Dec. 8, 2008: The Feast of the Immaculate Conception
At this moment in Mexico City, thousands and thousands of people are streaming toward the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This week is the busiest the basilica will ever be out of the entire year. Tomorrow (December 9) marks the feast of St. Juan Diego, a 57-year old poor native Aztec indian to whom Blessed Mother appeared on Saturday, December 9, 1531. It is interesting that December 9th is the feast of conception of Mary for Eastern Catholic churches since the 5th century. For us Western Roman Catholic churches, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8. So her appearance to Juan Diego on that day was not just a random date. Few days later on December 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe gives Juan Diego and the bishop a miracle of the tilma, and that day is now designated as the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. During December 9 thru 12, more than 4 million people will visit the basilica in Mexico City.
In order to tell you about the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I need to tell you about Our Lady of Guadalupe. In some ways, they are inexplicably linked in order to understand the true significance of the Immaculate Conception and the upcoming Christmas when we celebrate the birthday of Jesus. In the year 1519, Spanish conquistadore, Hernando Cortez arrived on the shores of Mexico and was able to capture what's now known as Mexico City that year. Cortez encountered a sophisticated and advanced Aztec civilization there. Yet this civilization had a gruesome and cruel side. Their gods, a sun-god and serpent-god required human sacrifices to be appeased, and Cortez found himself hearing screams of captured war-prisoners being sacrificed daily. A war ensued and the altars and temples to these cruel gods were demolished in a couple of years. But through the eyes of the conquered Aztecs, the God of Cortez was no more kinder to them. Spanish conquistadores enslaved many indians, and European plagues that they brought decimated their population. The religious missionaries had little success in convincing the natives about God who was merciful and loving. What was worse was that Aztec indians were on the verge of uprising. The Bishop of Mexico City, a native of Spain, secretly prayed to Our Lady to intervene and avert the eruption. And he asked Our Lady to send him Castilian roses, unknown in Mexico, as a sign that his desperate prayer had been heard.
What the bishop needed was a messenger of God who can show the loving and merciful face of God. On the morning of December 9, 1531, recently converted Aztec indian named Juan Diego was going to mass, walking through a hill called Tepeyac, when he heard a lady calling him. On top of the hill, he encounters a beautiful lady surrounded by bright light as pictured here in this miraculous picture. Our Lady said the following: "Know for certain, my dearest 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, who is Master of Heaven and Earth. I ardently desire a House of God (church) be built here for me where I will show and offer all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. I am your Mother, the Mother of all who live united in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me. Here I will hear their weeping and their sorrows, and will remedy and alleviate their sufferings, necessities and misfortunes. Therefore, in order to realize my intentions, go to the house of the Bishop of Mexico City and tell him that it is my desire to have a church built here." With these instruction, Juan Diego goes to the bishop, but the bishop is unconvinced. Discouraged Juan Diego pleads with Blessed Mother to send someone more worthy. Blessed Mother replied, "My little son, there are many I could send. But you are the one I have chosen." She asked him to go back the next day to the bishop. His next visit was no better. The bishop asks for a sign. Juan Diego was again discouraged. Blessed Mother encouraged him with these words, "My little son, am I not your Mother? Do not fear. The Bishop will have his sign. Come back to this place tomorrow." The next day, Juan Diego tries to avoid the hill because he had to fetch a priest for his dying uncle. Blessed Mother intercepts Juan and assures him that his uncle will be well. She tells Juan to come to the top of the hill to pick roses which she has prepared for the Bishop. In the middle of winter, roses do not bloom, but on this hill, Juan found Castillian (Spanish) roses which were unknown in Mexico. She placed them in his tilma (similar to poncho, made up of coarse cactus fiber which has natural life-span of 30 years) and sent Juan on his way to the Bishop. When Juan unfolded his tilma in front of the Bishop, not only the Castillian roses fell out, there was also the beautiful image of Our Lady imprinted on it. The news of this miracle spread, and the tilma was shown to the public. In less than few years, there would be 9,000,000 conversion of Aztec indians to the faith through this miracle.
There are many miraculous things about this image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. First, the natural life-span of cactus-woven fiber is less than 30 years, but this image has survived 470 years. In 1700s, a priest commissioned eleven copies of this image to be painted on similar cactus-fiber canvas. All of them rotted in less than 11 years. Recent microscopic examination of the image revealed that there were no brush strokes, no under sketch, no protective over-varnish on the image. The Kodak of Mexico concluded that the surface of the image was smooth just like a photograph, and this would not have been technologically possible 470 years ago. Acid was sprayed by accident on this image and bullets were shot at this image, but no harm was done to the image. In 1921, a bomb planted in front of this image exploded during mass. Chunks of marble flew every where, stained glasses shattered, and brass candle sticks and crucifixes bent out of shape, but no one was hurt and the image was not even touched.
The image itself shows biblical significance which ties both the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelation together. In today's First Reading God addresses the serpent in the Book of Genesis: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." The Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation says: "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars." The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe attests to both Genesis and Revelation. The image shows Our Lady standing on top of the moon and in front of the sun, and her mantle shows stars. For the native Aztec indians, sun and moon are the dreaded gods that they worshipped. This lady was greater than both. The moon also signified the serpent god that they worshipped. The word Guadalupe in their native language signified, 'the one who crushes the serpent.'
God in his infinite wisdom has prepared Our Lady as the greatest of his messengers of both the Old and the New Testament. Like her Son who is the Alpha and the Omega (the Beginning and the End) her moment of conception links the long prophesied figure of a woman foretold in the Book of Genesis with the woman of the Book of Revelation. She is the consummate face of love and mercy of God shown in our world. When we come to worship Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords in this house of God, we are assured that His mother is always present with Him saying to us the following words: "Know for certain, my dearest sons and daughters, that I am the perfect and perpetual Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God, through whom everything lives, the Lord of all things, who is Master of Heaven and Earth. Here I will show and offer all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. I am your Mother, the Mother of all who live united in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me. Here I will hear your weeping and your sorrows, and will remedy and alleviate your sufferings, necessities and misfortunes."
