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Juan Diego
Feast Day: December 9th
CANONIZATION PHOTOS: CLICK HERE!
CLICK HERE for
the account of Dr. Juan Homero Hernandez Illescas
People make their way to the moving walkway beneath the Basilica for a closer look at the authentic tilma (cloak) worn by Juan Diego the day he met Mary, the mother of God in 1531. The tilma is made of a coarse cactus cloth worn by the poor and should have deteriorated in just a few years. It is wonderfully vibrant even today.
On the grounds are several previous Basilicas. Pilgrims climb the steep hill to Tepeyac, the site of the encounter between Mary and Juan Diego. The graveyard at the top of Tepeyac hill is a tribute to the faith and ingenuity of the people of Mexico. It would not be easy to carry a casket up that hill!
Deeper testimony is found in the reverence of the many people who make that climb today. Many walk on their knees. Mary has caught the heart of the Mexican people, that's for sure. In a very real way, the Mexican people have caught the heart of Mary.
Juan Diego's native name was Cuauhtlatoatzin, which means "one who talks like an eagle," or "eagle who talks." He was likely part of the lowest and largest class in the Aztec emperor. He was not a slave, but not wealthy either. Juan and his wife were converted and baptized in 1524 and 1525. His wife died in 1529.
He seems to have been very devoted and religious even before his instruction. Today we can stand on Tepeyac hill and look at downtown Mexico City, then known as Tenochtitlan. Juan lived even farther away, about 14 miles. Juan would walk to Tenochtitlan for instructions in the faith. Mary appeared to Juan Diego in 1531. Juan was then 57 years old, quite an old man for times in which he lived, when people didn't live much beyond 40. Follow the links below for the complete story. After the apparitions, Juan moved to the site of the apparitions. The image of Mary was kept in his home. Juan Diego died on 30 May 1548 at the age of 74.
Pope John Paul II praised Juan Diego for his simple faith nourished by catechesis and pictured him (who said to the Blessed Virgin Mary: “I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf”) as a model of humility for all of us.
In April of 1990 Juan Diego was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. The following month, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, during his second visit to the shrine, John Paul II performed the beatification ceremony. At the exact time of his beatification, a young Mexican drug user stabbed himself, then jumped from a third floor balcony landing on his head on the street below. As he fell, the young man's mother asked the help of Juan Diego. He strikes directly in his right orbit and chin, without anything to absorb the shock. Not even the arms or hands. In the words of Dr. Homero "
In the hospital he is submitted to computed axial tomography head and neck studies, but is still very agitated. Those studies show an impressive base cranial fracture, from right orbit till left ear bones. Just over the place called "clivus", where are important and delicate neurological, arteries, venous and endocrine structures. The medical director is called. His mother asks him her son’s prognostic. He tells there is no hope. And recommend to pray for God’s and Virgin of Guadalupe’s help. Surprisingly she tells already has entrusted her son to Juan Diego, just in the moment he falls from balcony." Over the course of the next days it was decided to remove life support from the young man and allow him to die.
The young man should have died instantly, yet he never even lost consciousness. His complete healing is unprecedented. Today his is working in the United States as a computer technician. He has been completely healed of the injuries suffered in his fall, and his addiction as well.\
You'll learn more about this incredible miracle when you follow the links below. Dr. Juan Homero Hernandez Illescas has provided his own personal account of the miracle, just for our Web Site. Click Here for that article! Links
The account of
our incredible visit to Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe Page, by Father Pat
Blessed Juan Diego, A model of Humility
Guadalupe and Juan Diego Picture Gallery
Juan Diego's Miracle
Juan Diego's Miracle: another perspective
Interlupe Web Site by Dr. Juan Homero Hernández Illescas
The miracle in the words of Dr. Illescas, Provided for our Web Site
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At the end of
July 2003, Father Pat Umberger again made a pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our
Lady of Guadalupe, now within Mexico City. Guadalupe is a truly beautiful
place, and has been one of the most popular places of pilgrimage in the world
for many years. Mass is almost always being celebrated in the new Basilica
that will hold at least 10,000 people. 
