Can you name 5 people who lived in Mexico in the early years of the 16th century? Probably not. Neither can I. When I try to make out a list, the project stalls after I write down a single name: St. Juan Diego.
Virtually nothing is known about Juan Diego, apart from the story of his encounter with Our Lady of Guadalupe. Yet nearly 500 years later we know his name—long after the world has forgotten the names of the kings and warriors and prelates who were his contemporaries.
After his first meeting with the Virgin Mary, when he told the bishop about the Blessed Mother’s wish for a church to be built at the site of their meeting, Juan Diego came away frustrated, because the bishop did not believe him. Why should such an important person as the bishop pay attention to this insignificant peasant? Juan Diego reportedly suggested that the Virgin should choose another more impressive envoy, because “I am a nobody.” A few centuries later, history has delivered a very different verdict. It is the bishop who has become a “nobody.” (I do not mean that he was a bad man; he may be rejoicing in heaven today. But history has not treated him kindly, and whatever fame he enjoyed in 1531 is long gone. Can you name him? Neither can I.) Juan Diego, on the other hand, is a canonized saint.
When Our Lady first spoke with Juan Diego (according to the account written by Don Antonio Valeriano), she referred to him as “the most humble of my sons.” If she used those exact words, I feel sure that she meant them as more than a term of endearment; she meant them as a compliment. It was his humility that made Juan Diego the ideal man to execute Our Lady’s plan.
*An old spiritual director of mine was fond of saying, “There are no humbled people in hell.” A humble person—someone who sees himself as insignificant—opens himself to be used as an instrument of God’s will. But then paradoxically, if he carries out God’s plan faithfully, he grows in importance—not to himself, but to the world. Remember what we are told in the Gospels, "Those who humble themselves shall be exalted." (Matthew 23:12 and Luke 14:11)
When we look toward Juan Diego we do not see a “nobody;” we see a simple man whose humility ensures that his own personality will not get in the way, and so he is better able to reflect the splendor of “the woman clothed in the sun.” He is great because he was small; he humbled himself and so he is exalted.
Missionaries who first came to Mexico with the conquistadors had little success in the beginning.
After nearly a generation, only a few hundred Native Mexicans had converted to the Christian faith.
Then in 1531 miracles began to happen. Jesus' own mother appeared to humble Juan Diego. The signs -- of the roses, of the uncle miraculously cured of a deadly illness, and especially of her beautiful image on Juan's tilma -- convinced the people there was something to be considered in Christianity.
Within a short time, six million Native Mexicans had themselves baptized as Christians
. * The Significance of Juan Diego's Tilma In the Indian cultures of that time, the tilma was the exterior expression of the innermost identity of the person. By being visible on Juan Diego's tilma, Mary became imprinted in the deepest recesses of his heart -- and in the hearts of all who come to her. Our Lady of Guadalupe is not simply an image on the tilma, as miraculous as this is. She has become part her children's innermost identity.
With all of this in mind, ponder two points for a moment.
The first point is that God has chosen Mary to lead us to Jesus. No matter what critics may say of the devotion of Mexicans (and Mexican descendants) to Our Lady of Guadalupe, they owe their Christianity to her influence. If it were not for her, they would not know her son, and so they are eternally grateful.
The second point we take from Mary herself. Mary appeared to Juan Diego not as a European madonna but as a beautiful Aztec princess speaking to him in his own Aztec language. If we want to help someone appreciate the gospel we bring, we must appreciate the culture and the mentality in which they live their lives. By understanding them, we can help them to understand and know Christ. Our Lady of Guadalupe is patroness of the Americas and patroness of the unborn.
The apparition took place in 1859 in what is now the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin. For the last two years a diocesan commission has been evaluating its authenticity, and on Wednesday (Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception), Bishop David Ricken announced its approval.
Apparently, he was surprised to learn that this was the first such approval of an apparition in the United States. He also reportedly was surprised to learn that it hadn’t already been approved since his predecessor bishops had supported it (albeit without giving it formal approval—note well that this is something that can happen; just because a bishop says something nice about an apparition does not mean it has been formally approved).
As this is the first American approval of an apparition, it is instructive to see the kind of language that Bishop Ricken used (most other such approvals were done pre-Internet and/or in other languages and thus have not been seen by most).
After the bishop briefly reviews the history of the apparition and the investigation of it, he arrives at the money part:
It remains to me now, the Twelfth Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay and the lowliest of the servants of Mary, to declare with moral certainty and in accord with the norms of the Church:
that the events, apparitions and locutions given to Adele Brise in October, 1859 do exhibit the substance of supernatural character, and I do hereby approve these apparitions as worthy of belief (although not obligatory) by the Christian faithful.