In order to tell you about the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I need to tell you about Our Lady of Guadalupe. In some ways, they are inexplicably linked in order to understand the true significance of the Immaculate Conception and the upcoming Christmas when we celebrate the birthday of Jesus. In the year 1519, Spanish conquistadore, Hernando Cortez arrived on the shores of Mexico and was able to capture what's now known as Mexico City that year. Cortez encountered a sophisticated and advanced Aztec civilization there. Yet this civilization had a gruesome and cruel side. Their gods, a sun-god and serpent-god required human sacrifices to be appeased, and Cortez found himself hearing screams of captured war-prisoners being sacrificed daily. A war ensued and the altars and temples to these cruel gods were demolished in a couple of years. But through the eyes of the conquered Aztecs, the God of Cortez was no more kinder to them. Spanish conquistadores enslaved many indians, and European plagues that they brought decimated their population. The religious missionaries had little success in convincing the natives about God who was merciful and loving. What was worse was that Aztec indians were on the verge of uprising. The Bishop of Mexico City, a native of Spain, secretly prayed to Our Lady to intervene and avert the eruption. And he asked Our Lady to send him Castilian roses, unknown in Mexico, as a sign that his desperate prayer had been heard.
What the bishop needed was a messenger of God who can show the loving and merciful face of God. On the morning of December 9, 1531, recently converted Aztec indian named Juan Diego was going to mass, walking through a hill called Tepeyac, when he heard a lady calling him. On top of the hill, he encounters a beautiful lady surrounded by bright light as pictured here in this miraculous picture. Our Lady said the following: "Know for certain, my dearest 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, who is Master of Heaven and Earth. I ardently desire a House of God (church) be built here for me where I will show and offer all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. I am your Mother, the Mother of all who live united in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me. Here I will hear their weeping and their sorrows, and will remedy and alleviate their sufferings, necessities and misfortunes. Therefore, in order to realize my intentions, go to the house of the Bishop of Mexico City and tell him that it is my desire to have a church built here." With these instruction, Juan Diego goes to the bishop, but the bishop is unconvinced. Discouraged Juan Diego pleads with Blessed Mother to send someone more worthy. Blessed Mother replied, "My little son, there are many I could send. But you are the one I have chosen." She asked him to go back the next day to the bishop. His next visit was no better. The bishop asks for a sign. Juan Diego was again discouraged. Blessed Mother encouraged him with these words, "My little son, am I not your Mother? Do not fear. The Bishop will have his sign. Come back to this place tomorrow." The next day, Juan Diego tries to avoid the hill because he had to fetch a priest for his dying uncle. Blessed Mother intercepts Juan and assures him that his uncle will be well. She tells Juan to come to the top of the hill to pick roses which she has prepared for the Bishop. In the middle of winter, roses do not bloom, but on this hill, Juan found Castillian (Spanish) roses which were unknown in Mexico. She placed them in his tilma (similar to poncho, made up of coarse cactus fiber which has natural life-span of 30 years) and sent Juan on his way to the Bishop. When Juan unfolded his tilma in front of the Bishop, not only the Castillian roses fell out, there was also the beautiful image of Our Lady imprinted on it. The news of this miracle spread, and the tilma was shown to the public. In less than few years, there would be 9,000,000 conversion of Aztec indians to the faith through this miracle.
There are many miraculous things about this image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. First, the natural life-span of cactus-woven fiber is less than 30 years, but this image has survived 470 years. In 1700s, a priest commissioned eleven copies of this image to be painted on similar cactus-fiber canvas. All of them rotted in less than 11 years. Recent microscopic examination of the image revealed that there were no brush strokes, no under sketch, no protective over-varnish on the image. The Kodak of Mexico concluded that the surface of the image was smooth just like a photograph, and this would not have been technologically possible 470 years ago. Acid was sprayed by accident on this image and bullets were shot at this image, but no harm was done to the image. In 1921, a bomb planted in front of this image exploded during mass. Chunks of marble flew every where, stained glasses shattered, and brass candle sticks and crucifixes bent out of shape, but no one was hurt and the image was not even touched.
The image itself shows biblical significance which ties both the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelation together. In today's First Reading God addresses the serpent in the Book of Genesis: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." The Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation says: "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars." The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe attests to both Genesis and Revelation. The image shows Our Lady standing on top of the moon and in front of the sun, and her mantle shows stars. For the native Aztec indians, sun and moon are the dreaded gods that they worshipped. This lady was greater than both. The moon also signified the serpent god that they worshipped. The word Guadalupe in their native language signified, 'the one who crushes the serpent.'
God in his infinite wisdom has prepared Our Lady as the greatest of his messengers of both the Old and the New Testament. Like her Son who is the Alpha and the Omega (the Beginning and the End) her moment of conception links the long prophesied figure of a woman foretold in the Book of Genesis with the woman of the Book of Revelation. She is the consummate face of love and mercy of God shown in our world. When we come to worship Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords in this house of God, we are assured that His mother is always present with Him saying to us the following words: "Know for certain, my dearest sons and daughters, that I am the perfect and perpetual Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God, through whom everything lives, the Lord of all things, who is Master of Heaven and Earth. Here I will show and offer all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. I am your Mother, the Mother of all who live united in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me. Here I will hear your weeping and your sorrows, and will remedy and alleviate your sufferings, necessities and misfortunes."
