Virgin of Guadalupe

“ Half a year elapsed, and then an Indian, in stripping an aloe plant, found the picture between leaf and stem. It was carried in triumph, and so grateful did the Virgin show herself for this attention, that she sent an abundant rain, which happened just then to be greatly needed. In consideration of the innumerable miracles she had wrought in their favour, the Spaniards chose her for their patroness, and gave her the command of their armies. She struggled valiantly against the Virgin of Guadalupe, whom the Mexicans had elected to be their leader. ”

“ Mexico, like each good Mexican Catholic, has a patron saint who presides over her destinies. This saint has not only been adopted by the government in times past, but has been proclaimed as the guardian of Mexico by the Holy See, and only a few years ago was duly crowned as the Virgin of Guadalupe in ceremonies made memorable by the large number of church dignitaries present. Her miraculous appearance came at an apropos time and greatly assisted in attracting the natives to the new worship. ”

“ The holiday look everywhere is kept up in anticipation of the most universally celebrated of all the feast-days of the country, that of the Virgin de Guadalupe—the patron saint of Mexico—which takes place on the 12th of December.
She is venerated in all Spanish-America, and the story of her mysterious appearance to Juan Diego is firmly believed by thousands of every grade and class. The most ignorant Indian may not know of the President, Congress, or machinery of government, but he is sure to be well informed as to the merits of "Our Lady of Guadalupe." ”

“ A painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, surrounded by worshippers in thirteenth-century costumes, seemed to bring us into direct contact with the period when Andalucia was conquered by San Fernando of Castile, and her “few remaining loyal priests” were confirmed in their houses and offices by that wise monarch. In the church were life-size alabaster effigies of the noble family of Portocarrero, nine men and women in fifteenth-century dress, at the foot of the high altar. ”

“ Guadalupe is the holiest shrine in Mexico. It is the scene of a tradition that is never doubted for an instant by the people. In 1531 the Virgin appeared one evening to a poor peon, Juan Diego, and told him to go to some wealthy man and say it was her will that a church be built on that spot. The Indian, in great fright, obeyed her command, but the wealthy fellow refused to put credence in the incredulous story, so the peon returned and told the Virgin, who was still there, of his failure. ”

“ This is a brilliant piece of work, and reflects great credit upon the young artist, a young Jesuit priest, Fr. Gon{129}zalo Carrasco. The image is carried beneath a canopy, and attended by gorgeously arrayed priests and prelates. Then there are the friars and Indians and Spanish cavaliers, and acolytes bearing candles, flabelli, etc. In the lower right-hand corner is represented the first miracle alleged to have been wrought by the Virgin of Guadalupe. The Indians, in honor of the procession are letting off arrows, and one of them enters the neck of an Indian. ”

“ General Guadalupe Victoria is perhaps the last man in a crowd whom one would fix upon as being the owner of the above high-sounding cognomen, which in fact is not his original but his assumed name, Guadalupe being adopted by him in honor of the renowned image of the virgin of that name, and Victoria with less humility, to commemorate his success in battle. He is an honest, plain, down-looking citizen, lame and tall, somewhat at a loss for conversation, apparently, amiable and good-natured, but certainly neither courtier nor orator ”

“ The story of the Virgin is implicitly believed by the great mass of the people; and the wonderful picture, described in the following account, adorned with invaluable precious stones, is now preserved in a massive golden frame, in the collegiate church of Guadalupe erected at the foot of the hill of Tepeyacac. ”

“ Upon arriving at the village of Tolpetlac and approaching the house of Juan Bernardino, the convalescent Indian came forth to receive his nephew and ask why he was accompanied by so honorable a cortege. Thereupon Juan Diego related what had transpired; when Juan Bernardino, interrupting him, said, that in the self-same hour in which the Most Holy Virgin announced his recovery, she had in fact not only cured him, but had appeared and directed him to build a temple to her at Tepeyacac, where her image should be called Holy Maria de Guadalupe. ”

