Ancient Hymn

Haven't had much time to do postings, giving the fact that we have had many inches of snow. Anyway, I found this nugget for consideration. An ancient hymn remembering our Blessed Mother at this time of year.


The ancient vesperal hymn of Advent, Creator Almae Siderum, tells us of the gigantic struggle between the forces of light and darkness, with the Mother of God as the channel of our salvation:



Bright Builder of the heavenly poles.
Eternal light of faithful souls,
Jesus, Redeemer of mankind,
Our humble prayers vouchsafe to mind:

Who, lest the fraud of hell’s black king,
Should all men to destruction bring,
Didst, by an act of generous love,
The fainting world’s physician prove.

Thou, that thou mightst our ransom pay,
And wash the stains of sin away,
Didst from a Virgin’s womb proceed,
And on the Cross a Victim bleed.


Another significant addition to the last days of Advent is the “O Antiphons.” From December 17 to 23, the antiphons to Magnificat carry various divine titles for the Child to be born: O Wisdom, O Adonai [Hebrew for Lord], O root of Jesse, O key of David, O Orient, O King, O Emmanuel. In their Latin original, we have the following words: Sapientia, Adonai, Radix, Clavis, Oriens, Rex, Emmanuel.

An interesting feature of these titles is that if we invert the initial letters we get “Ero cras—I shall be here tomorrow!” which indeed is the case as the seven antiphons are completed on December 23, about 24 hours away from Midnight Mass. It is as if the Church is getting anxious to finally see the Invisible God become visible to human eyes.

Such should be our eagerness as we redouble our steps towards the holy Manger at Bethlehem, filled with awe and wonder

MOTHER OF GOD HIMSELF!

OUR LADY of GUADALUPE

Rose Mesoamerica, the New World, 1521: The capital city of the Aztec empire falls under the Spanish forces. Less than 20 years later, 9 million of the inhabitants of the land, who professed for centuries a polytheistic and human sacrificing religion, are converted to Christianity. What happened in those times that produced such an incredible and historically unprecedented conversion?

In 1531 a "Lady from Heaven" appeared to a humble Native American, Juan Diego, at Tepeyac, a hill northwest of what is now Mexico City. She identified herself as the ever virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the True God for whom we live, of the Creator of all things, Lord of heaven and the earth. She made a request for a church to be built on the site, and submitted her wish to the local Bishop. When the Bishop hesitated, and requested her for a sign, the Mother of God obeyed without delay or question to the Church's local Bishop, and sent her native messenger to the top of the hill in mid-December to gather an assortment of roses for the Bishop.

After complying to the Bishop's request for a sign, She also left for us an image of herself imprinted miraculously on the native's tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth, which should have deteriorated in 20 years but shows no sign of decay 480 years later and still defies all scientific explanations of its origin. It apparently even reflects in Her eyes what was in front of her in 1531. Her message of love and compassion, and her universal promise of help and protection to all mankind, as well as the story of the apparitions, are described in the "Nican Mopohua", a 16th century document written in the native Nahuatl language. There is reason to believe that at Tepeyac Mary came in her glorified body, and her actual physical hands rearranged the roses in Juan Diego’s tilma, which makes this apparition very special.

An incredible list of miracles, cures and interventions are attributed to Her. Yearly, between 18 - 20 million pilgrims visit the Basilica, making it Christianity's most visited sanctuary.

When we reflect on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe we learn two important lessons, one of Faith and one of understanding.

Missionaries who first came to Mexico with the conquistadors had little success in the beginning. After nearly a generation, only a few hundred Native Mexicans had converted to the Christian faith. Whether they simply did not understand what the missionaries had to offer or whether they resented these people who made them slaves, Christianity was not popular among the native people.

Then in 1531 miracles began to happen. Jesus' own mother appeared to humble Juan Diego. The signs -- of the roses, of the uncle miraculously cured of a deadly illness, and especially of her beautiful image on Juan's mantle -- convinced the people there was something to be considered in Christianity. Within a short time, six million Native Mexicans had themselves baptized as Christians.

The first lesson is that God has chosen Mary to lead us to Jesus. No matter what critics may say of the devotion of Mexicans (and Mexican descendants) to Our Lady of Guadalupe, they owe their Christianity to her influence. If it were not for her, they would not know her son, and so they are eternally grateful.

The second lesson we take from Mary herself. Mary appeared to Juan Diego not as a European Madonna but as a beautiful Aztec princess speaking to him in his own Aztec language. If we want to help someone appreciate the gospel we bring, we must appreciate the culture and the mentality in which they live their lives. By understanding them, we can help them to understand and know Christ.

(Just a note or two. Notice, in the image, Our Lady is standing upon a crescent. Maybe it means that she will conquer moslems. Also, apparently, the image has everything until the end of the world within it. You will need a good magnifying glass to observe.)

Our Lady of Guadalupe is patron of the Americas. Maybe she can straighten out this country, if we but ask.


You can read more about this on the Dec. 9 post.

(On another note, our 'illustrious' bishop has ordered the priests of our diocese to preach about immigration on this day, instead of Our Lady of Guadalupe and her being the 'Patroness of the Americas' and the United States. These guys just DON'T get it, do they?)

