The Virgin of Guadalupe Window
(located in the Vesting Sacristy - through the narthex)
The theme of The Virgin of Guadalupe Window is: “And with power the apostles gave their testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great power was upon them all.” (Acts 4:33 RSV)
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The Virgin of Guadalupe Window depicts the miraculous events occurring at the barren Hill of Tepeyac outside current Mexico City from December 9 to December 12, 1531.
The Virgin of Guadalupe is the Patron Saint of Mexico. Her Feast Day is December 12, which begins the traditional daily Posadas (until December 24), commemorating the journey that Joseph and Mary made from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of a safe refuge where Mary could give birth to the baby Jesus. In that time, the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to an Aztec Indian named Juàn Diego Cuauhtliatoatzin pronouncing that she was the “very Mother of the Deity” and asking Juàn Diego to tell the Archbishop of Mexico City, Fray Juàn de Zumàrraga to build her chapel on the site where she appeared – the barren Tepeyac Hill. In each instance,
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The Archbishop asked Juàn Diego for a sign that the Virgin had made such a request. On the fourth apparition, December 12, 1531, the Virgin asked Juàn Diego to pick out a bunch of Castilian Roses from a nearby rosebush in full bloom, to put the on this “tilma” or mantle, and to show them to the Archbishop. As he showed the roses to the Archbishop, they fell to the ground while the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and the roses were imprinted on his mantle. Both the images on Juàn’s mantle and the Castilian roses growing during winter on a barren hill where only cacti and thorny bushes grew were miracles which resulted in the construction of a shrine to Our Lady.
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In modern times a large shrine was built at the base of Tepeyac Hill to accommodate the millions of people who come to visit the image of the Virgin, and it is considered to be the third most visited Roman Catholic Shrine in the world. Juàn Diego was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II with the name of San Juàn Diego Cuauthtliatoatzin, his Aztec name.
Symbolism
The window depicts the miraculous event. In the upper section, the dove represents the action of the Holy Spirit.
The central figure of Mary is surrounded by an aureole signifying her sainthood and replaces the traditional halo. Her mantle (mantilla) represents Juàn Diego’s mantle which was imprinted with the miraculous images. The roses represent the Castilian roses which were miraculously growing on the barren hill
In the lower section, the cacti represent the predominant vegetation on Tepeyac Hill.
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Acknowledgements
The window was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Curtin (Marti) Boyd, in grateful thanks for the ministry of The Rev. Dr. James C. Pace, The Rev. Lucy A. Martinez, Deacon, and Ino Martinez, Artisan.
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The window was installed in May of 2015.