Wonderful story of Virgin of Guadalupe

Yes, indeed, the Catholic Mexican people will celebrate the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Dec. 12. I heartily commend your reporter Elena Ferrarin and the Daily Herald for publicizing the event as a way of introducing readers to Mexican culture. As the massive immigration from the South proceeds, Americans will need to become more familiar with "Our Lady", and her image, which the Vatican proclaimed the Patron Saint of the Americas.

While on a pilgrimage to Mexico City some years back, I saw the miraculous image firsthand. It appears on a tilma, the cloak that Juan Diego wore when he encountered Jesus' mother on Tepeyac Hill. Made of cactus fiber, it should have deteriorated long ago. But, there it hangs in the Cathedral, almost 500 years old. Scientists have yet to explain of what the pigments consist and how they got there.

When Juan Diego met the Blessed Virgin, she told him to go to the bishop and build a church in her honor. Knowing that such an unusual request from an apparition would have little chance of success, she gave him a sign. She told him to gather up the Castilian roses growing near by.

Roses do not grow in December! Yet, the faithful Indian went out and found the roses, which he gathered into his tilma. Then he hiked, perhaps ten miles, all the way to the Cathedral to meet with Bishop Zumarraga. Once in his presence, Juan Diego opened his tilma and let the fresh roses spill out as the sign of the Holy Virgin's authenticity. The bishop and his assistants were overwhelmed with wonderment. Not only did they see the roses, but also, unknown to the humble Indian, they saw the miraculous image. As word of this miracle spread, millions of Indians converted to the Catholic faith.

For more on this wonderful story and the people of Mexico, I recommend the solid historical writing of William Carroll's "Our Lady of Gaudalupe and the Conquest of Darkness."

George Kocan

Warrenville