Dec. 12 is a special day for millions of Catholics around the world, especially those of Mexican descent. Known as el Dia de la Virgen Guadalupe, it is a popular feast day that celebrates the Virgin of Guadalupe: a brown-skinned, Indigenous vision of Mary that Catholics believe appeared to a peasant in 1531.
The story of Guadalupe’s appearances is recounted in a text called the Nican Mopohua, which means “Here It Is Told” in Nahuatl, an Aztec language. The Nican Mopohua describes Jesus’ mother appearing multiple times to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Indigenous convert to Catholicism, about a decade after the Spanish had conquered Aztec Mexico. After her fourth and final apparition to Diego, Catholics believe that her image imprinted onto his cactus-fiber robe, known as a “tilma.”
As a scholar of Catholicism, I have long been fascinated by the adoration of the Virgin Mary. Often seen as a symbol of inclusive love, the Virgin of Guadalupe has become especially beloved by migrants and Latinos in the U.S., who view her as a protector.
Over the past 20 years, research on Guadalupe has brought me to deeply moving shrines in her honor in the United States: candle-filled, flower-laden places, from South Phoenix, Arizona, to Columbus Junction, Iowa, from Catholic parishes to family homes and yards.