Lady Of Guadalupe Character Analysis

Our lady of Guadalupe is the most venerated and respected by the Catholics. The appearance of the Virgin caused a great commotion in the Catholic Church. Ever since the Virgin's first appearance, Catholics have respected and acquired so much faith to the Virgin. The lady of Guadalupe has so many faithful followers that believe in her without any hesitation because of the miracles that she has made for the people that were once suffering and were miraculously helped by her. Because of the help that she has provided for those who were suffering people never forget her and they celebrate the day of her appearance every year by doing parties in her honor. The Lady of Guadalupe’s appearance certainly changed the belief of Catholics and, I believe

that if our lady of Guadalupe had never made an appearance, then the Catholic Church would not be what it is right now. What has the Virgin done to make the Catholic believers so different from any other religion is about to be discovered and discussed and I am pretty sure that many people would be astonished to find out so many new things that were not known by others before.
To begin with, according to “Mary - Christianity Beings Mary,” the Virgin Mary’s life story is told in the New Testament. In the New Testament it is said that the Virgin Mary was a young women that at the time was engaged with Joseph but she never got married. The reason the Virgin Mary never got married to Joseph was because an Angel whose name was Gabriel told her that she was going to be the person that was going to give birth to a son that was going to be conceived from the Holy Spirit. When the Virgin Mary was told that she was going to give birth to the son of God, she did not reject the role that divine role, and she simply accepted what God’s will was. The Virgin Mary got pregnant of the Holy Spirit and she gave birth to Jesus. The Virgin Mary remained a Virgin because even though she had Jesus she conceived it by the Holy Spirit and never had any sexual intercourse with anyone. Because of the Virgin Mary’s innocence and purity she is respected and honored by others because she decided to basically give up her personal life and serve to God as he wished, and if her job was to bring God’s son to life, then that is what she was going to do. The Virgin Mary watched over her son and tried to protect him from any harm. The most painful suffering that the Virgin Mary went through was seeing her son die in order to save people from their sins. Our lady of Guadalupe after the three years of Jesus ascension died and during her death she was surrounded by apostles. When the Virgin Mary died she was buried near a tomb that Jesus rested in. The apostles that were with the Virgin Mary during her death later decided to check her tomb and what the found in the tomb was nothing. When the tomb was checked the apostles did not find anything and since they did not find her body in the tomb, they concluded that the Virgin Mary’s body and soul had been taken by Jesus to heaven, so she could be with him (Mary).
Subsequently, the story of the lady of Guadalupe is one and only; therefore, she is unique.

According to Donovan Longo’s article “Who Is The Virgen De Guadalupe? A Brief History Of The Saint So Important In Mexican Culture” published in 2014, the Virgin Mary is known by many different titles but they all refer to the same Virgin that the Catholics recognize as the Blessed Mother. The Virgin de Guadalupe is mostly known by her first stunning visitation that she first decided to make Catholics know of her existence. The story of her appearance was said to have occurred on December 9, 1513 in the presence of Juan Diego, who was an Indian that happened to be passing on the area where she appeared. At the moment of her existence Juan Diego was told by the Virgin Mary that she wanted a church to be built at a Hill of Tepeyac that was near Mexico City. The Virgin Mary wanted a church to be built in her honor so she used Juan Diego as messenger, so he could go and tell the Archbishop what she was requesting, but since the Archbishop did not believe Juan Diego about the encounter that he had with the Virgin Mary, he asked for a proof. The Archbishop wanted a proof from the Virgin Mary, so he could prove her identity. The Virgin Mary sent Juan Diego to pick up some flowers and once he did so, she placed them in Juan Diego’s cloak and off he went to give the proof to the Archbishop. When the cloak was opened flowers fell out and there was an image of the Virgin Mary imprinted on the cloak, and the day that the image of the Virgin Mary was shown to the Archbishop was December

