of December when all this is happening, so he doesn’t know how flowers could bloom, but he does as he is told. Arriving, he finds a beautiful field of flowers. Gathering them quickly in his tunic, he rushes to see the bishop.
The bishop is still skeptical, but Juan Diego drops the flowers, thinking they are the sign, but there is much more. On his tunic, in great detail, is the image of the Blessed Virgin. The image is the sign.
While Juan Diego is with the bishop, the Blessed Virgin appears to his uncle, whom he was caring for. The uncle is healed, and the Virgin tells him of Juan Diego’s mission and that she will be called “Santa Maria, de Guadalupe.”
The bishop believed, and the church was built on Tepeyac Hill, the former site of an Aztec Temple—The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Millions have come to faith in Christ Jesus through these events.
The tunic that Juan Diego was wearing was made of cactus fiber. It should have fallen to pieces within thirty years. After more than 500 years, it is miraculously preserved.
What started it all was the message that Our Lady gave to Juan Diego on their first meeting. “Know for certain, least of my sons, that I am the perfect and perpetual Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God through whom everything lives, the Lord of all things near and far, the Master of heaven and earth. It is my earnest wish that a temple be built here to my honor. Here, I will demonstrate, I will exhibit, I will give all my love, my compassion, my help, and my protection to the people. I am your merciful mother, the merciful mother of all of you who live united in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me, of those who cry to me, of those who seek me, of those who have confidence in me. Here, I will hear their weeping, their sorrow, and will remedy and alleviate all their multiple sufferings, necessities, and misfortunes.”
God used a simple peasant farmer, Juan Diego, to bring this all about. How might God use you?
Candle in a Cave 
Happy feast day!
Thank you! To you as well.