ALL NARRATIVES OF the 1531 Guadalupe Apparitions are traced to the Nican Mopohua, written in Nahuatl, the ancient language of the Aztecs. The original has disappeared but a copy exists from 1649. The account begins with the words, "Ten years after the seizure of the city of Mexico, war came to an end and there was peace amongst the people."
This is a reference to the defeat of the Aztec Empire by Cortes. And so the peace is the peace of a crushed people: defeated, killed, enslaved, oppressed. Even Christianity was foisted on them. It is in this context of annihilation that the Lady appears. Mary is not just being sweet to Juan Diego in the dialogue, but rather she addresses him and involves him in her work as one who, with his people, has been utterly degraded. It is essential to understand this if the Guadalupe is not to be reduced to one more tame devotion.
in the quiet of defeat
you appeared
Virgencita,
striding into the cemetery
of Mexico
where you uncovered your
littlest son,
who in accepting
colonial degradation
called himself
the dog's tail,
a bit of rope,
the bottom rung,
a leaf.
In his reduction
you elevated him,
your agent now,
to the chaplain of
the aggressors -
orders from the
barefoot!
Stride now little girl
into our political divide
and up to the ecclesial chasms,
the air space of drones
the outer space of satellites -
the advance men
of wars yet to be declared.
Stride now, my Lady and Child,
into the demilitarized zones,
the no man's lands,
the Guantanamos and
Abu Ghraibs,
the deepest undergrounds
of exploitation and
torture.
Mother in motion,
exit the outer world
of cartoon piety,
historical debate,
of scientific proof,
and stride into the inner world
where there's no golden mist,
no song of tzinizcan,
where weedy thoughts
await the transformation
of your sparkling
turquoise and gold.
- The Virgin-Guadalupe called Juan Diego her littlest son.
- Virgencita: Juan Diego employs the diminutive in addressing the vision - the language of intimacy.
- Chaplain to the aggressors: that would be the local Spanish bishop.
- a leaf - commonly used as toilet paper.
- The barefoot: Just short of slavery, Juan Diego was at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.
- The tilma image shows Mary walking - see her left leg. Where does she need to stride today? But let's think beyond Mary wanting to correct the sex lives of people.
- Scientific proof. The Church has allowed the tilma to be subjected to countless scientific tests to prove its authenticity. I think this is foolish. "For those who have faith no proof is necessary. For those without faith, no proof would suffice."
- The Lady appeared first in a golden mist.
- The tzinizcan was a beautiful song bird. We might wonder if it has gone extinct.
- In the account of the first apparition the desert weeds glittered like precious stones.
- When heaven opens to us, there is always beauty.