GAUDETE SUNDAY

This is Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday. The vestments are rose-colored. The Church's motive for introducing this expression of joy in today's Liturgy, is to encourage her children to persevere fervently to the end of this holy season. We are nearing the birth (once again) of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We should be getting excited, knowing He is coming again this year. Our beloved Abbot Gueranger brings us closer to that day.

'...the Lord is nigh; nigh to His Church, and nigh to each of our souls. Who can be near so burning a fire, and yet be so cold? Do we not feel that He is coming to us, in spite of all obstacles? He will let nothing be a barrier between Himself and us, neither His own infinite high majesty, not our exceeding lowliness, nor our many sins. Yet a little while, and He will be with us. Let us go out to meet Him by these prayers and supplications, and thanksgiving which the apostle (St. Paul), recommends to us. Let our zeal to unite ourselves with our holy mother the Church become more than ever fervent: now every day her prayers will increase in intense earnestness, and her longings after Him, who is her light and her love, will grow more ardent...'

St. John the Baptist has told those of that time: the Messiah was in their midst. Of course, they knew Him not! Our beloved Abbot continues: 'In this, St. John is the type of the Church, and of all such as seek Jesus. St. John is full of joy because the Saviour has come: but the men around him are as indifferent as though they neither expected nor wanted a Saviour. This is the third week of Advent; and are all hearts excited by the great tidings told them by the Church, that the Messias is near at hand? they that love Him not as their Saviour, do they fear Him as their Judge? Are the crooked ways being made straight, and the hills being brought low? Are Christians seriously engaged in removing from their hearts the love of riches and the love of sensual pleasures? there is NO time to lose: the Lord is nigh! If these lines should come under the eye of any of those Christians who are in this state of sinful indifference, we would conjure them to shake off their lethargy, and render themselves worthy of the visit of the Divine Infant: such a visit will bring them the greatest consolation here, and give them confidence hereafter, when our Lord will come to judge all mankind.'


EPISTLE ¤ Phil 4. 4-7

>“The Lord is nigh,” says St. Paul, “rejoice in the Lord.” May our faith and hope in Jesus Christ our Lord, always increase!

Brethren, Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men. The Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous: but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.


On this day the Church urges us to gladness in the middle of this time of expectation and penitence: the coming of Jesus approaches more and more. St. John, the holy precursor, announces to the Jews the coming of the Savior. “The Savior,” he says to them, “lives already among us, though unknown. He will soon appear openly.” Now is the time for fervent prayers and for imploring Jesus to remain with us by His mercy. Let us prepare the way for Him by repentance and by a worthy reception of the Sacraments. All the prayers of this Mass are filled with that which the Church wishes our souls to be possessed at the approach of the Savior.

Think of all those souls who are indifferent these days, and will be lost to the evil one at their judgment if they do not repent, and come back to the eternal Truth, which is JESUS CHRIST!

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St. Damasus

This great Pope comes before us in the liturgical year, not to bring us tidings of peace as St. Melchiades did yesterday, but as one of the most illustrious defenders of the great mystery of the Incarnation. He defends the Faith of the universal Church in the divinity of the Word, by condemning, as his predecessor Liberius had done, the acts and the authors of the celebrated Council of Rimini, namely Valens and Urasacius. They had published a condemnation of the Faith which had been taught by the Nicene Council, and under which the whole world groaned and found itself Arian. With his sovereign authority, he bore witness to the teaching of the Church regarding the Humanity of Jesus Christ, and condemned the heretic Apollinaris, who taught that Jesus Christ had assumed only the flesh and not the soul of man. He commissioned St. Jerome to make a new translation of the New Testament from the Greek, for the use of the Church of Rome; here, again, giving a further proof of the Faith and love which he bore to the Incarnate Word. Let us honor this great Pontiff, whom the Council of Chalcedon calls 'the ornament and support of Rome by his piety.' St. Jerome, too, who looked upon St. Damasus as his friend and patron, calls him 'a man of the greatest worth; a man whose equal could not be found, well versed in the holy Scriptures, and a virgin doctor of the virgin Church.'

St. Damasus was born in Rome at the beginning of the fourth century. His father, a widower, had received Holy Orders there and served as parish priest in the church of St. Laurence. Damasus was archdeacon of the Roman Church in 355, when the Pope, Saint Liberius, was banished to Berda; he followed him into exile, but afterwards returned to Rome. On the death of Pope Liberius in 366, our Saint was chosen to succeed him, at the age of sixty-two. A certain Ursinus, jealous of his election and desiring for himself that high office, had himself proclaimed pope by his followers, inciting a revolt against Damasus in Rome, in which 137 persons died. The holy Pope did not choose to resort to armed defense, but the Emperor Valentinian, to defend him, drove the usurper from Rome for a time. Later he returned, and finding accomplices for his evil intentions, accused the holy Pontiff of adultery. Saint Damasus took only such action as was becoming to the common father of the faithful; he assembled a synod of forty-four bishops, in which he justified himself so well that the calumniators were excommunicated and banished.

