Guadalupe << gwahth ah LOO pay or `gwahd` uhl OOP >> Day commemorates the day that the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to Saint Juan Diego, an indigenous (native) Mexican. According to legend, on Dec. 9, 1531, Juan was hurrying over Tepeyac Hill, in what is now Mexico City, when a vision appeared to him. A lady told him to ask the bishop to build a shrine where she stood. But the bishop did not believe Juan until the vision appeared again, on December 12, and produced a sign. The lady later appeared to Juan’s uncle and called herself Holy Mary of Guadalupe. Our Lady of Guadalupe (often called the Virgin of Guadalupe) is the patron saint of Mexico and of the Americas.
Roman Catholics in Mexico, the southwestern United States, and other parts of the Americas celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12. The Catholic Church declared Juan Diego a saint on July 31, 2002.
