Listen. Put it into your heart, my youngest and dearest son, that the thing that frightened you, the thing that afflicted you is nothing: Do not let it disturb you…. Am I not here, I, who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more?
—Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego, Nican Mopohua
Father Richard Rohr shares the history of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a profound image of the divine feminine, an archetype of maternal love and protection.
In 1531, exactly ten years after the Spanish conquest of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico, there was an unprecedented constellation of signs we call the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This miraculous event linked the heavens of Catholic Spain and the mythologies of the Indigenous Americans who had lost everything: their land, their freedom, and their gods. Like all ongoing revelation, it has taken us over four hundred years to begin to unravel the depth of loving mystery that was revealed in this encounter between the dear heavenly woman with brown skin (La Morenita) and Juan Diego, a poor Indigenous man.
God speaks through the “Mother of the true God through whom one lives,” whom the Spanish called María. But she is dressed in the clothes of the Indians, speaks their Nahuatl language and calls Juan Diego, one of the poorest, to “repreach” the gospel back to the Spanish colonizers who thought they had the gospel in the first place. In one generation, under this mother symbol, almost all of the native peoples of Mexico accepted Christianity. People of Indigenous and Spanish ancestry (mestizos) were born, and I might say a new mestizo Christianity unfolds. We are slowly learning that there is no other kind of Christianity. Christ takes on the face and features of all people, whoever they are and no matter their circumstances. In this case God knew that the face and features had to be feminine and compassionate. No other sign could transform both the Spanish machisimo and the matriarchal religion of the Indians at the same time. [1]
Mirabai Starr describes the ongoing legacy of Our Lady of Guadalupe:
In a world struggling against senseless violence and growing economic disparity, Our Lady of Guadalupe offers a distinctly feminine antidote to the poisons of poverty and war. Where society demands competition, Guadalupe teaches cooperation. In place of consumerism, she models compassionate service…. She is the radical, powerful, engaged Mother of the People.
Our Lady is not merely a sociopolitical symbol, however. People of all faiths call her Mother. In times of deeply personal grief, they turn to her for comfort. They turn to her for insight. They turn to her for a reminder of what matters most, what endures when all else seems to be lost, what grace may yet be available when we meet fear with love. [2]
References:
[1] Adapted from Richard Rohr, “Guadalupe: Evangelizing Woman,” Radical Grace: Daily Meditations (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1995), 325–326.
[2] Mirabai Starr, introduction to Our Lady of Guadalupe: Devotions, Prayers and Living Wisdom (Sounds True: 2008), 16–17.
Image credit and inspiration: Jyothisha R, woman holds the sun in her hands (detail), 2025, photo, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. The strong, soft light of the Divine Feminine is available for us all to touch upon.
Story from Our Community:
I recently practiced a lectio divina on the 7th chapter of Wisdom, which describes the many qualities of the Divine Feminine: gentle, warm, and also all-powerful. This contrasts so starkly with the toxic masculinity that pervades our world, which has such a spirit of violence, misogyny, and competition. I pray that as a culture, we learn to welcome the loving power of the feminine, from which both profound wisdom and powerful love flow.
—Robert O.
