When Diego was again before the bishop, he opened his tilma and the Castilian roses, instantly recognisable to the bishop, fell to the ground. But the true miracle was yet to occur.Īfter Diego had picked the roses, the Virgin Mary again appeared and arranged the flowers in Diego’s tilma (a coarse cloak) so that he could carry them to the bishop. This would become known as the Miracle of the Roses. They were Castilian roses, native to the Spanish hometown of Bishop Zumárraga. But, these were not flowers recognised by Diego. On reaching the hilltop, Diego found a mass of roses in bloom. Again, Diego dutifully did as instructed and, despite it being winter and ordinarily too cold for flowers to be in bloom, climbed the hill. To convince the bishop of her miraculous appearance, Mary instructed Diego to again go to the top of the hill on which she first appeared and pick some flowers for the Franciscan bishop. The bishop, Juan de Zumárraga, was left unconvinced, however, and told Diego that he would first need a miracle as proof of his encounter with the Holy Mother.Īccording to the story, shortly thereafter, Diego again met with the Virgin Mary, and Zumárraga soon got his miracle. Recognising the vision as the Virgin Mary, Juan Diego dutifully went to the bishop and recounted his amazing story. Speaking in Diego’s native tongue, the light-bathed vision implored him to go to the Mexican bishop and ask that he build a shrine in her honour on the very spot on which she now appeared. On running up the hill, Juan Diego was met by the sight of a beautiful young, dark-skinned woman resembling an Aztec princess. One Sunday morning in December of 1531, an Aztec Indian by the name of Juan Diego – he had converted to Catholicism some years earlier and had taken the Spanish name upon his baptism – was making his way to church when a heavenly voice called to him from atop a nearby hill.
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