Portland Magazine
November 10, 2023
Where Mary shows up—two centuries, two stories.
Story by Diana Salgado Huicochea
Illustration by Marisol Ortega
AT MY HOME parish—St. Anne, in Gresham, OR—the devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe is strong. When I was young, each Sunday after Mass, our priest would ask for Mary’s intercession and the entire congregation turned towards the image of Our Lady—a replica of the one in Mexico City—and together we’d recite a Hail Mary, “Dios te salve, María…” Then my mother, my brother, and I would join the sea of people waiting in line to say a private prayer to Our Lady, light a candle, and touch the image.
I always followed my mother’s lead, though in private, I wanted to avoid Mary. I didn’t want to add to any of the labels out there. Namely, I didn’t want to be devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe just because I am Mexican, and I didn’t want to feed the misperception that “Catholics worship Mary.” It’s one thing to know you’re supposed to have a relationship with someone, but it’s another thing to have a relationship. In my personal prayer, I even went so far as to put the question—why am I supposed to like you?—to Mary herself. Until she could answer me, I decided to keep my distance.
In 1531, on Tepeyac Hill, Mary appeared to Juan Diego, a man of Aztec descent, who was on his way to Mass. She appeared on a radiant cloud speaking in Juan Diego’s native language revealing herself as the “true mother of God.” She told Juan Diego to go to the bishop and tell him to build a shrine on this hill. Juan Diego went and told Bishop Juan de Zumárraga, but the bishop asked for proof. Juan Diego asked Our Lady if she could send a person of higher standing, but she reassured him and instructed him to make the request again. The bishop asked two men to follow Juan Diego. The men returned and told the bishop that Juan Diego had made up the entire story. Juan Diego once again went back to Our Lady, imploring her to send someone else. She told Juan Diego that the next day she would give him a sign.
On the surface, it looked like I wasn’t very good at keeping my distance from Mary. I attended the Marian feast day Masses and other Marian devotions. And since high school, I’ve been part of planning the Our Lady of Guadalupe festivities, which is always a beautiful community celebration, starting with the novena and leading to the festival on midnight of December 12. The colors in the church; the Mariachi band singing Las Mañanitas, the song serenading the birthday of a loved one; people dressed in Aztec clothing or traditional Mexican clothes; women’s hair braided with red and green ribbons—all of these details fill me with an undeniable sense of joy, and I am reminded of home. Even now, when I live far away from my family, Mary’s Mantle is a refuge that unites me with God and my family even more than physical presence could ever do.
The day that Our Lady was supposed to give Juan Diego the proof to take to the bishop, Juan Diego spent the day caring for his gravely ill uncle. On December 12, Juan Diego needed to go find a priest to administer Last Rites, and he decided to take a longer route to avoid Our Lady. Still, Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego and reassured him that she would take care of his uncle and that he needed to go to Tepeyac Hill to find the proof to take to Bishop Zumárraga. “Hear and let it penetrate your heart, my dear little son,” she said to Juan Diego. “Let nothing discourage you, nothing disturb you… Am I not here, I who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?”
I think of my own mother, a single mom, always busy, sometimes holding down three jobs, ever-overloaded with chores and meals to cook for me and my brother. She never had time on her hands, but she always directed me to pray, to go to my Heavenly Father. She handed down her discipline and devotion. Through my own mother’s example, I started to understand Mary’s own maternal heart.
When Juan Diego got to the hill, Our Lady told him to collect the roses in his tilma (cloak) and take them to the bishop. Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop’s presence, the roses fell to the ground, and a fragrant smell fill the room. Bishop Zumárraga then fell to his knees, for on Juan Diego’s tilma the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared exactly as she had appeared at Tepeyac Hill.
I started to see that Mary met me where I was at. She walked with me patiently, and she slowly revealed to me her motherly care and protection through the people around me. We know Mary walked with her son to Calvary. She remained with him at the foot of the Cross. In my own life, I started to see that Mary led me closer to her Son Jesus, too, and she showed me that we are not alone, and that God is with us in our trials and our joys. Mary came to me not as she appeared to Juan Diego but through people, Scripture, and meditation, so that I too could understand her role as a Mother who converts hearts and reveals to people what is good, true, and beautiful—in other words, God.
DIANA SALGADO HUICOCHEA graduated from University of Portland in 2020 and then earned her Master’s degree from University of Notre Dame, where she now works in the office of campus ministry.
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