Having freed the Church of this new schism, St. Damasus turned his attention to the extirpation of Arianism in the West and of Apollinarianism in the East, and for this purpose convened several councils. He sent St. Zenobius, later bishop of Florence, to Constantinople in 381 to console the faithful, cruelly persecuted by the Emperor Valens. He commanded St. Jerome to prepare a correct Latin version of the Bible, since known as the Vulgate; he ordered the Psalms to be sung accordingly. He rebuilt and adorned the Church of St. Laurence, still called St. Laurence in Damaso. He caused to be drained all the springs of the Vatican, which were inundating the tombs of the holy persons buried there, and he decorated the sepulchres of a great number of martyrs in the cemeteries, adorning them with epitaphs in verse. Before his death, he consecrated sixty-two bishops.

Damasus defended with vigour the Catholic Faith in a time of dire and varied perils. In two Roman synods (368 and 369) he condemned Apollinarianism and Macedonianism; he also sent his legates to the Council of Constantinople (381), convoked against the aforesaid heresies. In the Roman synod of 369 (or 370) Auxentius, the Arian Bishop of Milan, was excommunicated; he held the see, however, until his death, in 374, made way for St. Ambrose. The heretic Priscillian, condemned by the Council of Saragossa (380) appealed to Damasus, but in vain. It was Damasus who induced St. Jerome to undertake his famous revision of the earlier Latin versions of the Bible. St. Jerome was also his confidential secretary for some time. An important canon of the New Testament was proclaimed by him in the Roman synod of 374. The Eastern Church, in the person of St. Basil of Cæsarea, besought earnestly the aid and encouragement of Damasus against triumphant Arianism. In the matter of the Meletian Schism at Antioch, Damasus, with St. Athanasius and St. Peter of Alexandria, sympathized with the party of Paulinus as more sincerely representative of Nicene orthodoxy; on the death of Meletius he sought to secure the succession for Paulinus and to exclude Flavian (Socrates, Church History V.15). He sustained the appeal of the Christian senators to Emperor Gratian for the removal of the altar of Victory from the Senate House (Ambrose, Ep. xvii, n. 10), and lived to welcome the famous edict of Theodosius I, "De fide Catholica" (27 Feb., 380), which proclaimed as the religion of the Roman State that doctrine which St. Peter had preached to the Romans and of which Damasus was supreme head (Cod. Theod., XVI, 1, 2).

When, in 379, Illyricum was detached from the Western Empire, Damasus hastened to safeguard the authority of the Roman Church by the appointment of a vicar Apostolic in the person of Ascholius, Bishop of Thessalonica; this was the origin of the important papal vicariate long attached to that see. The primacy of the Apostolic See, variously favoured in the time of Damasus by imperial acts and edicts, was strenuously maintained by this pope; among his notable utterances on this subject is the assertion that 'the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Roman Church was based, not on the decrees of councils, but on the very words of Jesus Christ' (Matthew 16:18). The increased prestige of the early papal decretals (letters of the pope that formulate decisions in ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church), habitually attributed to the reign of Siricius (384-99), not improbably belongs to the reign of Damasus. This development of the papal office, especially in the West, brought with it a great increase of external grandeur. This secular splendour, however, affected disadvantageously many members of the Roman clergy, whose worldly aims and life, bitterly reproved by St. Jerome, provoked (29 July, 370) and edict of Emperor Valentinian addressed to the pope, forbidding ecclesiastics and monks (later also bishops and nuns) to pursue widows and orphans in the hope of obtaining from them gifts and legacies. The pope caused the law to be observed strictly.

He established the law of retaiation for cases of false accusation. Furthermore, he decreed that, as was the custom in many places, the Psalms should be sung in all Churches in alternate choirs, day and night; and that at the end of each Psalm, there should be added: "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost."

St. Damasus is praised by Theodoret as head of the famous doctors of divine grace of the Latin church; the General Council of Chalcedon calls him the honor and glory of Rome. Having reigned for eighteen years and two months, he died on the 10th of December in 384, when he was nearly eighty years old. In the eighth century, his relics were definitively placed in the church of St. Laurence in Damaso, except for his head, which is conserved in the Basilica of St. Peter's.

St. Melchiades, Pope/Martyr

The Church makes a commemoration today in honor of the holy Pope Melchiades. This illustrious Pontiff, whom St. Augustine calls 'the true child of the peace of Jesus Christ, the worthy father of the Christian people', ascended the papal throne in the year 311, during the very fiercest storm of persecution. It is on this account that he is honored with the title of martyr. Though he did not shed his blood for the Name of Jesus, yet he shared in the glory of the martyrs, by reason of the great trials he had to suffer during the persecution, which afflicted the entire Church. It was the same with many of his predecessors. But the pontificate of Melchiades marks a very important period of the Church--the transition from persecution to peace. As early as the year 312, liberty was granted to the Christian religion by Constantine. So that Melchiades had the glory of governing the Church at the commencement of her period of temporal prosperity. His name now graces the calendar of the liturgical year, and reminds us of that peace which will soon descend upon us from heaven. (from 'The Liturgical Year')



Hear what Alban Butler (Lives of the Saints) has to say concerning this Pope.

