Do you understand the ramifications of the ‘Lady of Guadalupe’?

Claimed ‘Lady of Guadalupe,’ Mexico City (Photo by Jan Zatko)

December 12th is designated by the Church of Rome as the memorial day for “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” Here is some additional information about it from a Catholic source:

Guadalupe is, strictly speaking, the name of a picture, but the name was extended to the church containing the picture and to the town that grew up around the church. It makes the shrine, it occasions the devotion, it illustrates Our Lady…

The word is Spanish Arabic, but in Mexico it may represent certain Aztec sounds.

Its tradition is long-standing and constant, and in sources both oral and written, Indian and Spanish, the account is unwavering. The Blessed Virgin appeared on Saturday 9 December 1531 to a 55 year old neophyte named Juan Diego, who was hurrying down Tepeyac hill to hear Mass in Mexico City. She sent him to Bishop Zumárraga to have a temple built where she stood. She was at the same place that evening and Sunday evening to get the bishop‘s answer. The bishop did not immediately believed the messenger, had him cross-examined and watched, and he finally told him to ask the lady who said she was the mother of the true God for a sign. The neophyte agreed readily to ask for sign desired, and the bishop released him.

Juan was occupied all Monday with Bernardino, an uncle, who was dying of fever. Indian medicine had failed, and Bernardino seemed at death‘s door. At daybreak on Tuesday 12 December 1531, Juan ran to nearby the Saint James convent for a priest. To avoid the apparition and the untimely message to the bishop, he slipped round where the well chapel now stands. But the Blessed Virgin crossed down to meet him…

Gathering many into the lap of his tilma, a long cloak or wrapper used by Mexican Indians, he came back. The Holy Mother rearranged the roses, and told him to keep them untouched and unseen until he reached the bishop. When he met with Zumárraga, Juan offered the sign to the bishop. As he unfolded his cloak the roses, fresh and wet with dew, fell out. Juan was startled to see the bishop and his attendants kneeling before him. The life size figure of the Virgin Mother, just as Juan had described her, was glowing on the tilma. The picture was venerated, guarded in the bishop‘s chapel, and soon after carried in procession to the preliminary shrine. (Our Lady of Guadalupe. http://saints.sqpn.com/our-lady-of-guadalupe/ viewed 11/30/13)

The above is one fancified account and somewhat inaccurate report about it. While it is true that the bishop did not believe it at first, he also correctly at first understood that this was some pagan apparition. Mary, the mother of Jesus, never appeared there, and even the Catholic priest in the region initially realized that.

Here are more details, this time from my book Fatima Shock!:

The Lady of Guadalupe: Aztec Connections

One of the most important claimed Marian apparitions is the appearance of one in Mexico known today as Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Antonio Socci reported:

The apparition of Guadalupe—according to the general acknowledgement of historians—was what attracted the Indians to Christianity. Therefore, it was precisely Guadalupe that gave birth to Latin American Christianity. (Socci A. The Fourth Secret of Fatima. Loreto Publications, English Translation 2009, p. 143)

Some, like Ted and Maureen Flynn, have gone so far as to state:

Our Lady of Guadalupe means, “She Who Crushes the Serpent.” (Flynn T, Flynn M. The Thunder of Justice. MaxKol Communications, Inc. Sterling (VA), 1993, p. 27)

But that seems to be a misunderstanding on their part. Dr. Jeanette Rodríguez, a Catholic scholar, wrote:

Juan Diego…said, “She calls herself ‘Tlecuauhtlacupeuh.’ ” To the Spaniards this sounded like “Guadalupe”…But the Nahuatl language does not contain the letters d and g; therefore our Lady’s name could not have been “Guadalupe”… The Nahuatl understanding of “Tlecuauhtlacupeuh” is La que viene volando de la luz como el áquila de fuego (she who comes flying like a region of light like an eagle of fire, Echeagaray 1981:21). The region of light was the dwelling place of the Aztec gods, and the eagle was a sign from the gods. (Rodriguez J. Our Lady of Guadalupe: faith and empowerment among Mexican-American women. University of Texas Press, 1994, pp. 45-46)

So, the Lady sounded a lot like an Aztec goddess.

