December 9

Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

Optional memorial

Indigenous Mexican man at the heart of the Guadalupe story

Juan Diego was a Nahua man from the Valley of Mexico who, according to tradition, was baptised by Franciscan missionaries a few years after the Spanish conquest. Most of what we know about him comes from accounts written long after his death, above all a Nahuatl text printed in 1649.

According to that tradition, in December 1531 Juan Diego said the Virgin Mary appeared to him on the hill of Tepeyac and asked for a church there. The Franciscan Juan de Zumárraga, the bishop-elect of Mexico, asked for a sign. The story says Juan Diego brought roses to him in his cloak, and that an image of Mary appeared on the cloth, the image still venerated in Mexico City. He is said to have lived his last years beside the little chapel until he died in 1548.

Some historians question how much of the story is historical. In 2002 he was canonised as the first Indigenous saint of the Americas, a reminder that God speaks through people the powerful overlook.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,

1 Corinthians 1:27–28 · BSB

A prayer

God of the humble, you chose Juan Diego, a poor Indigenous man, to carry a message to those in power and to serve you quietly at Tepeyac. Give us his trust and simplicity, teach us to listen to those the world ignores, and make us faithful messengers of your love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.