THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE IN MEXICO. (CONTINUATION.)

 

NICAN MOPOHUA version

Note. I have highlighted the dialogue of Our Lady of Guadalupe in yellow and black because whenever I read this beautiful dialogue I tend not to hold it and I cry because, like Juan Diego, I am, by the grace of God, a Mexican and a priest and I feel that he tells me to me given the moment I'm going through. Excuse me please. On the other hand, these apparitions set the tone for how Our Lady will behave with the visions that will follow this one and how she will behave with future visionaries.

Here he neatly refers to how wonderfully the ever-virgin Saint Mary, Mother of God, our Queen, who is named Guadalupe, recently appeared in Tepeyac.

First he was seen by a poor Indian named Juan Diego, and then his precious image appeared in front of the new bishop Don Fray Juan de Zumárraga.

Ten years after taking Mexico City, the war was suspended and there was peace in the towns; This is how faith began to sprout, the knowledge of the true God, for whom one lives.

Then, in the year 1531, at the beginning of the month of December (the 9th) it happened that there was a poor Indian named Juan Diego, according to what is said to be a native of Cuautitlán. Regarding spiritual things, everything still belonged to Tlatilolco. (Doctrine of the Franciscans).

It was Saturday, very early in the morning, and he came to hear Mass and other things. Upon arriving next to the hill called Tepeyac, it was dawn; and he heard singing from above the hill: it resembled the singing of several precious birds; at times the voices of the singers were silent; and it seemed that the mountain responded to them. His song, very soft and delicious, surpassed that of the coyoltototl, and the tzinizcan and other beautiful birds that sing.

Juan Diego stopped to see and said to himself: «What could this be that I hear? Perhaps I am dreaming? Am I getting up from sleep? Where am I? ¿in the land of flowers, in the land of corn?, ¿perhaps already in the heavenly land?» He was looking towards the side where the sun rises, above the hill, from where the precious heavenly song came from, and when he stopped suddenly and there was silence, he heard someone calling him from above the hill and they said:

—Juanito, Juan Dieguito.

Then he dared to go where he was called; not a point was startled; on the contrary, very happy, he went up the hill, to see where they called him.

When he got to the top, he saw a lady, who was standing there and told him to come closer.

Arrived in front of Her, he marveled greatly at her perfect greatness above all consideration: her dress was radiant like the sun; the ridge on which he stood shed rays of light, Her radiance seemed like precious stones, and the earth shimmered like a rainbow. The mesquites, nopales, and other different herbs that usually grow there seemed to be emeralds; the foliage of it, fine turquoise; and the branches and thorns of it shone like gold.

He leaned in front of her and heard her word, very soft and courteous, like someone who attracts and esteems a lot. He told her:

—Juanito, the youngest of my children, where are you going?

He answered:

—My Lady and Child, I have to get to your little house in Mexico, Tlatilolco, to hear Mass, as our priests, delegates of Our Lord, teach us.

Then She spoke to him:

—Know and understand, you the smallest of my children, that I am the ever Virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the true God for whom you live, the Creator of people, the Owner of what is near, the Owner of heaven and the Owner of the land. I very much want, very much desire, that my sacred house be built here for me, so that in it I can show and give everything, my love, mercy, help and defense, —because I am your affectionate Mother— to you, to all of you the inhabitants of this earth and to the others who love me, invoke me and trust me; here I will hear your cries and alleviate all your mercies, sorrows and pains.

To carry out what my clemency intends, go to Mexico, to the bishop's palace, and tell him that I am sending you to express to him what I greatly desire:

That here on the plain I build a temple; You will tell him in detail how much you have seen and admired and how much you have heard. Rest assured that I will thank you well and I will repay you, because I will make you happy and I will reward the work and commitment with which you are going to procure what I entrust to you. See that you have already heard my mandate, my youngest son; go and put all your effort.

He immediately bowed before her and said:

—My lady, I am going to fulfill your mandate, as your humble servant; now I say goodbye to you.

Then he went downstairs to do his errand, and went out onto the road that leads in a straight line to Mexico.

Entering the city, he without delay went straight to the bishop's palace, the one who had come very shortly before and was called Don Fray Juan de Zumárraga, religious of San Francisco.

As soon as he arrived, he tried to see him; he begged his servants to go and tell him; and after a long time, they came to call him, that the bishop had ordered him to enter.

When he entered, he bowed and knelt before him; immediately she gave him the message from the Lady of Heaven; and she also told him what she saw and heard.

After listening to all his talk and his message, he didn't seem to believe it; and he replied:

"Come back again, my son, and I will listen to you more slowly; I will examine your matter from the beginning and see with what intention you have come.

He left and left sad, because he had not achieved anything with his message.

That same day he turned, going straight to the top of the hill and met the Lady from Heaven, who was waiting for him, right there where he saw her the first time.