Here are three online Catholic reports:

The appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Aztec Indian Juan Diego …generated the conversion of Mexico, Central and South America to Catholicism. (Our Lady of Guadalupe. http://www.maryourmother.net/ Guadalupe.html viewed 03/21/2011)

Our Lady of Guadalupe…appeared to an Aztec Indian…on Tepayac Hill, near Mexico City on December 9, 1531. (A PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE. http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/our-lady-of-guadalupe.html viewed 03/21/2011)

The Virgin of Guadalupe appeared in what is now Mexico City on the holy hill of Tepeyac, dedicated to Tonantzin, the Mother Earth goddess of the Aztecs. That is one reason why the bishop didn’t believe Juan Diego. He must have thought: “We know who appears on that mountain and it’s not the Virgin Mary but some pagan goddess!” Actually, the native Mexicans thought the same thing: “We know who appears on that hill: Tonantzin!” And so they referred to what we call ‘Virgin of Guadalupe’ as ‘Tonantzin’ for more than a century. To this day Mexicans know the Virgin if {sic} Guadalupe not as just another form of Mother Mary, but as a particularly Mexican Queen of Heaven. (Rozett E. Mother Mary and the Goddess. http://www.interfaithmary.com/pages/mary_goddess.html viewed 04/07/2011)

It has been claimed that “Tonantzin, the mother goddess of the Aztecs, then took the form of the Virgin Mary. Therefore Tonantzin was substituted…because of the necessity to convert to the Catholic religion under a new political regime.” (Breaux JJ. Intransigence & Indifference: Essays Concerning Religion and Spirituality. Lulu.com, 2008, p. 85)

Bernandino Sahagún, a Catholic missionary, wrote, “Now that the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been built the Indians call her Tonantzin…This is an abuse that should be stopped…The Indians today as, in the old days, come from afar to see this Tonantzin.”(Bernandino Sahagún, 1958 as cited in Smith JB. The image of Guadalupe, 2nd revised ed. Mercer University Press, 1994, p. 111) Though Tonantzin could have been more of a title than a name, she is sometimes known as Coatlique, the serpent skirt goddess. (Espinosa G, Garcia MT. Mexican American religions: spirituality, activism, and culture. Duke University Press, 2008, p. 161)

Over one hundred years ago, the following was written:

The Legend of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Over three hundred years ago, it is said, an Indian was walking near the hill of Guadalupe, when there appeared to him a dark-skinned maiden. She ordered him to go to the Bishop and tell him she desired to have a church built in her honor on that spot… The Mexicans believe that the Virgin is their only protector, and they pray, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, save us from the wrath of Christ. Holy Mary, Mother of God, save us from the wrath of Christ.” (Woman’s missionary friend, Volumes 41-42. Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1909. Original from the University of Michigan, Digitized Dec 10, 2008, p. 57)

Notice that the Lady wanted something built for her honor and many believed that it was through the Lady that they could be spared from Christ! The Bible shows it is Jesus who spares from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10), not Mary. Thus, it could not have been a visit from Mary of the Bible. Furthermore, the Bible repeatedly mentions that God is merciful (e.g. James 5:11), but sacred scripture never specifically mentions that that any should go to Mary for mercy. The fact that at least one account states that the Lady had dark-skin (she has also been called the “mestiza Virgin”: Anderson C, Chávez E. Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love. Random House Digital, Inc., 2009, p. 79) and “Indian Virgin”: Rodriguez, p. 45) suggests that she did not look the same as certain other apparitions many later claimed to be Mary.

Why report any of this?

Because just like the Lady of Guadalupe (who could not have been Mary) was used to convert much of Latin America to a form of Catholicism, it is likely that a future apparition will be used to convert people in the end times to an ecumenical form of “Catholicism.” People need to be warned about this.

So, just one ‘Marian apparition’ has been claimed to have been effective in turning Latin America predominantly Roman Catholic. What will happen if some type of ‘Marian apparition’ is seen and even shown on media like television and/or the internet?