“ Copies of the Guadalupe Virgin are common and familiar; one can scarcely look{21} in any direction in Mexico without seeing the representation upon the walls of a house, or pendent from the watch-chain of a passer-by; but the average reproduction is a great improvement upon the original, which is a dull and heavy daub, without any evidences of skill in its execution, or even the average degree of accuracy in drawing. According to the story, the portrait was stamped upon the serape or blanket of the shepherd, and this all Catholics in Mexico devoutly believe ”

“ It is useless to argue against facts. A single look of interest draws a half dozen guides who want to explain all about the Virgin and the image. I give them enough money to get drunk on and die if they will leave me alone and tell me no more about the wonder. After they are gone I turn to the Campo Santo, just{134} behind the chapel. This is the Westminster of Guadalupe, full to running over with illustrious pilgrims, bandits and all. ”

“ After a long and dangerous climb they were found, to the Indian's amazement, growing in the snow. He filled his blanket with them and returned to the episcopal residence, but when he opened the folds before the dignitary, he was more amazed to find not flowers, but a glowing picture painted on his blanket. It hangs now in Guadalupe, but is duplicated in Santa Fe, where a statue of the Virgin is also kept. These treasures are greatly prized and are resorted to in time of illness and threatened disaster, the statue being taken through the streets in procession when the rainy season is due. ”

“ They built her a great church, and she was the patron saint of Mexico until the Guadaloupe arose to contest the devotion of the populace with her. The war was long and bitter, but the Indians outnumbered the Spaniards ten to one, though conquered, and they had not a single Indian saint in the calendar—they have not one to this day, though many saints have been canonized in Mexico—and a brown-skinned Virgin was something worth fighting for. ”

“ One of these worthy fathers who had been sent as a missionary to Mexico, finding the Indians rather stubborn and unyielding, conceived the plan of flattering their national vanity by fabricating a saint suited for the occasion. The Guadalupano had a poor friend who was an excellent painter, to whom he said, one day, "Take this tilma"—presenting him one of the coarsest and most slazy texture {251} (a sort of manta de guangoche) ; "paste it upon canvass, and paint me thereon the handsomest effigy of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe that your fancy can portray." ”

“ The water cures any disease, so they say, and at any time a crowd is found around filling its magic brim filling jars, bottles, and pitchers to take home, or supping from the copper bowl that is chained to the iron that cover the well. Very few can suppress the look of disgust when they try to swallow the vile stuff with the all-healing qualities. Nor are these all the churches of Guadalupe. Away up on top of a pile of rocks, some hundred feet in height, is the oldest church of the three. It is quite small, and filled with quaint paintings. ”

“ Convinced that a miracle had transpired, the Bishop erected the church, and it became at once so popular that a deluge of miracles swept all over Mexico, and every other good friar erected a chapel. But none has ever rivaled that of Guadalupe.
It is situated only a brief distance from the capital. A trolley took Eustace and myself there, stopping at a small square filled with rude stands under improvised awnings where Indians sold soft drinks, beads, edibles, and candles. Before the square stood a church and a merry-go-round. ”

“ I want it known that she is the wife of Torres.”
“Revenge, eh?” smiled Guadalupe. “To laugh at someone, you are willing to marry what you might have without marriage. Is that it, Torres?”
“That is for me to know. I am willing to pay one hundred dollars in gold, Guadalupe. Bring me a priest. Somewhere we will find someone to play the guitar, the mandolin. We will open a cask of wine, while Lopez roasts us much meat, and we will hold a marriage fiesta at the Rancho Sierra.” ”

“ Drudging men and women; hewers of wood and drawers of water; bare-breasted peasants, with faces dusky and dusty, the same who any day may be seen on Mexican roads carrying burdens of all sorts strapped to their backs; children in plenty, bare, unkempt, untidy, and sometimes swaddled about their mothers' shoulders; numerous babes at the breast, half-nude—these are some of the features in a not overdrawn picture of the primitive poverty which assembles at Guadalupe, and, in fact, in every Mexican multitude whatsoever. ”