Seeing her, he prostrated himself before her and said:

—Lady, the youngest of my daughters, my child, I went where you sent me to fulfill your mandate; although with difficulty I entered where the bishop is sitting; I saw him and exposed your message, just as you warned me; he received me benignly and listened carefully; but from what he answered it seemed to me that he did not believe me, because he told me: "Come back again and I will listen to you more slowly, I will examine your matter from the beginning and I will see with what intention you have come." I understood very well that he thinks it is my invention that you want them to build a temple for you here and that it is not your order; for which reason I earnestly beg you, my Lady and Child, that you commission one of the principals, known, respected and esteemed, to carry your kind encouragement, your kind word, so that they believe it; because I am a little man, I am a string, I am a ladder of planks, I am a tail, I am a leaf, I am small people, and You, my Child, the smallest of my daughters, Lady, send me to a place where I do not go and where I do not stop. Forgive me for causing you so much sadness and falling into your anger, my Lady and Owner.

The Blessed Virgin replied:

—Hey, my son; the smallest, understand that there are many my servants and messengers, whom I can commission to carry my breath, my word, and do my will; but it is absolutely necessary that you yourself go, pray, and that through your mediation my will be fulfilled. I beg you very much, my youngest son, and I strictly command you to go again tomorrow to see the bishop. Speak to him in my name and let him know my will completely: that he has to build the temple that I ask of him. And again tell him that I in person, the ever Virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God, sends you.

Juan Diego replied:

—My Lady, Queen, my Child, I do not want to upset you; I will go very willingly to fulfill your encouragement, your word; in no way will I stop doing it nor do I consider the path difficult. I will go to do your will; but perhaps I will not be listened to with pleasure; Or if you listen to me you won't believe me. Tomorrow afternoon, when the sun goes down, I will come to bring you the answer that the bishop gives me to your message. I say goodbye to you, my daughter, the youngest, my Girl and Lady. Rest in the meantime.

Then he went to rest at home.

The next day, Sunday, very early in the morning, he left his house and went straight to Tlatilolco, to hear Mass and attend the doctrine. Later, almost at ten o'clock, when the roll call was finished and the people had dispersed, Juan Diego immediately went to the bishop's palace.

As soon as he arrived, he insisted on seeing him; and though she had to wait long, she again she saw him; she knelt at her feet; she was saddened and cried when exposing the mandate of the Lady of Heaven; Hopefully she would believe her message, and the desire of the Immaculate Conception, to erect her temple where she manifested that she wanted it.

The bishop, to make sure, asked him many things, where he saw her and what she was like; and he reported everything perfectly to the bishop. However, although he explained with precision the figure of Her and what he had seen and admired, that in everything it was discovered to be She the ever-Virgin Most Holy Mother of the Savior Our Lord Jesus Christ; However, he did not give her credit and said that it was not only because of her word and her request that what she requested should be done; that in addition, some sign was very necessary so that he could be believed that she was sending him the Lady of Heaven herself.

As soon as he heard him, Juan Diego said to the bishop:

- Lord, tell me what the sign you ask for should be; I will go immediately to ask the Lady of Heaven who sent me here.

Seeing that the bishop ratified everything without hesitation or retracting anything, he fired him. He immediately sent two people from his house, whom he could trust, to follow him and keep a close eye on where he went and who he saw and talked to. So it was done.

Juan Diego went straight and walked along the road; Those who came after him, where the ravine passes, near the Tepeyac bridge, lost him; and although they searched for him everywhere, they did not see him anywhere. So they returned, not only tired, but also heartbroken that they hadn't succeeded in their attempt.

That's what they went to inform the bishop, inclining him not to believe him: they told him he was deceiving him; that he invented what he came to say, or that he said and asked for what he had only dreamed of; In short, if he came back again, she would catch him and punish him harshly, so that he would never lie and cheat again.

Meanwhile, Juan Diego was with the Blessed Virgin, telling her the answer he had brought from the bishop; which, heard by the Lady, said to her: "

"All right, my son, you'll come back here tomorrow so you can take the sign he asked for to the bishop; with that he will believe you and will no longer doubt or suspect you; and know, my son, that I will pay you your interest and the work and fatigue that you have had for Me; come on, now go away; I'll wait for you here tomorrow.

The next day, Monday, when Juan Diego had to carry some sign to be believed, he did not return. Because when he arrived at his house, an uncle of his, named Juan Bernardino, had become ill and was in serious condition. The first thing was to call a doctor, who helped him; but it was already late, he was already very serious. At night, his uncle begged him to leave at dawn and come to Tlatilolco to call a priest, to come to confess him, and prepare him, because he was sure that he was going to die, and that he would no longer get up or heal. .

