December 9, 1531, the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to a native American man, Juan Diego, surrounded by a ball of light as bright as the sun and asked that a church be built on the site. This occurred at the Hill of Tepeyac which became part of the Villa de Guadalupe (it is now a suburb of Mexico City). She spoke to him in his native tongue, Nahuatl (language of the Azetecs). She identified herself as the Virgin Mary, mother of the very true deity.
He went to the archbishop of Mexico City, Fray Juan de Zumarraga, and told him what happened. The archbishop instructed him to return and ask for a miraculous sign to prove identity. She healed Juan's uncle. She instructed him to gather flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill. It is usually barren in December but he found blooming Castilian roses which are not native to Mexico. He arranged the flowers in his cloak (tilma ... cactus cloth cloak) and brought them before the archbishop Zumarraga on December 12. When he opened the cloak it had the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Cactus cloth usually lasts no more than 20 years. The image still remains. In 1977, the tilma was examined using infared photography and digital enhancement techniques. It shows no sign of sketching or outline drawn to permit an artist to produce a painting.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is known as protector of children, especially those not yet born.
