March 14, 2018
Arnold picked us up at 9:00 AM with optimistic plans to visit two major sites: the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Teotihuacan. But before any of that, we made a quick stop at the Plaza de Tres Culturas, or Square of Three Cultures, where Aztec, Colonial, and 20th century cultures are mixed into a not-very-seamless whole. #1 is a Tlatelolco archological site--an old market dating to the 14th century, #2 is the Santiago de Tlatelolco Church, built in the early 17th century, and #3 is the largest apartment complex in Mexico, built in the 1960s.
We took a few photos and then continued on to one of the major tourist draws of Mexico, the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which turned out to be a huge walled plaza containing several important structures related to Juan Diego's visions of the Virgin Mary in the mid-16th century. A very important pilgrimage site for Catholics, according to Arnold it gets 25-million visitors a year and is second only to the Vatican as the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world. It reminds me a little bit of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, the "pilgrimage site" for members of my own faith (which gets only 3- to 5-million visitors a year).
The story is that Juan Diego, a middle-class Mexican native born in 1474, was one of the first converts to Catholicism in the 1520s. One day, on his way over Tepeyac Hill to perform his religious duties at the Franciscan monastery, he had a vision of the Virgin Mary, who told him in his own native language who she was and asked him to request that a chapel be erected on that site in her honor so that she could bless the lives of those who called on her. Juan Diego ran to tell the bishop, but was told to come back another day. As he was returning home, Juan Diego saw the Virgin again and told her what had transpired. She told him to try again, which he did the following morning. This time the bishop asked for a sign that the apparition truly was who Juan Diego said she was. Juan Diego saw the Virgin again on his trip home, and she agreed to provide a sign the following day.
But Juan Diego arrived home to find his uncle deathly ill. He could not return the next day to the assigned spot to meet the Virgin. A day late, he was on his way back to the bishop to get someone to give his uncle last rites, skirting the area where he had seen his visions out of embarrassment. Not surprisingly, the Virgin found him anyway and gently said the words that are inscribed over the main entrance to the Basilica: "No estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre?" ("Am I not here, I who am your mother?") She assured him that she had healed his uncle, and she told him to go up the hill and gather the flowers he would find growing there. Normally only cactus and scrub grew on the hill, but Juan Diego found a glorious field of flowers. After filling his cloak with the blooms, he returned to the Virgin, who rearranged the flowers and sent him on his way to the bishop. When Juan Diego arrived and dropped the flowers from the cloak at the bishop's feet, an image of the Virgin was imprinted on the cloak.
Upon returning home, Juan Diego found his uncle cured and learned that he too had seen the virgin, who had told him she was to be known as Guadalupe. The bishop kept Juan Diego's cloak, putting it on public display. A few weeks later, a procession took the cloak back to the foot of the venerated hill and installed it in a small, hastily built chapel.
The following year, a better shrine was constructed on the site, then a better one in its place in 1622, and then a better one in its place in 1709, which endured until the current shrine was built next to the old shrine in 1976, just two years before I saw it for the first time.
Our visit started in the very modern-looking 1976 Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (Basiclica of Our Lady of Guadalupe), built in a circular form so that everyone can see the original image of the Virgin of Guadalupe that hangs at the front of the chapel. It is 330 feet in diameter and can accommodate 10,000 people. The architect of the Basilica was Pedro Ramirez Vázquez, who also designed the Museum of Anthropology and the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.
I love the turquoise blue of the roof that is repeated on the doors and inside the chapel.
Seven doors open to the interior, symbolic of the seven gates of Celestial Jerusalem referred to by Christ.
The interior has one of the more interesting lighting systems that I have seen, and the organ's disembodied pipes look like sails.
The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is not very large, and the choir and altar are in front of it. It would be nice to be able to get closer to it.
Closer view:
Well, you can get even closer! See that long line of people? They are waiting to hop on a moving sidewalk that runs between the back of the altar area and the golden wall upon which the picture hangs.
As we waited in line, we passed this painting of the Holy Trinity, Jeus on the left, God the Father in the center, and the Holy Spirit (with a dove on his chest) on the right:
The line moved quickly and we were soon approaching the icon. The system is pretty ingenious. No one can monopolize that spot right in front of the image. No one can hold up the line by walking too slowly. We went through the line twice. I wish I had my own photos because I know I took several of the moving sidewalk, but Bob took a good one of the image from that sidewalk's vantage point:
Arnold picked us up at 9:00 AM with optimistic plans to visit two major sites: the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Teotihuacan. But before any of that, we made a quick stop at the Plaza de Tres Culturas, or Square of Three Cultures, where Aztec, Colonial, and 20th century cultures are mixed into a not-very-seamless whole. #1 is a Tlatelolco archological site--an old market dating to the 14th century, #2 is the Santiago de Tlatelolco Church, built in the early 17th century, and #3 is the largest apartment complex in Mexico, built in the 1960s.
