Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe

DF, Mexico

When we moved to Mexico, we noticed how prevalent the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe was. She is on many walls in Lake Chapala, and there are small shrines to her under trees and on corners, usually well-tended, with candles, etc. We witnessed the great desfile (parade) on her Saint Day, 12 December. It motivated us to read more about her and try to understand why she was so important to Mexico – we have read that Mexico is 90% Catholic, but 100% revere Guadalupe.

Purifying incense in the crosswalk on the way

One puzzlement – especially for us fallen organized religion folks – is she the Virgin Mary, or another person? There are a lot of Virgins in Mexico - de Soledad, de Dolores, etc. 

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Several books and lots of internet searches later, the answer appears to be she is indeed supposed to be the Mother of Jesus (this may sound really sophomoric to a lot of folks!), but a more “Indio” version who appeared (4 times) to an indigenous man, Juan Diego, in 1531 on Tepeyac Hill, north of Mexico City (but now within the sprawling metropolis).  

Guadalupe asked Juan Diego to tell the local Catholic authorities that she wanted a church built in her honor on the site – which was met with much skepticism from said authorities, so she eventually provided Juan Diego with her apparition on his cloak, along with many Castilian roses (neither native nor in season), which he presented to the Bishop. Game, set, match to Lupita! (her nickname)

The plaza

Walking toward the Basilica

One of the must-do items in Mexico City is to visit said historic Hill.... Tepeyac is believed to have been a Pre-Columbian worship site for the indigenous mother goddess Tonantzin Coatlaxopeuh. Guadalupe had brown skin, like the indigenous Mexicans. She appeared to a paisano, and spoke to him in his native language, not Spanish.

The location is now chock-a-block with shrines and churches and cathedrals, the first built in 1660, the most recent in the 1970s. The latter can seat 40,000 people, and they hold mass on the hour every day from 6 am to 8 pm (in the main Basilica). Mass Around the Clock!


The actual cloak, called the Tilma, is in a silver and gold frame above and behind the main altar where the masses are held. They have created a four-lane, airport-like people-mover underneath and behind the altar so that the thousands of people who come to see the Tilma every day (4 million visit the shrine annually, so about 11,000 per day on average) can do so, without disrupting the mass, maybe as many times as they want to pass as long as they are wiling to get back in line. This approach means no one can crowd around it, take selfies, and generally make it impossible for others to see. This process would make Walt Disney proud.

Get your Maria here

In any case, as you might imagine you can buy about any Guadalupe-related thing there, statues of all sizes (of course) and reproductions of the Tilma, in frames and not, candles, snow globes, mouse pads (seems wrong to click on Guadalupe!), refrigerator magnets. 

That said, the coolest souvenir maybe ever costs 11 pesos (55 cents or so). The vendor puts a one-peso coin into the turn-the-crank coin crusher, and viola! You have a bi-metallic Guadalupe medallion made from your peso! And the bi-metallic peso is way better than a penny (sorry, Abe!)

Capilla marking the spot

Bit of a climb to the hilltop

There are many other buildings to see on the grounds, a capilla built in 1660 on the actual location where the discussions with Juan Diego took place, another church built in the late 1700s (and visited by Morelos!) that covers the miraculous spring that appeared (thanks again, Lupita!).

Freebie, no charge

There are several vendors who offer you the opportunity (for 50 pesos) to have your picture taken in front of the statue of La Virgen, or sitting on a fiberglass horse, or both.

Back to the miracle of 1531. As already mentioned, the location of El Milagro was on or near a site previously sacred to the indigenous people. La Virgen had brown skin. She appeared to an indio. Other indigenous traditions that were co-opted by the Spanish and the Church – moving the traditional date of the indigenous ceremonies honoring the dead from August or so to coincide with the Church’s All Saints Day in November; melding the winter solstice on December 21, important to agrarian societies in Mexico, into the Christian Christmas of December 25; etc. etc. It is also interesting that the image of Guadalupe is depicted standing on a crescent moon – the symbol of Islam and the Moors who ruled Spain for 500 years (from 711 CE) – interpreted by some as showing the superiority of Spain and Catholicism over Islam.

Faith and belief, if you have them, outweigh any such considerations, and maybe it is not fair to marvel at the colonial architecture and churches and at the same time be cynical about the (presumed) manipulations by Spain and their religion of the local population. And we’re not even talking about the Inquisition. However, at the famed Museo Anthropologica, we noted many times that the varied cultures of Mexico had adopted and adapted Catholic rituals into their own local customs. Even literally burying their own gods and images (which the Catholics tried to banish) underneath the Catholic versions, so they could appear to be worshipping the “correct” god. We definitely admire the creative approach.

So, you may well ask, what do we believe about Maria de Guadalupe? We believe in the indomitable human spirit, and in the concept of a kind yet firm, loving mother who looks out for us. And we especially love how Mexicanos love her, and keep hope in life through her, in what can be very difficult lives to live.

(...And we named our little car which sports a Guadalupe decal, after her. And Mark carries a prayer card of her. And Linda has a necklace of her…hmm....)

enero 2019