MELCHIADES, or MILTIADES, succeeded Eusebius in the see of Rome, being chosen on the 2d of July, 311, in the reign of Maxentius. Constantine vanquished that tyrant on the 28th of October in 312, and soon after issued edicts, by which he allowed Christians the free exercise of their religion, and the liberty of building churches. To pacify the minds of the pagans, who were uneasy at this innovation, when he arrived at Milan in the beginning of the year 313, he, by a second edict, ensured to all religions except heresies, liberty of conscience. Among the first laws which he enacted in favour of Christians, he passed one to exempt the clergy from the burden of civil offices. He obliged all his soldiers to repeat on Sundays a prayer addressed to the one only God; and no idolater could scruple at such a practice. He abolished the pagan festivals and mysteries in which lewdness had a share. Unnatural impurity being almost unrestrained among the heathens, the Romans, when luxury and debauchery were arrived at the highest pitch among them, began to shun marriage, that they might be more at liberty to follow their passions. Whereupon Augustus was obliged by laws to encourage and to command all men to marry, inflicting heavy penalties on the disobedient. 1. The abuses being restrained by the Christian religion more effectually than they could have been by human laws, Constantine, in favour of celibacy, repealed the Poppæan law. This emperor also made a law to punish adultery with death. 2. The good pope rejoiced exceedingly at the prosperity of God’s house, and, by his zealous labours, very much extended its pale; but he had the affliction to see it torn by an intestine division, in the Donatist schism, which blazed with great fury in Africa. Mensurius, bishop of Carthage, being falsely accused of having delivered up the sacred scriptures to be burnt in the time of the persecution, Donatus, bishop of Cassa-nigra in Numidia, most unreasonably separated himself from his communion, and continued his schism when Cecilian had succeeded Mensurius in the see of Carthage, and was joined by many jealous enemies of that good prelate, especially by the powerful lady Lucilla, who was personally piqued against Cecilian whilst he was deacon of that church. The chismatics appealed to Constantine, who was then in Gaul, and entreated him to commission three Gaulish bishops, whom they specified, to judge their cause against Cecilian. The emperor granted them these judges they demanded, but ordered the aforesaid bishops to repair to Rome, by letter, entreating Pope Melchiades to examine into the controversy, together with these Gaulish bishops, and to decide it according to justice and equity. The emperor left to the bishops the decision of this affair, because it regarded a bishop. 3. Pope Melchiades opened a council in the Lateran palace on the 2nd of October, 313, at which both Cecilian and Donatus of Cassa-nigra were present; and the former was pronounced by the pope and his council innocent of the whole charge that was brought against him. Donatus of Cassa-nigra was the only person who was condemned on that occasion; the other bishops who had adhered to him were allowed to keep their sees upon their renouncing the schism. St. Austin, speaking of the moderation which the pope used, calls him an excellent man, a true son of peace, and a true father of Christians. Yet the Donatists, after his death, had recourse to their usual arms of slander to asperse his character, and pretended that this pope had delivered the scriptures into the hands of the persecutors; which St. Austin calls a groundless and malicious calumny. St. Melchiades died on the 10th of January, 314, having sat two years, six months, and eight days, and was buried on the Appian road, in the cemetery of Calixtus; is named in the Roman Martyrology, and in those of Bede, Ado, Usuard, &c. In some calendars he is styled a martyr, doubtless on account of his sufferings in preceding persecutions.

This holy pope saw a door opened by the peace of the church to the conversion of many, and he rejoiced at the triumph of the cross of Christ. But with worldly prosperity a worldly spirit too often broke into the sanctuary itself; insomuch that the zealous pastor had sometimes reason to complain, with Isaiah, “Thou hast multiplied the nation, and hast not increased my joy.” 4 Under the pressures of severe persecution, the true spirit of our holy religion was maintained in many among its professors during the first ages; yet, amidst the most holy examples, and under the influence of the strongest motives and helps, avarice and ambition insinuated themselves into the hearts of some, who, by the abuse of the greatest graces, became of all others the most abandoned to wickedness; witness Judas the apostate in the college of the apostles; also several amongst the disciples of the primitive saints, as Simon Magus, Paul of Samosata, and others. But with temporal honours and affluence, the love of the world, though most severely condemned by Christ, as the capital enemy to his grace and holy love, and the source of all vicious passions, crept into the hearts of many, to the utter extinction of the Christian spirit in their souls. This, indeed, reigns, and always will reign, in a great number of chosen souls, whose lives are often hidden from the world, but in whom God will always provide for his honour faithful servants on earth, who will praise him in spirit and truth. But so deplorable are the overflowings of sensuality, avarice, and ambition, and such the lukewarmness and spiritual insensibility which have taken root in the hearts of many Christians, that the torrent of evil example and a worldly spirit ought to fill every one with alarms, and oblige every one to hold fast, and be infinitely upon his guard that he be not carried away by it. It is not the crowd that we are to follow, but the Gospel: and though temporal goods and prosperity are a blessing, they ought extremely to rouse our attention, excite our watchfulness, and inspire us with fear, being fraught with snares, and by the abuse which is frequently made of them, the ruin of virtue.