We took a few photos and then continued on to one of the major tourist draws of Mexico, the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which turned out to be a huge walled plaza containing several important structures related to Juan Diego's visions of the Virgin Mary in the mid-16th century. A very important pilgrimage site for Catholics, according to Arnold it gets 25-million visitors a year and is second only to the Vatican as the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world. It reminds me a little bit of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, the "pilgrimage site" for members of my own faith (which gets only 3- to 5-million visitors a year).
The story is that Juan Diego, a middle-class Mexican native born in 1474, was one of the first converts to Catholicism in the 1520s. One day, on his way over Tepeyac Hill to perform his religious duties at the Franciscan monastery, he had a vision of the Virgin Mary, who told him in his own native language who she was and asked him to request that a chapel be erected on that site in her honor so that she could bless the lives of those who called on her. Juan Diego ran to tell the bishop, but was told to come back another day. As he was returning home, Juan Diego saw the Virgin again and told her what had transpired. She told him to try again, which he did the following morning. This time the bishop asked for a sign that the apparition truly was who Juan Diego said she was. Juan Diego saw the Virgin again on his trip home, and she agreed to provide a sign the following day.
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| Image from here |
Upon returning home, Juan Diego found his uncle cured and learned that he too had seen the virgin, who had told him she was to be known as Guadalupe. The bishop kept Juan Diego's cloak, putting it on public display. A few weeks later, a procession took the cloak back to the foot of the venerated hill and installed it in a small, hastily built chapel.
The following year, a better shrine was constructed on the site, then a better one in its place in 1622, and then a better one in its place in 1709, which endured until the current shrine was built next to the old shrine in 1976, just two years before I saw it for the first time.
Our visit started in the very modern-looking 1976 Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (Basiclica of Our Lady of Guadalupe), built in a circular form so that everyone can see the original image of the Virgin of Guadalupe that hangs at the front of the chapel. It is 330 feet in diameter and can accommodate 10,000 people. The architect of the Basilica was Pedro Ramirez Vázquez, who also designed the Museum of Anthropology and the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.
I love the turquoise blue of the roof that is repeated on the doors and inside the chapel.
Seven doors open to the interior, symbolic of the seven gates of Celestial Jerusalem referred to by Christ.
The interior has one of the more interesting lighting systems that I have seen, and the organ's disembodied pipes look like sails.
The stained glass windows are very modern.
This one has an American craftsman/Frank Lloyd Wright look.
Closer view:
As we waited in line, we passed this painting of the Holy Trinity, Jeus on the left, God the Father in the center, and the Holy Spirit (with a dove on his chest) on the right:
There were also beautiful brass reliefs that told Juan Diego's story. I think each panel represents one of the appearances of the Virgin, so we must be missing one. (The last panel must be her appearance to Juan Diego's uncle, lying on his death bed.)
A Catholic friend gave me some information on "Our Lady of Guadalupe" from the publication Give Us This Day. In the December 12, 2020, "Reflection," Sam Rocha wrote:
"The person to whom Our Blessed Mother appeared, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, WOuld become the first indigenous saint from the Americas. Juan Diego was born in 1474, almost 20 years before Columbus would mistake the Americas for India. Let that sink in a bit deeper: Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to a 57-year-old Nahua man who was born and grew into adulthood within the pre-Columbian, pre-conquest Aztec empire. To this person, under these historical and epochal conditions, Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared speaking his language, in a dark brown body like his own. To many Spanish conquistadores, the Nahua were an inferior and worldless people whose language and ways of life had to be replaced with a New World, a New Spain. Our Lady of :Guadalupe's apparition in Aztec flesh, speaking the Nahua tongue, was a heavenly rebuke of this sinful colonial and cultural supremacy."
Fascinating!
This experience of viewing the icon reminded me a lot of our trip to visit the Black Madonna in Czestochowa, another image of the Virgin Mary with a fascinating history that today is part of a monastery. (She gets about 4 million visitors a year.)
With the main reason for a tourist visit accomplished (viewing Juan's Diego's miraculous cloak embossed with the image of the Virgin), we were ready to check out the Old Basilica, aka Templo Expiatorio a Cristo Rey ("Expiatory Temple to Christ the King"), the 1709 structure built to replace an earlier church.
The reason the new, modern basilica was built is because the old one was sinking into what was once the lake bed of Lake Texcoco.
Here I am with our guide in front of the old basilica in 1978. Note the basilica's pronounced tilt to the left.
They look pretty solid now, don't you think?
Heading inside the Old Basilica, we stopped to admire a frieze depicting Juan Diego showing the miraculous cloak to the bishop.
This is quite a contrast to the New Basilica--more like the European-style cathedrals we would expect to see housing such a holy relic.
I'm not sure who this is. It looks like Gandhi, but could it be Juan Diego? The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is etched into his robe.
I do know who this is. He has another statue outside the church. Pope John Paul II is much loved for canonizing, or bestowing the title of "Saint" on, Juan Diego in the New Basilica in 2002. In fact, Pope John Paul visited this basilica five times, canonizing other Mexican saints each time.
