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LITR 4332 American Minority Literature Model Assignments Research Project Submissions 2013 Research Post 1 |
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Blanca Castellanos
February 21, 2013
The Alien Virgin
As I was growing up, I frequently saw images
of The Virgin de Guadalupe. My Grandmother has a few pictures of her around the
house and she lights candles and prays to her image. One of my many vices in
life is Mexican soap operas, or novelas. In almost every novela, the protagonist
is facing a dilemma and he/she prays to a statue of the Virgin. The statue is
usually large, on an altar, and surrounded by candles. Her name and image appear
in movies, novelas, in murals on buildings, in books, in magazines, and pretty
much everywhere Mexican culture is present. It would seem apparent that the
Virgin is sacred to most Mexicans and Mexican Americans. Why is she so sacred?
What is her story?
I know very little about her origins and that
is one of the things that I was most interested in when beginning my research. I
know that she appeared before an indigenous man, somewhere in Mexico, and that
she imprinted her image on his poncho. The first thing I thought when I heard
this was, “mysterious appearance in the middle of nowhere…sounds like an
extraterrestrial to me.” Whether or not she was a celestial being from the
beyond the stars or a vision sent down from the heavens, one thing is for sure:
she is loved, revered, and admired by millions of Mexican Americans.
The first place that I visited on my quest
for knowledge about the Virgin de Guadalupe was my grandmother’s house. I asked
her, “Abuelita, why is the Virgin so important to you?” She said, “Because she
was a miracle. She came down from heaven to give people hope. Many people
believe she is the mother of Christ appearing to the Mexican people. This makes
us feel blessed, chosen in a way”
She also told me the story of how the Virgin appeared. My next
step in researching the Virgin was to read as many different renditions of her
mysterious appearance in Tepeyac as possible. As it turns out, the history of
the Virgin doesn’t vary that much.
I read the story of her appearance in 6
different sources and the details were pretty much the same. On December 9,
1531, a young girl appeared to a peasant named Juan Diego (who was later
declared a saint) on the hills of Tepeyac. She spoke to him in the local
language and asked that a church be built in honor of her at that very site.
Juan Diego recognized her as the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ, and ran to
tell the local Archbishop. The Archbishop asked for proof and Juan Diego
returned to the same spot. The Virgin told him to gather flowers at the top of
the hill. He brought her roses and she arranged them in his cloak. When Juan
Diego returned to the Archbishop, He opened his cloak and the roses fell to the
floor. Painted on his cloak was the image of the Virgin. A church was built in
her honor called the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the image of her is
displayed there for all to see
The first site I visited was Catholic.org. It
is a website where one can go and read daily prayers, read news as it pertains
to the Catholic religion, and even purchase bibles and hand carved crucifixes.
This is where I read the story of the Virgin de Guadalupe in full. I found this
site to be informative in most things pertaining to Catholicism. It even gives a
full listing of the hundreds of Saints and their background. After reviewing
this website, I went to other various sites and they all had the same story. I
decided then that the best way to understand why she was so important to
Mexicans and Mexican Americans was by asking. I started randomly asking people
that I knew if they believed in the Virgin de Guadalupe. People gave various
answers, but the most common thing that I heard was the same thing that my
grandmother and my father told me. “The appearance of the Virgin Mary to the
Mexican people means that we are blessed. She is a sign of hope and faith.”
Through my research I learned the full story
of how the Virgin de Guadalupe appeared. The most important thing that I learned
was that the Mexican culture’s belief and faith in the Virgin is so strong that
it survives through the generations. She appeared in 1531 and people are still
as adamant about her as they were when she first appeared. This is why she
appears and is mentioned in various forms of Mexican American minority
literature and art. She is such a big part of the culture that not to speak of
her would be odd. The question of why she is so sacred to the Mexican culture
delves deeper into a part of the human psyche that is sometimes too complex to
understand. Things that taken on faith are often difficult to grade. The Virgin
de Guadalupe is sacred to many because she is a patron of hope. Sometimes hope
is all people have to keep them going.
Bibliographia de La Virgin de
Guadalupe.
(2013, March 14). Retrieved from Insigne y Nacional Basilica de santa Maria de
Guadalupe:
http://www.virgendeguadalupe.mx/
Castellanos, A. (2013, March 3). La
Virgin. (B. Castellanos, Interviewer)
Our Lady of Guadalupe Patroness of the Americas.
(2013, March 10). Retrieved from Catholic Online:
http://www.catholic.org/about/guadalupe.php#