Note 1. See his Lex Julia, and Lex Poppæa. [back]
Note 2. See Gothofred, ad Cod. Theod. l. xi. tit. 36. [back]
Note 3. S. Aug. ep. 105, p. 299, et ep. 43, p. 94, et in Brevic. Collat. die 3, c. 12, et 17. Eus. l. 10, c. 5. S. Optat. l. 1, p. 44. [back]
Note 4. Isa. ix. 3. [back]

Sermon on Our Lady

A Sermon by St Anselm on Our Lady

Blessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night - everything that is subject to the power or use of man - rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed with inexpressible new grace. All creatures were dead, as it were, useless for men or for the praise of God, who made them. The world, contrary to its true destiny, was corrupted and tainted by the acts of men who served idols. Now all creation has been restored to life and rejoices that it is controlled and given splendour by men who believe in God.

The universe rejoices with new and indefinable loveliness. Not only does it feel the unseen presence of God himself, its Creator, it sees him openly, working and making it holy. These great blessings spring from the blessed fruit of Mary's womb.

Through the fullness of the grace that was given you, dead things rejoice in their freedom, and those in heaven are glad to be made new. Through the Son who was the glorious fruit of your virgin womb, just souls who died before his life-giving death rejoice as they are freed from captivity, and the angels are glad at the restoration of their shattered domain.

Lady, full and overflowing with grace, all creation receives new life from your abundance. Virgin, blessed above all creatures, through your blessing all creation is blessed, not only creation from its Creator, but the Creator himself has been blessed by creation.

To Mary God gave his only-begotten Son, whom he loved as himself. Through Mary God made himself a Son, not different but the same, by nature Son of God and Son of Mary. The whole universe was created by God, and God was born of Mary. God created all things, and Mary gave birth to God. The God who made all things gave himself form through Mary, and thus he made his own creation. He who could create all things from nothing would not remake his ruined creation without Mary.

God, then, is the Father of the created world and Mary the mother of the re-created world. God is the Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new life. For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Saviour of the world. Without God's Son, nothing could exist; without Mary's Son, nothing could be redeemed.

Juan Diego

Also, this day we honor Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548), who saw the Blessed Virgin. He is not listed in the Traditional calendar, but he still important in our lives. He saw the one who is the 'Protectress of the Americas'. The day of our Lady of Guadalupe will be the 12th, so lets think about the visit.

Historical Account of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe
by Sister Gabriel, O.P., 1900


The story of the Apparition of our Lady can not be too often repeated, and it will be better appreciated in the faithful translation of the original Indian narrative by that zealous and devoted client of our Lady of Guadalupe, Rev. Andrew Garriga, who for some years was rector of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, San Francisco.

In the year of our Lord 1531, ten years after the Conquest, and four months after the end of the war (Clement VI. being Pope, and Charles V. King of Spain), one Saturday morning, before dawn, it being the 9th of December, an Indian--low and poor, humble and candid (one of the newly converted to the Catholic Faith), named Juan Diego, a native of Quatitlan, a town north of and distant from the capital of Mexico four leagues, who was married to another convert, Maria Lucia, then resident in a town nearer to the city, called Tolpetlac--was going to the Church of S. James, in the Barrio of Tlatelolco, to hear Mass and the catechetical instruction that the religious of S. Francis used to impart every morning to the Indians.

At the dawn of the morning, as he had to pass by the slope of a hill near the city, called by the Indians "Tepeyacac," he heard from around a point of projecting rock sweet and harmonious singing, as it seemed to him, of a multitude and variety of birds heretofore unknown to him, which, like choruses, responded to each other in enchanting harmony, and the echoes were redoubled and repeated by the larger hill near by. Raising his eyes to a spot where he thought the singing came from, he saw a white and brilliant cloud surrounded by a rainbow, produced by an excessive light and splendor, as if springing directly from the center of the cloud.

There he stood absorbed, and as if beside himself (in a trance) but without confusion or fear. He had a feeling in his heart of such exquisite pleasure and joy that he said to himself: "What is this that I hear and see? Whereto have I been transported? In what place of the world am I? Perhaps I have been transported to that Paradise of Delights of which our good Fathers have spoken as the origin of our flesh, the Garden of Flowers, or the Celestial World, hidden to the eye of men?" Standing in this suspense and ecstasy, the singing ceased, and he heard some one call him by his name (in his language)"Juan!"--a sweet and delicate voice, as of a woman, coming out from the splendor of that cloud, and telling him to approach. He immediately obeyed, and ran up the hill with great haste.


FIRST APPARITION.