On Tuesday, very early in the morning, Juan Diego went to the convent of Tlatilolco to call the priest; And when he was getting to the road that goes up the hillside to the hill of Tepeyac, towards the west, where he was in the habit of passing, he said: "If I go straight, it won't be for the Lady to see me and stop me so that she can carry the sign." to the bishop, as he told me. Before this problem ends, and I call the father in a hurry; my poor uncle is waiting for him».

He turned around the hill and went to the other side, towards the east, to reach Mexico soon and not be stopped by the Lady of Heaven. He thought that from where she turned around, he couldn't see her looking everywhere.

He saw her come down from the top of the hill and that she was looking where he saw her. She went out to meet her on the side of the hill and said:

"What's up, my son, the youngest? Where are you going?"

He remained confused, embarrassed and scared, and bowing in front of her, he greeted her saying:

—My child, the youngest of my daughters, Madam, I hope you are happy. How did you wake up? Does your beloved little body feel good, my Lady, my Child? I'm going to upset you: know, my child, that a poor servant of yours, my uncle, is very ill; he has given him the plague, and he is ready to die. Now I am running to your little house in Mexico to call one of Our Lord's beloved, our priests, to go to confess him and prepare him; because since we were born, we come to await the work of our death. But after I go, I will return here again, to go and carry your message, my Lady and Child, forgive me; now be patient; I am not deceiving you, my daughter, the smallest; tomorrow I will come in a hurry.

The most pious Virgin heard Juan Diego smiling, and answered him:

—Listen and understand, my son, the youngest, that it is nothing that scares and saddens you; your heart is not troubled; do not fear that disease, nor any other disease or anguish. Am I not here who am your Mother? ¿Are you not under my shadow? Am I not your health? ¿Are you not in my lap? What else do you need? Don't be sorry or worry about anything; do not be afflicted by your uncle's illness, for he will not die of it now: you can be sure that he is already cured.

And then his uncle was cured, as was later learned.

When Juan Diego heard these words from the Lady from Heaven, he was greatly consoled and happy. He begged her to send him to see the bishop as soon as possible, to bring him some sign and proof, so that he would believe him.

The Lady of Heaven then said to him:

—Go up, my son, the youngest, to the top of the hill; there where he saw me and I spoke to you. You will find that there are different flowers; cut them, join them, collect them; go down immediately and bring them to my presence.

Immediately Juan Diego climbed the hill: and when he reached the top, he was very surprised that so many varied and exquisite roses of Castile had sprouted, before the time in which they grow, because it was the frost season. They were very fragrant and full of night dew, which resembled precious pearls. Immediately he began to cut them; he gathered them all together and tossed them into his lap.

The summit of the hill was not a place where any flowers grew, because it had many cliffs, thistles, thorns, nopales, and mesquites; and if little herbs used to grow, then it was the month of December, when everything burns and frost spoils.

He immediately went downstairs and brought to the Lady of Heaven the different roses that he had cut. Which, as she saw them, she took them in her hand and again placed it in her lap, saying to her:

—My son, the youngest, this diversity of roses is the proof and sign that you will take to the bishop. You will tell him in my name to see my will in it and that he has to fulfill it. You are my ambassador, very trustworthy. I rigorously order you to unfold your blanket only in front of the bishop and discover what you are carrying. You will tell everything well: you will say that I ordered you to go up to the top of the hill to cut flowers; and all that you saw and admired, so that you can convince the bishop to give him his help, so that the temple that I have asked for can be built.

After the Lady from Heaven gave him his order, he set out on the road that goes straight to Mexico, happy and sure that he would get out safely, carefully bringing what he was carrying on his lap, lest something slip out of his hands. hands, and rejoicing in the fragrance of the varied and beautiful flowers.

Upon reaching the bishop's palace, the butler and other servants of the prelate came out to meet him. He begged them to tell him that he wished to see him; but none of them wanted to, pretending not to hear him, either because it was very early, or because they already knew him and he bothered them, since he was importunate; and, furthermore, his companions had already informed them that they lost sight of him when they had been following him. He was waiting for a long time.

When they saw that he had been there for a long time, standing, head down, doing nothing, just in case he was called; and apparently he was carrying something on his lap, they approached him to see what he was bringing.

Seeing that Juan Diego couldn't hide what he was bringing from them, and that for that reason they had to bother him, push or beat him, he discovered a little that they were flowers; and when they saw that they were all different rosas de Castilla, and that it was not then the season in which they grow, they were greatly astonished at this, as well as the fact that they were so fresh, so open, so fragrant, and so precious.

They wanted to take and remove some; but they had no luck the three times they dared to take them; They had no luck, because when they went to pick them, they no longer saw real flowers, but they seemed painted or. woven or sewn into the blanket.

They then went to tell the bishop what they had seen and what the Indian who had come so many times intended to see him; for which he had been waiting for a long time, wanting to see him.

TO BE CONTINUE...