2nd Grade Sunday School with Mr. Kelly

Nov 2 - Saints

 

 

 

 

St. Juan Diego is our classroom's Patron Saint

 

 

 

• Juan Diego was native Mexican who lived a simple life as a weaver, farmer, and laborer.

 

 

• On December 9, 1531, Juan Diego rose before dawn to walk fifteen miles to daily Mass in what is now Mexico City.

 

 

• That morning, as Juan passed Tepeyac Hill, he heard music and saw a glowing cloud encircled by a rainbow.

 

 

• A woman's voice called him to the top of the hill. There he saw a beautiful young woman dressed like an Aztec princess. She said she was the Virgin Mary and asked Juan to tell the bishop to build a church on that site.

 

 

• She said, "I vividly desire that a church be built on this site, so that in it I can be present and give my love, compassion, help, and defense, for I am your most devoted mother . . . to hear your laments and to remedy all your miseries, pains, and sufferings."

 

 

• The bishop was kind but skeptical. He said to Juan “Bring proof of the Lady's identity.”

• Before Juan could go back to the Lady, he found out his uncle was dying. Hurrying to get a priest, Juan missed his meeting with the Lady.

 

 

• The Lady, however, met him on his path and told him “your uncle has been cured.  She then told Juan “climb to the top of the hill where they first met.”

 

 

• Juan was shocked to find flowers growing in the frozen soil. He gathered them in his cloak and took them at once to the bishop.

 

 

• Juan told the bishop what had happened and opened his cloak. The flowers that fell to the ground were Castilian roses (which were not grown in Mexico). But the bishop's eyes were on the glowing image of the Lady imprinted inside Juan's cloak.

 

 

• Soon after, a church was built on the site where our Lady appeared, and thousands converted to Christianity. Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared the patroness of the Americas.

 

 

• Juan Diego died on May 30, 1548, at the age of 74.

 

 

 

• Juan Diego deeply loved the Holy Eucharist, and by special permission of the Bishop he received Holy Communion three times a week, a highly unusual occurrence in those times.