According to tradition, on December 9th, 1531,
the virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico
City. She instructed him to tell the bishop to build a church on the site.
Three days later she appeared again and told Juan Diego to take some flowers to
the bishop. When he presented them, roses fell out of his cloak, and beneath
them was this painted image of the Lady.
Today the cloak is displayed in the Basilica of Guadalupe nearby, one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world.
The Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico's most popular religious and cultural image, with the titles "Queen of Mexico", "Empress of the Americas", and "Patroness of the Americas"; both Miguel Hidalgo (in the Mexican War of Independence) and Emiliano Zapata (during the Mexican Revolution) carried flags bearing the Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Guadalupe Victoria, the first Mexican president changed his name in honor of the icon.
