OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

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Our Lady of Guadalupe 

 (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the La Guadalupana , La Morenita , Virgin of Guadalupe (Spanish: Virgen de Guadalupe; Nahuatl: Tonantzin Guadalupe) is a celebrated Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary. Under this title, she is officially proclaimed by the Catholic Church as the Patroness of Americas, Empress of Latin America and Protectress of the Unborn Children.

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According to Catholic tradition, on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a recently converted Aztec indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The lady asked him to build a church exactly on the spot where they were standing. He told the local Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, who asked for proof in exchange.

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Juan Diego went back later and saw the lady again. He told her that the bishop wanted proof, and she instructed Juan Diego to go to the mountain top, where he found Castillian roses, which were native to Bishop Juan de Zumarraga's hometown and could not possibly bloom during wintertime. Juan Diego cut the roses, placed them in his apron-like tilma and returned to the bishop; an imprint of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on the tilma from the residue of the soil and roses.

Today, the icon is displayed in the nearby Basilica of Guadalupe, now 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 image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Guadalupe Victoria, the first Mexican president, changed his name in honor of the icon.
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From Wikipedia
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AZTEC PRAYER

TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS
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Teleoinan was the Mother Goddess of

the Aztec people and patroness of midwives

and childbirth. It was near the site of

Teleoinan's old temple at Tepeyacac in Mexico

that the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to

Juan Diego, the dark-skinned native.

This version of the hymn to Teleoinan has been

adapted from Daniel Brinton's

Rig Veda Americanus, 1890.

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Hail to our Mother, who caused

the yellow flowers to blossom,

who scattered the seeds of the

maguey as she came forth from Paradise.

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Hail to our Mother, who poured

forth flowers in abundance,

who scattered the seeds of the

maguey as she came forth from Paradise.

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Hail to our Mother, who caused

the yellow flowers to blossom,

she who scattered the seeds of the

maguey as she came forth from Paradise.

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Hail to our Mother, who poured

forth white flowers in abundance,

who scattered the seeds of the

maguey as she came forth from Paradise.

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Hail to the goddess

who shines in the thorn bush

like a bright butterfly.

Lo! She is our Mother,

the goddess of the earth.

She supplies food in the desert

to the wild beasts,

and causes them to live.

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Thus, thus, you see her

to be an ever-fresh model

of liberality toward all flesh.

And as you see

the goddess of the earth

do to the wild beasts,

so also she does toward

the green herbs and the fishes.

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From Healing Prayers by

Joanne Asala

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