The Basilica was full of art of all eras, and I especially like this more modern painting that includes the keepers of the faith throughout the centuries following the apparition.
A beautiful wall and gate lead to the apse.
This is the Chapel of the Sagario of the Old Basilica, one of the side chapels.
The Stations of the Cross were particularly beautiful in the Old Basilica. I love mosaic. Here is just a sample:
A close-up of Mary's expression from Station XIII: The Deposition of Jesus. Stunning.
We had just a few more things to see before moving on to our next destination.
The first was this bell tower and clock, built in 1991 and designed by the same architect who designed the New Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe. It synchronizes modern and pre-Hispanic cultures, but to me it looks a little like a ginormous robot head.
Another place to explore was at the very back of the plaza: The Stations of the Cross. I like that it was far away from the hustle and bustle of the major sites, allowing for more quiet contemplation.
Bob took a picture of each one (there were 15), but I'll just include six. Here is Pilate washing his hands and condemning a very calm-looking Jesus to death.
Jesus meets his mother (in her Virgin of Guadalupe pose):
Jesus meets the women:
Jesus with Mary/Virgin of Guadalupe and John the Beloved:
Jesus in the tomb:
The resurrection:
Altogether there are 6 churches, 1 baptistry, 1 clock, and a vast square at this shrine. It is the Mexican version of St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.
At some point during our wandering around the plaza, Arnold took us next door to a grocery store to try a local treat, gorditas de la Villa.
The cookies are stacked and then rolled up in colorful sheets of tissue paper. A package cost 25 pesos, or about $1.14.
In another place in the basilica, this bent cross is on display in a glass case. It was bent when a bomb planted by an anticlerical terrorist near the altar in the Old Basilica exploded in 1921. Miraculously, the Virgin of Guadalupe artifact was not damaged.
St. José Luis Sánchez del Rio, depicted below, was a Mexican boy who was tortured and killed shortly before his 15th birthday in 1928 for refusing to renounce his Catholic faith. He was beatified by Pope Benedict in 2005 and was canonized as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 2016 by Pope Francis. He is the patron saint of adolescents and youth.
With the main reason for a tourist visit accomplished (viewing Juan's Diego's miraculous cloak embossed with the image of the Virgin), we were ready to check out the Old Basilica, aka Templo Expiatorio a Cristo Rey ("Expiatory Temple to Christ the King"), the 1709 structure built to replace an earlier church.
It is the building with the gold domes. The building on the right with the red domes is the Capuchin Nuns' Temple.
The reason the new, modern basilica was built is because the old one was sinking into what was once the lake bed of Lake Texcoco.
And here I am 40 years later with another guide. The Old Basilica looks a lot better.
In 1978, the Capuchin Nuns' Temple (the building on the right below) looked like it was about to be swallowed up by a swamp monster.
The way engineers solved The Problem of the Sinking Basilica and Temple was to slice the two buildings apart and prop the whole thing up, pumping concrete under the foundation, and adding stabilizing bars between the pieces. Arnold told us that the same engineers who master-minded this save were also called to save the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
This view is from the back.
This is quite a contrast to the New Basilica--more like the European-style cathedrals we would expect to see housing such a holy relic.
The luminous dome over the chapel includes paintings of the Virgin of Guadalupe on the left and right.
The icon of Juan Diego's cloak hung in this chapel between 1709 and 1974. I'm assuming it was in that spot behind the altar now filled with a painting of Christ.
One more interesting depiction of the Trinity shows Jesus on the left, the dove descending from the sky, and God the Father on the right. Jesus and the Father are seated in the clouds with their feet resting on what looks to be the Earth.
The first was this bell tower and clock, built in 1991 and designed by the same architect who designed the New Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe. It synchronizes modern and pre-Hispanic cultures, but to me it looks a little like a ginormous robot head.
On the other hand, compare it to this carving at the pyramids of Teotihuacan:
Another place to explore was at the very back of the plaza: The Stations of the Cross. I like that it was far away from the hustle and bustle of the major sites, allowing for more quiet contemplation.
Jesus meets his mother (in her Virgin of Guadalupe pose):
The resurrection:
Altogether there are 6 churches, 1 baptistry, 1 clock, and a vast square at this shrine. It is the Mexican version of St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.
At some point during our wandering around the plaza, Arnold took us next door to a grocery store to try a local treat, gorditas de la Villa.
They look like little pancakes, but they are drier and less doughy than pancakes, more like cookies. The are made with corn meal ground from cacahauzintle, a type of corn developed centuries ago in Mexico.
Arnold wanted to make sure we got some fresh off the grill.
We loved that Arnold gave us experiences like this with local foods. It was very fun to try these cookies, something only available in Mexico.
I loved our visit to the Virgin. We see her all over the world in our travels - fun to see the original.
ReplyDeleteVery fitting that you went to the three cultures plaza before going to the virgin de Guadalupe. Juan Diego was baptized at the church at the three cultures plaza.
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