Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Mexico, empress of the Americas, Brown Madonna…how does an apparition and encounter of the sacred on a remote mount in rural Mexico speak to us in the now? As a trans and queer Latinx person with Indigenous and Spanish roots, my encounter with Lupita, this dark haired and brown skinned woman, has been and continues to be transformative, healing, and wholizing as she was my first experience of divine manifestation and sacred revelation that was and is like me. We are taught that we are all created in the image of God, but growing up the images of the sacred were always white, European, cis and heteronormative, and interestingly athletically toned and muscled. Very rarely were any images brown, frumpy, and quirky. I started to question was I somehow less than? An abomination? A mistake?  The answer:  Nope…I too, in my transness, queerness, latinxness, frumpiness, fierceness, messedupness, I too am a reflection and creation of the divine.  My encounter with Guadalupe continues to inspire me through the image’s and the story’s embracing of transgression, boldness, prophetic indigeneity, queerness, and even frumpiness.  Though my understanding of what happened based on tradition and insights grounded in intersectional re-reflections of the narrative has and continue to evolve, one thing remains constant—like Guadalupe herself, like Juan Diego, like the millions of devotees, I am and we all are sacramental, blessed, loved, and called to fiercely share prophetic roses.   

Elizabeth Johnson in her book Quest for Living God quotes religion and theology scholar and professor Roberto Goizueta: “In the Náhuatl world of Juan Diego, beauty is truth and truth is beauty: flor y canto. It is in the singing of the birds, in the aroma of the roses, and above all in the encounter with the Lady of Tepeyac that Juan Diego comes to understand the truth of who he is, who she is, and who God is” (Chapter: God of Fiesta, pg. 146).  Both Johnson and Goizueta speak to the multilayered complexities of the Guadalupen encounter; complexities that result from the interactions of trauma and resilience. For a long-time I struggled with the story of Juan Diego and La Virgen due to being taught at a young age that this encounter’s importance in history was the conversion of the indigenous people.  The story was presented to me in a very romanticized, white-washed way that overlooked the harm and horrors of Spanish and European colonization and conquest under the guise of evangelization.  However, as I grappled with the image, the story, its place in history, its place in my faith journey, I came to understand that what happened in Mejico more than 500 years ago was a moment in which the sacred, the mysterious, the divine came near—a moment in which God revealed the Godself in a way that Juan Diego and later myself could understand, embrace, and identify with. On that day, my messiness, my identity, who I am as a person was also lifted up as sacred. 

Not only is the tilma an important part of the story, but also the messenger Juan Diego, a simple indigenous farmer on an errand early in the morning, who was chosen to share a simple yet powerful message to the church and to the world: God is with us in the struggle amidst the confusion and in the liberation of claiming and reclaiming resilience.  He, like La Guadalupana herself, is a reminder that the call to holiness is not limited to any one group but an invitation open to all people, period.  The story we commemorate today lifts up all those pushed to the margins by church and society.  By remembering Guadalupe, we also re-member the dignity and worth of all people on the fringes of church and society.  The image, feast, and story of Guadalupe spoke then and speaks now the message that we are all equally, lovingly, and fiercely blessed by God.  

¡Que viva la Guadalupana hoy y siempre!

***sources of inspiration and influence for this reflection include: Gloria Anzaldua’s La Frontera/Borderlands (1987); Elizabeth Johnson’s Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God (2011) and Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints (2003); and Timothy Matovina’s Theologies of Guadalupe: From the Era of Conquest to Pope Francis (2019).  Unless noted, no direct citations taken from any of these sources. 

I share this prayer I wrote for a Chapel Service organized by Yale Divinity Latin@ Association’s in 2009 honoring La Guadalupana and all women:  

Santos DIOS,  Bless us as we gather together today to celebrate Mary of Nazareth, the mujer from the barrio. Lift up our hearts today as we remember her manifestation to the indigenous man Juan Diego of Mejico in 1531, and the special relationship she continues to have with the peoples of the Americas.  In honoring her, we honor and lift up all women who are in la lucha. In this space, we gather to remember profetizas Latina who like Maria de Nazaret took charge of their lives, lived out a daily yes by embracing the messiness of GOD’s unfolding revolutionary plan with all its joy and frustration. In our commemorating of La morenita del Tipeyac, we commemorate the dwelling and expression of GOD in all people, of  all colors, ethnicities, cultures, sexualities, abilities, genders, nationalities. United with La Guadalupana, maternally guide our hearts and prayers to live a prophetic life…to give birth to the Divine in our words, deeds, hearts, thoughts, lives, in our lucha. Amen. Que así sea. 

In many Latin American communities, it is tradition of honoring the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe through Las Mañanitas (little morning or dawn) or Las Flores (flowers) … cultural practices and liturgies involving music, prayer, community, and flowers.  Create your own flower giving ritual honoring La Guadalupana and all those pushed to the margins.  Some examples:

• Ana Barbara singing “Las Mañanitas”
• Desde del Cielo una hermosa mañana

The Los Angeles Catholic Worker community has and continues to live into and live out a much needed witness of solidarity with indigenous and native communities in the United States. They have organized many events and started initiatives calling in and calling out the church locally and nationally to directly address the complex history of missions and evangelization, especially targeting indigenous and native communities.  Like the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, their efforts honor stories of resistance as well as calling for transparency, accountability, and justice.   What can we learn from the LA Catholic Worker and how can their efforts inspire similar actions across the US?  

Music

Libertad written and performed by Yadira de Jesus

Visual Art

Many artists have re-envisioned the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, creating new ways of honoring the story and the ways the story speaks to us today.  Many are creating new tilmas that express the multiple messages the original tilma inspires.  Take some time to reflect on these images and perhaps even create your own.  Yolanda Lopez (Chicana artist who created several different interpretations of the tilma): Portraits of the Artist, her mother, and her grandmother as the Virgin of Guadalupe

Kittredge Cherry has collected several different variations: Queer Lady of Guadalupe: Artists re-imagine an icon