St Juan Diego , Indian visionary

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St Juan Diego​

Celebrated on December 9th

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A visionary and one of the first indigenous saints of the New World , born in around 1474, Juan Diego was an Indian peasant who experienced a vision of Our Lady on Tepeyac hill on December 9, 1531. The bishop at the time did not believe his story until he returned with his cloak or tilma filled with roses. As he spread the roses onto the ground before the bishop - an image of Our Lady miraculously formed on the fabric. The tilma is now at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the feast is celebrated on 12 December.

Thousands of people gathered in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe July 31, 2002, for his canonization ceremony.

The Holy Father called the new saint “a simple, humble Indian” who accepted Christianity without giving up his identity as an Indian. “In praising the Indian Juan Diego, I want to express to all of you the closeness of the church and the pope, embracing you with love and encouraging you to overcome with hope the difficult times you are going through,” John Paul said. Among the thousands present for the event were members of Mexico’s 64 indigenous groups.

Pope Francis prays before the Tilma . He asked to be allowed a few minutes to pray to the Virgin and he succeeded .

 
Dear Rob,

Thanks for posting the beautiful picture of St. Juan Diego. In reading translations of accounts of his encounters with Mary our Mother, I was so blessed in reading that Mary called him affectionately, “Juanito” (“little John”" or “dearest John”). It was significant to me as The Apostle John is called the “beloved disciple” and it was to St. John that Jesus said from the Cross the words intended for all of us: “Behold your Mother”.

May we be “beloved” of Jesus and Mary and hear also Mary’s words to her “little John” and through him to us: “Am I not your Mother? Are you not in the crossing of my arms?”

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
St. Juan Diego pray for us.
 
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My favorite part of the story is that Juan Diego was walking to get a confessor for his uncle Juan Bernardino who was at the point of death. In his walk he avoided the place where the BVM usually appeared to him so he would not be interrupted. But the BVM appeared anyway and said to him: ‘Am I not here, your mother? do not worry about your uncle’s sickness, he will not die of it, be confident that he is already healed!’ And Juan Diego believed this and proceeded with the BVM’s mission. So Juan Diego had great faith and trust in God.
 
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