Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe essay published in The Conversation
Celebrate on December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe Published in The Conversation * by Kristy Nabhan-Warren Viva Guadalupe! Beyond Mexico, the Indigenous Virgin Mary is a powerful symbol of love and inclusion for millions of Latinos in the US. Nearly 500 years ago, an Indigenous peasant near Mexico City had a series of visions that would change his life – and shape the lives of millions of others. According to the Nican Mopohua, an Aztec text, a man named Ju an Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin reported that the Virgin Mary had appeared to him multiple times. But this wasn’t Mary as she was usually depicted in European churches. She was Indigenous – “la Virgen Morena,” a dark-haired, dark-skinned woman. The power of that image, which the Catholic Church has embraced, has made the Virgin of Guadalupe an icon of love and inclusivity ever since – a powerful affirmation of the richness in Meso-American culture. In Mexico, she’s a national symbol. But, writes University of Iowa religious studies scholar