Our Lady of Guadalupe - Mexico, Day 2 Pt 1

Today we went on a 1-day tour to the ruins of Tlatelolco, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and to the pyramids of Teotihuacan. It was the high point of our trip to Mexico, both literally and figuratively. Oh yes, it also featured a shot of tequila and a handicraft factory outlet so there were indeed many different types of 'highs'. I'm going to alter the chronological flow of events now, so that I can talk about the Aztec stuff separately from the Catholic stuff, and go straight to our visit at the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

I must say I was more than a little excited at the prospect of visiting the shrine. The story is that Our Lady appeared to an Aztec peasant, Juan Diego. This was some 10 years after the Spanish conquest. He went to a priest and told him the story but of course the priest didn't believe him. Juan Diego asked our Lady for a sign and she told him to pick some roses which had miraculously appeared on a bush. He picked the roses, put them in his poncho and then went to the priest. He shook the roses out to show the priest and lo and behold, there on the poncho was an image of the apparition he had seen:

(FYI, I did photoshop this but it still isn't too good. Other photos can be found here.)

Mary appears with the rays of the sun about her, the moon beneath her feet and stars on her cloak. This was interpreted very positively by the Aztecs - the duality of sun and moon, day and night is important to them culturally - and apparently this played a big part in their acceptance of Catholicism (with Aztec characteristics). That the hill she made her appearance on was already sacred to the Aztecs helped too.

This tradition of special reverence for our Lady of Guadalupe is still very much present in Mexico today. On the way to the shrine, we saw a procession of pilgrims walking to the basilica. (We would later see them entering the church - see photo.) We got to the shrine itself soon after. It is a really huge complex, with a gigantic square with the new basilica at one end, and the old basilica along the adjacent side. The old basilica was in danger of falling over, so they built the new one and took some some remedial action on the old building.

The new Basilica is large - it seats some 8,000 people and holds masses every hour of the day. Of course, being on a conducted tour I could not go to mass so had to say a short prayer instead. On the outer wall of the basilica, there is a special altar which overlooks the square. This is used when mass is said in the square on special occasions - which includes Pope John Paul II's masses when he visted Mexico City. (There is a statue of the Pope in one corner of the Square, together with his Mobile Van.) Pilgrims (and tourists) were walking into the Basilica but there were a few who were going in on their knees - ow. The square is made partly of nice smooth stones (I think granite) but a lot of it is just rather rough looking paving stones.

Going into the Basilica, the poncho with the image of Our Lady is hung behind the altar. But, (and I think this is quite ingenious) there is a pathway which goes below the image and from here, looking up, the image is quite clearly visible. Of course, close scrutiny is not possible, especially as there are a few short travelators just at that point to keep the flow of people going, or so they can concentrate on their prayers. I was too busy trying to take photos on the travelator to do anything else.

We then visited the old Basilica (where I saw the Day of the Dead display). The columns have all been reinforced, and there is a lot of metal strutting inside the building. We then went to the gardens around the basilica, and our guide pointed out where the original apparitions to Juan Diego were supposed to have taken place. It is really a peaceful, quiet area. She then gave us about 20 minutes or so free time which I spent trying to find nice souvenirs to bring back so I can share the whole experience with others. Not so easy as it seems - the place has a lot of rather cheap looking stuff. So this is the sacrifice which I had personally to make - go shopping instead of taking the opportunity to spend in quiet prayer (and I do mean this, for all the doubters out there) ! But I felt quite happy after our visit and hopefully that was God's grace at work rather than the feeling of satisfaction at being able to get something halfway decent :-)