“ The subject of Guadalupe has been one of such intense interest, that about sixty-one Mexican and Spanish writers have written elaborately on it. So prominent is she, that thousands of children are annually christened by her name.
The tradition, as generally believed, is as follows: "At an early hour on the morning of December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a humble Indian, who had been recently converted to the Catholic faith, was quietly pursuing his way from a town adjacent to the City of Mexico, to mass. ”

“ As Guadalupe is for the most part composed of adobe houses, and as its mass of humble visitors have little finery to distinguish their brown personages from the dust out of which man was originally created, the complexion of the general scene which they constitute can only be described as earth-like and earth-worn. Elsewhere than in a superficial glance at the poverty of Guadalupe we must seek for the meaning of its spectacle. ”

“ There was something sad and lovely about it all, and Guadalupe seemed a sort of "Mariana in the moated grange." There were vast granaries, too; wheat growing easily at this altitude, in addition to the pulque.
We went at last into the little chapel where there were some old, carved prie-Dieu, covered with faded brocade, and the altar was a charming example of [331] Churrigueresque, with small, gilded saints in elaborately carved and gilded niches, surrounding a large, central figure of Saint Christopher. ”

“ She is appealed to on every occasion, and her name is given to nearly half the females in the country; her image is hung up in every house, and even in the butcher-stalls and drinking-shops she occupies a conspicuous place, where her presence is supposed to preserve the meat sweet in the one, and to bring customers to the other.
On Sunday, the 12th of December, 1847, I rode out to Guadalupé, to witness the ceremonies in honor of this saint. ”

“ To the merry hum of the trolley, which seems strangely out of place on this historic highway, the traveller is carried along. One does not need to be told that something out of the ordinary is about to take place. The streets of the capital and all the roads leading to Guadalupe are alive with people on their way to this most sacred shrine. ”

“ No, there is another charity which is worth more than all the broken food and frippery in the world—kindness, respect, consideration, and a name. I will give her these too, and teach her to respect herself. I have found the person I want, María—it is you. I have promised the Holy Virgin from the bottom of my soul that if she will bestow the gift of sight on my cousin, you shall be my sister. You shall be the same as myself, in my house, exactly like my sister." As she spoke Nela's Virgin clasped the girl in her arms and kissed her on the forehead. ”

“ Guadalupe crossed himself piously and grinned at Torres.
“Nor have I ever paid for many candles,” grinned Torres. “I have never felt the need. But this is different.”
“Fool!” grunted Guadalupe. “You have the girl. Marriage is only for those who are too weak to steal and keep a girl. You have stolen her. Are you afraid to hold her?”
“I fear nothing. To steal a girl is nothing. I have done it before, my friend. But”—Torres poured out a fresh drink—“I want to stand up before a priest and laugh. Ha, ha, ha, ha! I want this girl for my wife, do you understand? ”

“ Think of the men lifted above these by every accident of education and fortune, whom we so often see in the fair fields at home, listless, uninterested, careful only to fill the time of their contract; and these earnest, eager, constant laborers become superb. The miraculous shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, six miles outside the City of Mexico, is of great interest, as every spot must be around which centres the hint of spiritual manifestations. ”

“ Guadalupe was a husky little Indian, rather moon-faced, and very solemn in the presence of guests. There were two other maids of her own age who served us at table, where guests dined with the Spanish proprietor, and his native wife—a Tehuana lady of masculine features and Amazonian proportions. The maids would enter very seriously and sedately with their trays of frijoles, but once they were out of sight, we could hear their bare feet scampering across the patio as they chased each other to the kitchen in a game of tag. ”

“ Thus it was that Mariquilla, who, having fallen asleep with her head full of strange fancies of the Virgin, of the blind lad, and of her own ugliness which, she longed so wildly to see changed into wonderful loveliness, woke with the same ideas in her brain when Señana's call roused her in her basket. As soon as her eyes were open, Nela put up her usual prayer to the Virgin Mother—a sort of Litany, compounded of the ordinary Litany to the Virgin and of certain clauses of her own devising, and forming altogether an address which would look strange enough if it were written down. ”