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Furthermore, according to Donovan Longo’s article “Who Is The Virgen De Guadalupe? A Brief History Of The Saint So Important In Mexican Culture,” the cloak that once belonged to Juan Diego is as of right now placed in the church that the Virgin had said she wanted built in her honor. The cloak with her image is still intact regardless of the years that have passed by and that is a miracle that no one can explain. The cloak has lasted for about 500 years already and anyone would expect some deterioration of the cloak, but it appears to be that the image never leaves. There was a bomb attack on November 14, 1921 in the church that the cloak was present, but the only thing that was damaged was the church’s altar, and apparently the image on the cloak was left intact. Many people believe that the cloak possesses some kind of miracle because even after all of the years that have passed by the cloak is believed to be in the same condition that it was in before (Longo).
Next, the day of the Virgin’s appearance has become a day that people celebrate and they do it in honor of the Virgin Mary. According to “Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe,” people on December the 12th have different ways of celebrating for the Virgin’s appearance. There are many people that travel to Mexico to go to the church where the cloak is present and they stay for a mass ceremony that is done in her honor. Many people who cannot travel on the other hand still celebrate by going to mass regardless of the state they may be located in. The celebration that is done for the Virgin has already became a national holiday that started since the year 1859. The holiday of the Virgin usually includes performing certain activities such as listening to music, having fun attractions for people and many more things. There are also some believers that bring flowers, gifts, and some even sing to the Virgin Mary on that special day. Singing and performing other activities are not the only things done for the Virgin because there are some pilgrims that during her special holiday get on their knees leading themselves towards the church’s entrance. Many of the people who enter the church on their knees sometimes are doing it to thank the Virgin for all her blessing, while there may be other people that may be asking her for a miracle. Going to mass is the first thing that a Catholic normally does before starting to celebrate, and once the mass is over people start their ceremony by selling crafts, performing dances, and selling traditional Mexican food prepared (Dia de La Virgen).
Moreover, December the 12th is not the only day that people remember to celebrate or thanks the Virgin for her miracles. According to “Liturgical Year: May, Month of Mary,” there are other months of the year that the Virgin is celebrated and prayed to and there are certain traditions and customs that are done in order to honor the Virgin. There are some objects that are used and worn by people as a reminder of the Virgin Mary existence and each of the objects have symbols that are sacred. The Rosary, The Brown Scapular, Medals, and many other objects are used by people to remember the Virgin Mary. The Rosary is used by believers of the Virgin Mary because it is used as a guide that lets people know on the prayer number that they are on. The Rosary is viewed as one of the most excellent ways to pray to the Mother of Jesus. The Brown Scapular establishes a relationship between the Virgin of Guadalupe and the faithful people that commend themselves to receive her protection. Medals are also important because they serve as proof of the faith and veneration of the Holy Mother because people trust in her maternal protection. Because medals are so important the church blesses objects that reinforces the faith of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Whenever an individual is offering prayer to the Virgin, he or she uses the Rosary as a guide to let them know the number of times they have left to keep praying. Whenever a Rosary is being conducted often the phrases that are said depend on the day the Rosary is being done. An example of how a Rosary is done would be like when a Rosary is done on Tuesday, then the mysteries of the Holy Rosary would be considered Sorrowful and the creeds that will be said throughout the Rosary would be dedicated to the suffering of Jesus (Liturgical Year).
Additionally, the importance of having the Virgin Mary in Catholicism is what makes Catholics so different from any other religion. According to “Mary and the Saints,” there are religions that believe that the Catholics worship the Virgin because in most of the Catholic churches that exist, there are statues that are made in order to honor her. Many people that are in other religions do not realize that even though the Catholics have statues and do activities that are dedicated to the Virgin, it does not necessarily mean that the Catholics worship god and the Virgin as well. Catholics have a belief that they are only to worship God alone and no one else but even though the Catholics do not worship the Virgin, they venerate her. Catholics have so much respect and honor for the Virgin because she is the Mother of God. The Catholics see the Virgin Mary as an example of what perfect love and obedience to Christ is and should be. The Virgin Mary is pure and innocent because she did not commit any sins, conceived a child through Holy Spirit, and she also brought Christ into our world. Mary is honored because of her, God was born. If God would not have not been born, then we would not have been able to have salvation. Mary is viewed as the model of complete submission to God’s will. The Virgin Mary in no way is compared to God and is not viewed as equal to Christ, but she is rather venerated because of what her relationship with God is. An example is shown when “The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, ‘Mary’s role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it’”. In summation, Catholics are only looking for a way to be able to respond to God’s call into holiness the same way that Mary responded by and decided to give up life to serve God’s will (Mary and the Saints).