In the center of that brilliance he saw a most beautiful lady, very much like the one we see in the picture now, according to the verbal description given by the Indian himself before she had appeared in the painting, or to any one else; "whose garments glittered so," said he, "that their light striking the rough rocks which rise on the summit of the hill, appeared to be transparent and polished precious stones, and the leaves and thorns and 'nopals' that grew there, small and poor on account of the dryness of the place, looked like handfuls of emeralds, and their trunks, branches and thorns as they were of brilliant gold. Even the surface of a small plain by the top of the hill seemed to be of jasper mixed with fine and different colors." The lady spoke to him in the Aztec language, and said: "My child, Juan Diego, whom I love as one that is little and delicate (the idiom of the Indian language), "Whither goest thou?" The Indian answered: "I am going, noble lady, to Mexico, to the Barrio of Tlatelolco, to hear the Mass that the ministers of God say for us." The beautiful Lady heard him, and then continued: "Know thou, O my beloved child, that I am the Ever Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God, the Author of Life, Creator of all, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, Who is present everywhere; and it is my desire that a temple be built for me on this very spot, wherein, as a most tender Mother to thee and all thy people, I will show my loving clemency, and the compassion I feel for the natives, and for all of those who love and seek me, and for all who solicit my protection and invoke me in their trouble and afflictions, and wherein I shall hear their prayers and see their tears, and give them consolation and help. And in order that my will be carried out, thou shalt go to the City of Mexico, and to the palace of the Bishop, whom thou shalt tell that I send thee; and that it is my pleasure that he build a temple in this very place. And thou shalt tell him all that thou hast seen and heard. And be sure that I will be most grateful for whatever thou shalt do for me in this, my business, and I will raise thee up and make thee famous as thy reward. Thou hast heard, my son, my desire. Go in peace, and forget not that I will pay thee well for all the trouble and pains thou shalt take in it; and so thou shalt work for it with all thy might."

Prostrate on the ground, the Indian replied: "I will go immediately, my noble Lady, and my possessor, to do your bidding, your humble servant that I am. Wait here. Good-bye!" Having taken leave with a profound reverence, he took the road that leads to the city, descending the hill by the west side. As he had promised, Juan Diego went straight to the City of Mexico, about one league from the hill, and entered the palace of the Bishop, the illustrious Lord Don Fray Juan Zumarraga, the first Bishop of Mexico. He requested the servants to call the Bishop, telling them that he wished to see him and speak to him. They did not obey the request, either because it was too early in the morning, or because they saw the visitor so poor, simple and humble. So he had to wait for a long time. Touched and moved by his tolerance and patience, they admitted him. Once in the presence of the Bishop, he knelt down and delivered his message. "The Mother of God," said he. "whom I saw and spoke to thin morning, sends me," and he then related all he had seen and heard.

The Prelate listened with some admiration to what the Indian said, but he did not give much credit to his message, considering it an imagination or a dream, or an illusion from the devil to a new convert from paganism. And although he put many questions to him and found him true, sensible and consistent in his answers, he dismissed him, saying that he might come to him again some days after; that he wanted to examine and inquire thoroughly into the matter (and, of course, after the character of the messenger) and take his time for deliberation. The poor Indian left the residence of the Bishop sad and disheartened, as much to feel that he had not been believed as to see--that he could not accomplish the wishes of the Lady of whom, he was the messenger.


SECOND APPARITION.

Juan Diego, about sunset of the same day, went back to the town where he lived, which in all probability and tradition was the town of Tolpetlac, that is, in the back and northwest, about one league distant from the hill. Tolpetlac in Aztec means "place of mats of reedmace," because, very probably, it was the only occupation of the old Indians of that town to weave mats of that plant. As soon as the Indian arrived at the summit of the hill where he had seen the lady in the morning, he saw her there again, waiting for the answer to her message. He immediately fell on his knees, and said to her: "My beloved nina, my Queen and exalted Lady, I have done all that thou hast commanded; and although I could not see the Bishop until after long waiting, I saw him and gave him the message in the very same words that thou desired me. He listened to me very calmly and attentively, but, from what I could see in him and from the many questions he put to me, I concluded that he did not believe me. For he told me to come back some other time, so that he could examine the matter more minutely and think of it deliberately. He presumed that the Temple that thou asked to have built for thee was only a fiction or whim of mine, and not thy will. Therefore, I beseech thee to send, instead of me, some other person--one noble, great and worthy of respect and belief; because, as thou seest, my possessor, I am only a low and humble man, a poor Indian, unable and unfit to carry out thy purpose. Forgive, oh my Queen, my boldness, if I have in anything exceeded the honor and respect due to thy Highness, lest, perhaps, I have provoked thy indignation or have been disagreeable with my answer." This colloquy and the others are literally translated from the history written by the natives.

The Blessed Virgin listened to the Indian's answer with a benign face, and as soon as he had finished she said: "Hear, my beloved son. Know thou that I am not in want of servants to command or messengers to send, because I have many that would execute my orders with great joy; but thou must be the one that shall perform and solicit this business: and it is through thy means that this, my wish and desire, must be accomplished. So, I beseech and command thee, my son, to go again tomorrow morning, and see and speak to the Bishop, and tell him to build for me that Temple which I ask; and that she who sends you is the Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God."

Juan Diego replied: "Be not offended at what I have said, my Lady and my Queen, for I will go most willingly and obey thy command with all my heart, and I will carry thy message. I do not excuse myself, nor do I consider the way any trouble; but, perhaps, I will not be well received or listened to. Or, if the Bishop listens to me he may not believe me. However, I shall do what thou orderest me, and tomorrow afternoon, at sunset, I shall wait for thee here, and bring the answer I may receive from him. And so be tranquil, my dear and exalted Lady. God keep you!"

The Indian took leave with profound humility and started for his home. It is not known whether he revealed what happened, to his wife or any other person, for the Indian history says nothing about it. Perhaps, confused and ashamed of his yet unfavorable success, he did not dare to speak of it until he saw the end of the affair.

