“No estoy yo aqui que soy tumadre?” [Translation] “Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?”
– Our Lady of Guadalupe
So goes the famous words, uttered by the Virgin Mary in Guadalupe, Mexico during a 16th century Marian apparition.
Born in 1474 St. Juan Diego was a man of humble origin, neither privileged nor destitute. And yet in December 1531 it was he that received the iconic image of the Virgin of Guadalupe upon Tepeyac hill – 5 times in total – eventually leading to his canonisation by St. John Paul II in 2002, and thus becoming the first Saint of the Americas.
Our pilgrimages to Mexico are centred on the Marian shrine in Guadalupe, and other sites all over the country, offering a real opportunity to experience the Christian Latin America and history of Mesoamerica.
