The indisputable history of the Eucharist and the Incarnation of the Son of God, "Flesh of Christ, flesh of Mary", says Saint Augustine.
The Church "contemplates Mary with joy in the purest image - that which she desires and hopes to be in her entirety" (SC, 103): tabernacle, womb, pyx.
The Madonna appeared in Guadalupe dressed in a gown fastened at the waist with a black belt, identical to that worn by the local women during pregnancy.
At dawn on December 9, 1531, the young Indian, Juan Diego, went up the hills of Tepeyac, in the northern outskirts of the City of Mexico, heading towards Tlatoleolco, for his usual catechism lesson.
Suddenly he heard a soft song and turned towards the source of this sound. Here upon a rocky ground a young woman wearing a shiny dress, she revealed herself to be the Virgin Mary.
The Madonna begged Juan Diego to ask the bishop of the episcopal city to build a temple in the place where she appeared so that all can come to honor her son Jesus.
Juan Diego obeyed, but the bishop Juan de Zumarraga did not believe him and asked him to ask Mary for a sign.
When the Virgin appeared the third time to Juan Diego, she promised to give him a sign the following day.
On Monday however he did not go to his appointment because his uncle fell gravely ill, so
much so that he needed to receive the Last Rites. The next day, Juan Diego went on the very early directly to Tlatoleolco, where he wanted to look for a priest for his uncle.
He decided to avoid the hills of Tepeyac, so he would not encounter Our Lady, but she met him during his walk.
He then confided in her about his pain and she asked him to have faith in her and announced the cure of his uncle.
Then she asked him to go to the top of the hill and collect and bring her any flowers that he could find.
Juan Diego went to the place she told him and found it covered with marvelous roses and other flowers, unusual for the winter season and the arid nature of the land. He picked them and put them in his tilma, a typical apron worn by the Aztec farmers, and he took them to
the Virgin who told him to take the flowers to the bishop as proof of the apparition. The man did as he was asked and went to Mexico City where, after a long wait, he was seen by the prelate.
He showed him the tilma and when he spread it our the roses and other flowers fell and on it appeared a blazing image of the Madonna. The Bishop fell to his knees before this miracle.
He marveled, and repenting he asked the Virgin to forgive him for his darkness. Then he took the tilma and put it in a chapel.
The next day Juan Diego returned home anxious to see his uncle, who he had left in grave condition.
Juan Diego found his uncle completely recovered and he told him about the Madonna and how she appeared to him the day before presenting herself as the Holy Mary of Guadalupe, announcing he would be cured.