Our Lady of Guadalupe

In December 1531, just ten years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, a Nahua peasant named Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was walking past Tepeyac Hill when he heard beautiful music and saw a radiant woman who identified herself as the Virgin Mary. She asked him to request that the local bishop, Juan de Zumarraga, build a church on the hill. After the bishop demanded proof, the Virgin instructed Juan Diego to gather roses from the hilltop — roses that should not have been blooming in December. When Juan Diego opened his tilma before the bishop, the roses fell out and the miraculous image of the Virgin was found imprinted on the cloth. The tilma, made of maguey fiber that normally decomposes within 20 years, has survived nearly 500 years. The image has been studied by NASA scientists, ophthalmologists, and textile experts, all of whom have been unable to explain its origin or preservation. The basilica built at the site is now the most-visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world, receiving over 10 million visitors annually.