The Virgin of Guadalupe Mexico's Cultural Icon

“Este hagar es Catolico. No aceptamos propaganda Protestante o no de otras sectos.” Translated, this message which is on the front windows and doors of many houses in the small town that I live in, Churintzio, Michoacan, located in the Western Central Highlands of Mexico, states that “This is a Catholic home. We do not accept any solicitations from Protestants or any other sects.” That should not be so surprising since, although Mexico has no official religion, 89% of its population self-ascribe themselves as being Catholic, making it the second largest Catholic country in the world. Without a doubt, in Catholic Mexico, the most popular and revered religious and cultural image is Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe/The Virgin of Guadalupe- since 1531, the celebrated representation of the Virgin Mary.

In Mexico City, at the massive Basilica de Guadalupe, where the original tilma/cloak of Juan Diego showing the icon of the Virgin of Guadalupe is on display, millions of pilgrims yearly come to pay homage to her. Based on the number of visitors, this shrine to the Virgin, after the Vatican City, is the second most important sanctuary of Catholicism. In the weeks leading up to the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, a Mexican national holiday since 1859 and one of the three most sacred days on the Mexican Catholic calendar (Christmas and Easter being the others), hundreds of thousands of worshipers from all over Mexico and elsewhere come to pay their devotion to the “Patroness of the Americas”-including multiple chartered busloads of residents from my town who make the twelve hour or so round trip.

All over Mexico there are celebrations in her honor. In Churintzio, from December 1-12, there are daily early morning religious processions. In the evenings there are parades led by Virgin of Guadalupe floats followed by marchers/dancers costumed as indigenous people, bands, and horsemen; these culminate into fiestas with nightly displays of fireworks.

Not only as a symbol of all Catholic Mexicans, she, just as importantly, is also recognized as a symbol of Mexican identity and nationhood. The Virgin of Guadalupe, who is affectionately called “La Morenita"/little dark one, and, similarly, is also often referred to as the “first mestiza” and the “first Mexican,” has had bestowed upon her many specific and lofty titles. In 1739, she was declared to be the Patroness of Mexico City, the Queen of Mexico in 1895, the Patroness of Latin America in 1910, and the Empress of the Americas in 1945.

Transcending religion, in many ways she has been utilized as a symbol of national unity. The initial leader of Mexico’s quest for Independence, in 1810, Miguel Hidalgo, during his famous grito de independencia, cried out “death to Spaniards and long live the Virgin of Guadalupe.” During the Mexican Revolution, in 1914, when Emiliano Zapata and his peasant army marched into Mexico City they carried with them Virgin of Guadalupe banners. Moreover, the street that we live on is named after Guadalupe Victoria; he was the first president of Mexico and changed his name from Felix Fernandez to Guadalupe Victoria to pay honor to her. Consequently, so highly is she held in esteem, this dark-skinned vision who only 10 years after the onset of the Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica appeared to that indigenous peasant, Juan Diego, is perceived and recognized as having given birth to a new people, the merging and blending together of indigenous and Spanish- the Mexican people.

Today, ubiquitously, her image is not only displayed in churches and on the front of and inside of people’s homes, but also in taxis, in buses, in trucks, on bicycles, on clothing, and even on tattoos. Virtually everywhere I go in Mexico, I see pictures, statuettes, carvings, jewelry, embroidery, textiles, and other objects depicting the Virgin of Guadalupe for sale. In a very real sense, in Mexico, she appears to be omnipresent. So much so, that every time that my Mexican born mother-in-law, who lives in San Jose, California, stays with us, she always purchases some item(s) to pay homage to her patron saint, the Virgin de Guadalupe; her virgin collection must almost be as large as my obsidian collection and that is no small miracle unto itself!

Under Spanish rule, the Virgin of Guadalupe was utilized and represented as being a passive figure who helped provide the spiritual essence and pragmatic rationale for the Catholic priests in their drive to evangelize the native inhabitants of Mexico. Over time, her role and importance to Mexican society has evolved; now, she is seen as being an active mother to her people who has brought together her contentious and disparate “family.” However, perhaps it was Octavio Paz, renowned Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, who famously described the importance of this religious and cultural icon to the Mexican people-“There are two beliefs deeply imbedded in Mexican consciousness: belief in the lottery and belief in the Virgen de Guadalupe.”