OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE: HISTORY & MEANING
Author: Manuela Testoni. 140 pgs. Paperback.
An examination of the ancient sources pertaining to the apparitions of Mary on the hill called Tepeyac near Mexico City from December 9-12, 1531, and also the historical testimony of the event from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the present day. After resolving the critical problem regarding the historicity of the apparitions, their message is studied from a theological point of view. In so doing, we discover the beauty and reality of Aztec theology manifested in the language of Mary, in the flowers miraculously blooming on the hillside and in the beautiful song of the birds. Besides bringing the reader up-to-date regarding studies, ancient and new, made about the apparitions and the life of Juan Diego (canonized July, 2002), the biographical material found here reveals why, when Pope John Paul II conferred the title of Blessed on Juan Diego in May 1990, he proclaimed him patron of the indigenous people of Mexico and the poor of the world everywhere.
An examination of the ancient sources pertaining to the apparitions of Mary on the hill called Tepeyac near Mexico City from December 9-12, 1531, and also the historical testimony of the event from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the present day. After resolving the critical problem regarding the historicity of the apparitions, their message is studied from a theological point of view. In so doing, we discover the beauty and reality of Aztec theology manifested in the language of Mary, in the flowers miraculously blooming on the hillside and in the beautiful song of the birds. Besides bringing the reader up-to-date regarding studies, ancient and new, made about the apparitions and the life of Juan Diego (canonized July, 2002), the biographical material found here reveals why, when Pope John Paul II conferred the title of Blessed on Juan Diego in May 1990, he proclaimed him patron of the indigenous people of Mexico and the poor of the world everywhere.
