Timeline of Venerable Solanus Casey
We know very little about Juan Diego, although his name is forever linked with Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was to Juan that Our Lady first appeared on December 9, 1531, at a hillside. Juan was on his way to Mass as he passed a hill at Tepeyac, not far from present-day Mexico City. Suddenly, he heard a voice call him by name. He thought he was dreaming, but a young, beautiful woman stepped toward Juan and instructed him to build a church exactly where she was standing. She wanted to be a source of consolation to the people of Mexico. Juan repeatedly tried to carry out this task, but the local bishop was skeptical. As a result nothing happened for some time.
In a subsequent apparition to Juan, the young woman encouraged him to try again. This time she identified herself as the Mother of God. Again, the local bishop was skeptical. When the Lady appeared a third time, she instructed Juan to gather some brilliant rose blooms that were miraculously growing in winter. Our Lady instructed Juan to keep the roses hidden until he could give them to his bishop. Juan then visited his bishop for a third time. This time the bishop asked Juan to show him a convincing sign. Juan simply opened his cape to for the bishop to see. Both Juan and the bishop were astonished. They discovered a full-color image of Our Lady imprinted on the cape. Amazingly, the image remains as vivid as ever, without any signs of deteriorating. To this day, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the national treasure of Mexico.
These extraordinary and faith-giving events occurred shortly after Spain had conquered Mexico. What began as a religious conquest was filled with hardship and cruelty. The Spanish conquerors brought humiliation and bigotry to Mexico and treated the natives as slaves. In fact, Juan Diego’s remarkable grace of witnessing Our Lady of Guadalupe enabled Spain to reconcile her mission of conquest with her mission of evangelization. Greats waves of conversion swept over Mexico in the late 1500s. Within a period of six years over 9 million Aztecs were baptized. The message was unmistakable: the experience of faith is rooted in the experience of the poor and vulnerable.
Juan spent the rest of his life taking care of the shrine where the image is on display. The shrine was built in 1533. Later, the church was built by the bishop on the very spot were the apparition took place. The church has been expanded several times and was declared a Basilica in 1904. It was nearly 100 years later, on July 31, 2002, that Pope John Paul II canonized Blessed Juan Diego. On this occasion the pope said, “With deep joy I have come on pilgrimage to this Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Marian heart of Mexico and of America, to proclaim the holiness of Juan Diego, the humble Indian who contemplated the sweet and serene face of Our Lady of Tepeyac, who is so dear to the people of Mexico. Just twelve years earlier during his pastoral visit to Mexico in 1990, Pope John Paul II had beatified Juan Diego.
Juan Diego died on May 30, 1548. In pondering his holy and courageous life, these words suggest what it means to be in right relationship with God and with the Mother of God.
Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear sickness or anguish. Am I not here? Who is your mother?
Are you not under my protection?
Am I not your health?
Are you not happily within my fold?
What else do you wish?
Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything.
-Mary’s words to Juan Diego
Just as the names of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe are forever linked so are their feast days. The feast of St. Juan Diego is celebrated on December 9. The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated three day later on December 12.
World Timeline
1447
India, Persia, and Afghanistan gain independence. Noted scholar Pope Nicholas V dies.
1531
King Henry VIII is recognized as supreme head of the Church in England. The “great comet”, later known as Halley’s Comet, arouses a wave of superstitions.
1548
Saint Ignatius’ spiritual exercises are published. He began writing them in 1521. Fellow Jesuit Francis Xavier establishes a mission in Japan.
1990
Political prisoner Nelson Mandela is freed from jail. Iraq invades Kuwait, the U.N. and the U.S. and allies send military forces to Saudi Arabia. Rap music becomes the rage.
2002
U.S. bombing raids rout terrorists in Afghanistan. President Bush focuses War on Terror on Iraqi tyrant Saddam Hussein. The cycle of violence escalates in Israeli/Palestinian conflict.