‘Lady of Guadalupe’ (2020) Brings Hope to
Millions
By Timothy Spearman Dedicated to my father WB.
During the pandemic, I was stranded in La Paz, Mexico, while waiting nearly two years for the Philippines to open to foreign tourists. I intended to go there to marry my wife, Yazmeen. While waiting in La Paz, my then-fiancé asked me to send her a statue of the Lady of Guadalupe. I found an icon of the Lady of Guadalupe in a church and sent it to Yazmeen. It is still sitting in the kitchen in her Philippines.
Such a vivid memory made me want to find out
more about the Lady of Guadalupe, so I watched a film by that title tonight.
The story of an ambitious reporter, Juan Martinez, who is assigned to write an
article on faith, he discovers the legend of Our Lady of Guadalupe. According
to the historical account, the Holy Mother appeared to a humble villager named Cuauhtla
Towatsin, who, in his native language Nahuatl means “He who speaks
like an eagle.”
A native of New Spain, the humble villager
converts to Christianity and is christened Juan Diego by the village priest.
Upon a hill, he walked on every day on his way to mass, Tapeyak Hill, an
apparition of the Holy Mother Mary appears before him. This hill holds great
symbolic significance. Before the conquest, a temple dedicated to Tonansen,
meaning “our little mother,” the Aztec mother goddess, had once stood there. It
is the perfect location, a bridge between two worlds, bridging the Aztec earth
mother with the Christian Mother of God. The Holy Mother bids him to deliver
her message to the bishop, bidding him to build a shrine at the very location
where she had appeared to him.
Juan Diego goes directly to the bishop, but
is restrained at the entrance to the episcopal palace by two Spanish guards.
Taking pity on the humble villager, the captain commands the guards to release
the native and then dismisses them. Juan Diego recognizes the captain as the
Spanish prisoner of the natives he had formerly freed before his fellow natives
could make a sacrifice of him to their gods. Karma being what it is, the former
Spanish prisoner named Juan now returns the favour,
When the bishop hears the message Juan Diego
delivers on the Holy Mother’s behalf, he urges Juan to bring him proof of his
encounter with the Mother of God before he can give the order to have a shrine
built on the site. When Juan returns to the site of the miracle, the Lady of
Guadalupe bids him to gather flowers and bring them to her. When Juan protests
that it’s winter and no flowers will bloom at this time of year, he is met by
another miracle when he finds rose bushes in full bloom.
Returning with proof of his encounter, Juan
is met and restrained by the same two guards at the entrance. Outwitting the
guards, he slips by them and runs to the bishop. However, the guards soon catch
up with him and restrain him, but are commanded by the bishop himself to
release him. Juan Diego then announces that he has come with proof. The bishop
requests that he show him, so Juan unfurls his tilma cloak, revealing an image
of the Lady of Guadalupe with the roses rolling out upon the ground. All present
are immediately persuaded to believe in the miracle, including the two guards
who had shown him such disregard.
The reporter Martinez’s faith is tested when
his wife is injured in a car accident, and his personal journey takes him from
cynic to true believer as he witnesses the power of divine miracles in his own
life. The accident is foreshadowed by a scene where Martinez tells his wife, Mary, “Look seriously, I hate you driving that car at night.” To which Mary
replies, “And why don’t. you know what? Why don’t you catch up with me after
class and drive me home.”
After attending the lecture given by Father
Xavier Escalada (Glenn Craley) on the Lady of Guadalupe, Martinez can solicit his help in writing his story. Father Escalada’s lecture points go like
this: “The image is on cactus paper. And in 400 years, it hasn’t deteriorated or
aged. Second, look at the stars that surround her. They identically match the
stars in the winter sky in 1531. When she appeared to Juan Diego, the stars are
not in a pattern as we see from Earth, but in a perspective, as if looking down
at us from the heavens. Also, look at her eyes. You can see the image of Juan
Diego too small and way to detailed to have been painted by any man of that
time. Juan is praying. And keep in mind, all this happened in 1531.” In fact,
the Lady’s pupil reflects all the witnesses present when Juan revealed the
miracle to the bishop.
When the Marian apparition appears to Juan
Diego, his message is as follows, “My most humble son. I will give you all my
love., My compassion, my help, and my protection because I am your merciful
mother, the merciful mother of all who live united in this land. Of those
who cry to me or those who seek me. Here, will I hear their weeping, their
sorrow? I will remedy their sufferings. My son, go and tell the bishop to build
a temple here in my honour.”
One day, a codex about Juan Diego is
delivered to Father Escalada by mail. This is the historical proof of Juan
Diego’s existence Martinez needs for his story. Martinez boss at the Latin
Voice grabs a paper fresh off the presses with Martinez’s full-page article
featuring an image of the Codex proving Juan Diego’s existence. This clinches
the promotion Martinez’s has been angling for.
The film ends with Martinez being summoned
by the doctor. He enters his wife’s room in ICU, but her bed is empty. The
final scene shows Martinez visiting the Lady of Guadalupe prayer site with his
daughter, who asks, “Are we going to light a candle for mommy?” Just then, her
mother appears and hugs them both, saying, “I love you both.” Whether this is a
miraculous appearance of her spirit is never explained.
Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe for a Special Request
O Blessed Lady of Guadalupe,
Mother of mercy and comfort,
you who appeared to Saint Juan Diego
with words of hope and love,
wrap me in your mantle of protection.
I come before you with a humble heart,
trusting in your care and compassion.
You know my struggles, my fears, and my dreams.
Today, I place before you this request:
(state your intention here).
Dearest Mother,
intercede for me before your Son,
that I may receive the grace, strength,
and peace I need.
Help me to walk in faith,
to love without measure,
and to trust in God’s perfect timing.
Amen. 🌹