The next day, Sunday, the 10th of December, Juan came as usual to the Temple of S. James of Tlatelolco to hear Mass and learn his Catechism. After the account that the Padres used to take every day, in every parish, of the natives present at their instructions, he went to the Bishop; and although the servants, treating him as an impertinent person, delayed a long time before announcing him to the prelate, he entered and humbled himself in his presence. With tears and sobs he said: "Be not annoyed or angry with me, my Lord. I have seen that Lady once more, waiting for an answer to her first demand, and she bade me again come to thy presence and tell thee again to build her a temple on that same place, where I first saw and spoke to her; and that I should assure thee that she is the Mother of Jesus Christ, and the ever Virgin Mary, that sends me."

The Bishop heard him with more attention than before, and, to be more certain, asked him several questions and cross-questions, impressing upon him to remember well what he said about the appearance, dress, words, and other signs of the Lady who sent him. Although he began to think that it could hardly be a fiction or dream of the Indian, still, lest it should be considered levity to believe the simple relation of a candid and low Indian convert, he said to him: "What thou sayest is not sufficient to put it into execution, so tell the lady that sent thee to give thee some token by which I may know that it is the Mother of God who sends thee and wishes me to build her Temple." The Indian answered promptly: "What token dost thou want?" The Prelate, seeing the prompt, direct and self-confident answer of the Indian, inviting him to choose himself whatever token he wished, began to take action in the matter. He called two members of his own household, and, speaking to them in Castllian, which the Indian did not understand, he told them to mark the man, and hold themselves in readiness to go and follow him, keeping at a distance, but never losing sight of him, nor letting him suspect that he was followed. They were ordered to watch him carefully as far as the place told by himself, where he said that he had seen the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to notice if he spoke to anybody and with whom. And they were to come back and report their observations. He then dismissed the Indian, and the servants, obeying orders, followed him, without his knowledge.

So soon as Juan Diego arrived near a bridge of the creek that runs by the foot of the hill, he disappeared from the sight of his followers. Although they searched for him carefully all around and over the hill they could not find him. Declaring him an impostor, a liar and a sorcerer they came back full of anger, and informed the Bishop of everything, and requested him not to believe the Indian, but to punish him severely if he should come back with his imposture.



THIRD APPARITION.

As soon as Juan Diego reached the top of Tepeyacac, he again found the Lady waiting for his answer. The Indian humbled himself as before, in her presence and said: "I have fulfilled thy command. I saw the Bishop again and delivered thy message, and after several questions and cross-questions that he put to me, he said that my simple narration was not sufficient to take a determination on so grave a subject, and that I should require of thee a sign (token) by which he might know that it is thou who sendest me, and that it is thy will that he build thee a Temple here."

The Lady, with kind words, expressed her gratitude to him for the interest and pains he was taking, and made him come the next day to the same place and that she would then give him a sign that the Bishop would believe. He promised to come back, and went home.

The next day, Monday, December 11th, passed away, and Juan Diego could not come back, because, when he reached home, he found an uncle of his, named Juan Bernardino, whom he loved very tenderly and held him as his own father, grievously ill of a malignant fever, called by the natives Cocoliztli, so on that account he went for the medicine man to apply some remedy. He came back with the Indian doctor, who gave his uncle some medicine; but the patient became worse and worse. Night came on, and Juan Bernardino, feeling very much fatigued and weak, called his nephew and asked him to start early in the morning, before daybreak, and go to the Convent of S. James of Tlatelolco, and tell one of the Padres to come and administer to him the Holy Sacraments of the Church, for he felt he was going to die.

On the day and hour before mentioned, namely, the early morning of the 12th, Juan Diego went for the priest, and, as the day broke in, he was about to pass the hill by the usual road on the east side, when he remembered that he had not come the day before, according to his promise, and therefore disobeyed the Lady, who must have waited a long time for him to give him the "token." He thought that if he went to the place where he used to meet her, she would scold him and delay his urgent message. Therefore he imagined, in his simplicity, that, taking another road by the other side, she would not see nor detain him; and when his uncle would be attended to he would come back, beg the Lady's pardon, receive humbly her reprimand, and take the "token" to the Lord Bishop. So he did; and as he was passing by a flowing spring of water which flows at the foot of the hill and was turning to the right road, behold! there was the Blessed Virgin again before him.


FOURTH APPARITION.

The Indian saw her descending towards him surrounded with a white cloud, and with the halo and brightness of the first time that she appeared. She said to him: "Whither art thou going, my son, and what road didst thou take today?" The Indian fell on his knees, and, all confused, ashamed and trembling, answered: "My love and my Lady, good morning! How art thou today? Art thou well? Be not displeased at what I say. Know thou, then, my Queen, that thy servant, my uncle, is very sick with a grievous and mortal disease; he is very weak and fatigued, and in great danger, and I am going in great haste to the Temple of Tlatelolco for a priest to prepare him for death; for, as thou well knowest, we are all subject to die. As soon as I have done that, I shall come back to execute thy orders. Forgive me, I beseech thee, my Queen, and have some patience, for I do not refuse to execute thy command to thy humble servant, nor do I feign an excuse. Tomorrow I shall be here, without fail."

