Talking Eagle and the Beautiful Lady

Saint Juan Diego was a good and loving man who lived near Tepeyac (Teh’ pe ak’) in Mexico. His Indian name means “the eagle who speaks.” When the missionaries came, Juan Diego became a Christian. A poor and humble worker, Juan helped to tell the Good News about God to his friends and neighbors.

Early one morning in December of 1531, Juan Diego was walking to Mass when he heard some beautiful music. Then he heard a sweet voice calling to him from the top of the mountain of Tepeyac. He hurried to find who was calling to him. There was a beautiful lady standing there whose clothes were as bright as the sun. The beautiful lady spoke to Juan Diego like a mother, and gave him a job to do. She asked him to go and tell the Bishop to build a church on the mountain in her honor so that all the Indians could come to honor her and to worship her son there.

Juan walked to Mexico City to give his message to the Bishop, a good and holy man. When the Bishop heard Juan’s story, he thought that Juan was just imagining (i maj’in ing) things. He told Juan to come back another day.

Sadly, Juan Diego began the long walk home. When he reached the mountain, he saw the beautiful lady again. Juan Diego hung his head. He told the lady he had failed to do the job she had asked him to do. The lady told him to try again the next day.

A second time Juan made the long walk to the home of the Bishop. This time the Bishop told him to prove that the lady was really the mother of God. Again, Juan Diego walked sadly home. This time the lady told him to return in the morning and she would give him something to prove to the Bishop that he was not imagining things.

The next morning, Juan Diego’s uncle was very sick. Juan began to hurry on the road to Mexico City to find a doctor. When he reached Tepeyac, he wanted to go around the mountain to avoid meeting the lady. He had no time for her errand today. He had to bring a doctor for his uncle. As he came around the mountain, the lady was there. Juan Diego hung his head in shame. Sadly, he told the lady that he had to find a doctor and could not work for her that day.

“Juan, don’t you know I am your mother who loves you?” the lady asked him. She told him not to worry about his uncle because he would be cured. Then she told Juan to go to the top of the mountain and gather the roses growing there. Juan knew that because it was winter there would be no flowers on the mountain, but he trusted and obeyed the beautiful lady. At the top of the mountain, he found that she had told him the truth. There were many beautiful roses there. He picked some and carried them back to the lady. 

The lady put the roses in Juan’s cloak which the Indians called a tilma (til’ muh). She tied the ends of the cloak at the shoulder and told Juan not to open his cloak until he was in the presence of the Bishop. Then Juan began to run to Mexico City to show the Bishop.

When Juan got to the Bishop’s home at first the servants would not let him in. Finally, after he talked to them a long time, he got to see the Bishop and tell him the story of the lady and the flowers. Then he opened his tilma.

Immediately, the Bishop and all his servants kneeled down, praising God. There on Juan Diego’s tilma was a beautiful picture of the lady, the Virgin Mary, mother of the true God! The Bishop ordered that a beautiful church be built on Tepeyac in her honor.

When Juan arrived home that night, his uncle was well. The two men spent the rest of their lives helping the missionaries to teach the people to love the one true God, and to honor and trust the Virgin Mary. 

Today, the church at Tepeyac is still there. You can go and see the miraculous picture of Our Lady. She left us her picture to remind us that she is our mother who loves us.

This story and many others like it will be included in Ann’s upcoming Catholic Encyclopedia for Children from Our Sunday Visitor Press.