By 1521, the Spanish conquistadores had vanquished the indigenous Indians of Latin America. The conquered were forced to take on the religious beliefs of their captors, which they did not truly believe. Then a miracle occurred, and instantaneously every Indian in Latin America truly believed, and Catholicism became the religion of the Spanish-speaking Americas.

To Catholics, a saint is someone who has dedicated his or her life to improving the lot of mankind. Saints are mortal messengers who exemplify all that is good. To call someone a saint is the highest compliment a Catholic can give.

I remember learning about saints and Catholic history from Sister Maria Guadalupe. She hypnotized me with stories about how early Christians used tunnels to avoid detection. I was fascinated by accounts of why Martin Luther broke away from the church and formed the Lutheran Church. I was intrigued by the schism between Rome and Constantinople, which led to the formation of the Greek Orthodox Church. I visualized King Henry when he formed the Anglican Church.

Once a week, Sister Guadalupe would call roll and inquire about our well being. She always wore a smile and had a kind word for each of us. She enthralled us with stories of saints who had given their life to Jesus. We would listen to her soft voice tell us where we came from, who our Catholic ancestors were and why we are on this earth. Her parables were legendary.

The story I never grew tired of hearing was of Juan Diego and how the mother of Jesus appeared to him. Through him she let the Indians of Mexico know they were loved by her son. To Hispanics, Juan Diego is our ancestor, religiously and ethnically.

Juan Diego lived near what is now Mexico City. Ten years after the Spanish had forced their religion on the Indian nations, the native populations were demoralized and prayed to the Aztec goddess Tonantzin, the mother of the earth, for relief. Although Catholic in name, the religion was still that of their oppressors.

One December morning in 1531, a poor Catholic Indian farmer who had been on his daily walk to church returned to his village with a story of having seen an apparition. The dark-skinned woman in the vision spoke to him in his native tongue and instructed him to build a church at the place of her appearance. No one believed him.

Juan Diego informed the bishop of the apparition's request. The disbelieving bishop replied that the phantom would have to produce a sign so all would know it was true.

A dejected messenger tried to evade the place of his encounter. But a voice called out to him, "Juan, why do you avoid me?" He wept as he informed the beautiful woman who floated in the air of the bishop's request for a sign. The Indian-looking woman told him to climb a hill and pick the roses he would find there. He was to put them in his shawl and show them only to the bishop. Juan doubted because roses do not grow in December. To his amazement he found beautiful roses.

Upon seeing the bishop, Diego opened his shawl. As the roses fell, so did the bishop to his knees as he gazed upon an image of the Virgin Mother that had been imprinted on Diego's tilma. The picture was of a beautiful dark-skinned woman with hands clasped, eyes downward and black hair worn in the native style.

In short time, the miracle was known to every Indian nation. Everyone believed Our Lady of Guadalupe had come in answer to their prayers. She became the Queen of the Americas, champion of the poor and oppressed. The Madonna became the symbol of the Indian struggle for spiritual and cultural equality.

Her church was built, and today the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe is the most revered Catholic shrine in the world, with over 8 million visitors a year.

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Recently, Pope John Paul II visited the temple and proclaimed Our Lady's messenger a saint. He is the first Indian saint in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

Juan Diego has always been respected as saintly. Like Christ he ministered to the poor. He accepted differences in people. He sought out the needy and oppressed. He did not attribute evil based merely on skin color or language differences.

During his lifetime, Diego was considered a latter-day saint. He could have been rich and famous. Instead, he died a poor farmer who never forgot that he was merely a messenger who would someday have to account for his time on this earth, just like everyone else.


Utah native Mike Martinez, an attorney in private practice, is active in Hispanic affairs. He has previously worked in the Utah Attorney General's Office, the Salt Lake County Attorney's Office and for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C. E-mail: mmartinez@prism.net

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