The Blessed Virgin listened to his apology with a very amiable countenance and replied to him thus: "Hear, my son, what I tell thee now; be not annoyed nor afflicted at anything; fear not any disease, accident or pain. Am I not here who am thy mother? Art not thou under my shadow and protection? Am I not life and health? Art not thou in my keeping? Am I not responsible for thee? Dost thou want anything else? Be in no trouble or care about the sickness of thy uncle; he shall not die of this disease; but, be assured, he is now already recovered." And so he was, as was found out afterwards.

When Juan Diego heard these words, satisfied and consoled, he replied: "Then, my beloved Queen, send me to the Lord Bishop at once and give me the token that thou hast promised me, so that he may believe." The Blessed Virgin replied to him: "Go up, my darling beloved son, to the top of the hill where thou sawest and spoke to me first, and pick up the roses that thou shalt find there. Collect them in thy cloak, bring them down to me, and I will tell thee what thou shalt do and say." The Indian obeyed without making any remark, although he knew for certain that no flowers or any plant ever grew or would grow on that group of rough rocks. He reached the top and found there a beautiful garden of Castilian Roses, fresh and fragrant and with the morning dew; and gathering them in his tilma or cloak, as the natives used to do, brought them to the Blessed Virgin. She was waiting for him at the foot of a tree that the natives call Quanzabault (which in Indian means "Tree of the Cobwebs"). It is a wild tree, bears no fruit and only produces some white flowers at its proper season. Here the Indian prostrated himself in the presence of the Blessed Virgin, and showed her the roses. She, taking them all in her hand, as if to form a bouquet of them, put them into the cloak which the Indian was keeping open before her, and said to him: "This is the token that thou shalt give to the Bishop and tell him that by this he shall do what I order. And mind, my son, what I tell thee. I place confidence in thee. Show not to anybody in the way what thou bringest, nor do thou open thy cloak till thou art in the presence of the Bishop. Tell him all thou hast seen and heard now, and he will take courage and build my Temple." Having said this, she took leave of him. Glad and happy for the success he now expected from his message, the Indian started for the city, carrying his roses with great care, looking at them now and then on his way and enjoying their beautiful fragrance.

APPARITION OF THE IMAGE.

Juan Diego came with his last message to the episcopal residence, and, though he begged of several of the servants to let him see the Bishop, he could not obtain his request for a long time. The servants, already angry with his importunities, noticed that he carried something in his cloak. They wondered and wanted to find what it was, and although he resisted all he could, they succeeded in opening it somewhat, and saw. that he carried roses. Seeing them so beautiful they tried to seize them, but they caught nothing. They seemed to be only painted or interwoven in the cloak. They told the Bishop about it and the Indian was admitted to his presence. He gave his message faithfully, and added: "There is the token thou wantedst, and which the lady sends to thee"; and letting the lower edge of his cloak loose, down fell the roses, rolling off on the floor, and, behold! the image of the Blessed Virgin was painted on the cloak.

Much surprised and astonished, the Lord Bishop contemplated the prodigy. Roses, fresh, fragrant and wet with dew, as if just cut from the bush, in the midst of winter, and, as stated, from a barren rock, and that wonderful Image on the crude and rough cloth, woven from the rough palm-tree fiber. He called all his household, paid the Image the greatest respect and veneration, untied the two upper corners from behind the Indian's neck, and, placing it in his private chapel for the time being, fell on his knees and gave thanks to God and his glorious Mother.

The Lord Bishop kept the Indian in his residence with honor and deference, and the next day went with him to see the place which the Blessed Virgin had selected for her Temple. Being there, the Indian showed the localities where he had seen and spoken to her, and then begged permission to go home and see his uncle, Juan Bernardino.


FIFTH APPARITION.

When Juan Bernardino saw his nephew coming, accompanied by Spaniards, and the honors they paid to him, he asked the cause of that novelty. Juan Diego told him the progress of his message to the Lord Bishop; how the Blessed Virgin had assured him of his recovery; and, having related the hour about when she had said that he was well, Juan Bernardino assured him that just at that same hour a lady of the same description had appeared to him also; that she had cured him, and said that it was her pleasure that a Temple should be built in the place that his nephew had seen, and, also, that her Image should be called S. Mary of Guadalupe. She had given him no reason why it should be so. The servants of the Lord Bishop heard the two Indians and brought them to his presence immediately. He examined Juan Bernardino very closely about his sickness, how he was cured, how the Lady looked, how she was dressed, and, having verified the truth, took them both into his palace.

The fame of the miracle had already spread all over the neighborhood, and the people came in great crowds from all parts of the city to see and venerate the holy Image. Seeing this, the Lord Bishop took the holy picture and placed it over the main altar of his pro-cathedral, where everybody could honor it, whilst they were building a large church on the spot named by Juan Diego, and where it was afterward brought in procession, and a solemn feast established, and where it is venerated up to the present day.

This is the plain tradition without any ornamentation of words; and it is so true, that any circumstance more or less in addition would be either false or apocryphal; for this is the precise, brief and faithful form in which the most intelligent Indians and the historians of that time write and tell it.