9-12 December 1531
Now, Juan's Uncle, Bernardino, was seriously ill at that time, so Juan went off to find a priest for him instead of going to where Our Lady had appeared. She appeared to him anyway (also simultaneously appearing to Juan's Uncle and curing him through the power of God) and told him to go to the top of a hill. When he did, he found Castilian roses blooming in the winter frost. These he gathered up into his tilma and went to see the Bishop. There, he opened his tilma, revealing the flowers -- and an image of the Virgin "imprinted" on the cloak itself, the popular image we know today, shown to the right.. That tilma, made of a poor quality cactus-cloth, should have fallen apart around 20 years after the apparition if it is made like the typical tilma of the time, but it and the miraculous image it bears remain today -- perfectly intact, with no signs of decay. It apparently even reflects in her eyes what was in front of her in 1531.
Mary's title with regard to this apparition comes from her having used the Aztec Nahuatl word, coatlaxopeuh, which means "Who Crushes the Serpent." The word when pronounced sounds much like "Guadalupe," a village in Spain.
Because of her appearing to Juan Diego and the existence of the miraculous tilma, millions of Indians converted to Christianity from the barbaric Aztec religion that involved human sacrifice; Mexico became a Christian nation.
An incredible list of miracles, cures and interventions are attributed to Her. Yearly, an estimated 10 million visit her Basilica. As of 2004, 24 Popes have officially honored Our Lady of Gudalupe. During Pope John Paul II second of three visits he entrusted the cause of life to her loving protection, and placed under her motherly care the innocent lives of children, especially those who are in danger of not being born.