These Marian apparitions are now commemorated under the title “Our Lady of Good Help,” and there is a corresponding shrine in Champion, Wisconsin.
So what happened in 1859?
A young woman named Adele Brise—28-year old Belgian immigrant to what was then the American frontier—was taking wheat to a local mill when she saw a lady in white standing between two trees (and, yes, she did report the lady as having golden hair in the vision, which would most likely be based on Adele’s ethnic background). The lady then vanished. She saw the same thing the next day.
At first Adele thought the lady might be a soul in purgatory who needed prayers, and she was frightened. She communicated this to several people, one of whom, a local priest, told her that if it were a heavenly messenger, she would see it again, and it would not harm her, but to ask in God’s name who it was and what it desired of her.
Note that these are a paraphrase of the two classic, basic questions, “Who are you?” and “What do you want?”
I once recommended the same questions to a child who called in to Catholic Answers Live reporting that he heard a voice from an unknown source—if the voice came back. Unfortunately, I never heard whether it did or what the voice answered. But I’m glad to see the advice I gave in modern times echoed in this case. They seem to me the best questions to ask of an unknown, possibly supernatural agency.
Meanwhile, back in 1859, what happened next?
After that, Adele had more courage. She started home with her two companions, and a man who was clearing land for the Holy Cross Fathers at Bay Settlement accompanied them.
As they approached the hallowed spot, Adele could see the beautiful lady, clothed in dazzling white, with a yellow sash around her waist. Her dress fell to her feet in graceful folds. She had a crown of stars around her head, and her long, golden, wavy hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Such a heavenly light shone around her that Adele could hardly look back at her sweet face. Overcome by this heavenly light and the beauty of her amiable visitor, Adele fell on her knees.
"In God’s name, who are you and what do you want of me?" asked Adele, as she had been directed.
"I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same. You received Holy Communion this morning, and that is well. But you must do more. Make a general confession, and offer Communion for the conversion of sinners. If they do not convert and do penance, my Son will be obliged to punish them."
"Adele, who is it?’’ said one of the women. "O why can’t we see her as you do?" said another weeping.
"Kneel," said Adele, "the Lady says she is the Queen of Heaven."
Our Blessed Lady turned, looked kindly at them, and said, "Blessed are they that believe without seeing. What are you doing here in idleness . . . . while your companions are working in the vineyard of my Son?"
"What more can I do, dear Lady?" said Adele, weeping.
“Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation."
“But how shall I teach them who know so little myself?" replied Adele.
“Teach them,’ replied her radiant visitor, ‘their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing. I will help you.”
The manifestation of Our Lady then lifted her hands, as though beseeching a blessing for those at her feet, and slowly vanished, leaving Adele overwhelmed and prostrate on the ground. [SOURCE]
And that was all, in terms of the apparitions. They were short and straightforward.
Following this, Adele devoted herself wholeheartedly and despite obstacles to her mission of educating children. She became a Third Order Franciscan Sister.
Many people began to hold pilgrimages to the site, where a shrine was built. Healings were reported, and twelve years later the site of the shrine was spared from a tremendous wildfire that scorched large swaths of forest around it.
And so, given the convergence of
(1) the (obvious) compatibility of the message with the Christian faith
(2) the revolution in the life of St. Adele, and
(3) the apparent fruit—including apparent answered prayer—that followed the apparition in the lives of others, Bishop Ricken approved the apparition, concluding with “moral certainty” (not absolute certainty) that it was of divine origin and could be recommended to the faithful as such, though this recommendation does not carry an obligation of belief. One is free to discount the idea that the apparition is of supernatural origin, and in doing so one does not sin.
While apparitions differ from one to another, it may be noted that this case corresponds fairly closely to the core paradigm for approved Marian apparitions, which may be phrased along these lines:
On a limited number of occasions . . .
~~> the Virgin Mary appears to a young, uneducated person—usually female—and imparts a message of that proclaims no new doctrine
~~> but instead conveys both warning and consolation focusing on the salvation of souls and suggesting a way to promote this;
~~> the life of the visionary is revolutionized, and
~~> the visionary pursues some form of religious vocation (if not already undertaken);
~~> the visionary seeks the guidance of competent authorities in the evaluation of the manifestations and is obedient to ecclesiastical authority;
~~> some form of further evidence of answered prayer or the miraculous is forthcoming.
So.
America gets its first approved apparition. Kewl beans.
And, its a straightforward and uncomplicated one that should be uncontroversial and thus serve to highlight it as a useful spiritual signpost. Kewler still.
Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help
4047 Chapel Drive
New Franken, WI 54229 Phone: (920) 866-2571 E-mail:chapel000@centurytel.net Web siteThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