It has been my contention for several years, after searching the scriptures and studying history, that one or more apparitions believed to be Jesus’ mother ‘Mary” will be seen by the general public. Will not many be deceived by this? The Bible is clear that massive deception is coming (Matthew 24:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). Pope Francis has been encouraging Marian devotion through his words and actions. Even Russia’s President Putin has joined in (Russia’s Putin and Pope Francis both kiss Marian icon). Increased acceptance of non-biblical views of Mary are affecting people.

Here is some of what Pope Francis has said:

MESSAGE TO THE AMERICAS for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe…the Patroness of the Americas. I would like to greet all my brothers and sisters on that continent, and I do so thinking of the Virgin of Tepeyac…

When the image of the Virgin appeared on the tilma of Juan Diego, it was the prophecy of an embrace: Mary’s embrace of all the peoples of the vast expanses of America – the peoples who already lived there, and those who were yet to come…I ask all the people of the Americas to open wide their arms, like the Virgin, with love and tenderness. http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/12/11/pope_francis_sends_message_to_the_americas/en1-754682

So, Pope Francis is calling for all to turn to his version of Mary and hopes others will in the future.

Even in New York City, the Guadalupe adoration is being promoted:

STATEN ISLAND, N. Y. — A mass celebrated in Spanish by Bishop Gerald Walsh, vicar general of the Archdiocese of New York, will be the highlight of a celebration on Thursday in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas and the Mexican people, at Holy Rosary Parish in South Beach.

The day will begin with the traditional Mananitas, which is the early morning serenading of the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, at 6:30 am in the parish mission church on Sand Lane. A procession with the statue of Our Lady will begin in the mission church at 6:45 p.m. and proceed to the main church at 80 Jerome Avenue. http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/12/post_642.html

Notice that people serenade an idol, and that this is encouraged by Roman Bishops. People are somewhat getting prepared for more Marian veneration. Perhaps I should mention here that the “rosary” alleged entered the Church of Rome from someone who claimed that he got it from a claimed Marian apparition. ‘Marion apparitions’ have affected humanity and may have even greater impact in the not-so-distance future.

Partially, to see how modern people view apparitions (as part of my book research) my wife and I went to Fatima, Portugal. While at Fatima I was surprised by the size of its entire sanctuary complex, but not the vast amount of visitors which came. My wife Joyce and I saw thousands of visitors in Fatima on May 29, 2011. And that is much less than the amount who tend to show up there on May 13 and October 13 (the anniversary days of the first and last appearance of the apparition) each year. Millions visit Fatima, Portugal each year, with the vast majority of them believing that Mary actually appeared there (though the apparition in Fatima never actually identified herself as Mary, nor based upon its appearance could it possibly have been).

It is remains my position that it is very likely that apparitions that people will claim will be Mary, the mother of Jesus, will be part of the signs and lying wonders that are mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 and Matthew 24:24 (cf. Isaiah 47; Nahum 3:4-5).

The current Marian focused Pope Francis, as well as somewhat like-minded bishops, will likely be a factor in this. The ‘success’ of the ‘Lady of Guadalupe’ should serve as a warning to all that the world can be highly affected by apparitions that some will falsely believe are Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions Do you know much about Mary? Are the apparitions real? What happened at Fatima? What might they mean for the rise of the ecumenical religion of Antichrist? Are Protestants moving towards Mary? How do the Eastern/Greek Orthodox view Mary? How might Mary view her adorers? Here is a link to a YouTube video Marian Apparitions May Fulfill Prophecy.
Satan’s Plan Does Satan have a plan? What is it? Has it already been successful? Will it be successful in the future?
Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy? Pope Francis has taken many steps to turn people more towards his version of ‘Mary.’ Could this be consistent with biblical and Catholic prophecies? This article documents what has been happening. There is also a video version titled Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?
Feast of the Immaculate Conception? Did early Christians teach Mary had an immaculate conception and led a sinless life?
Origin of the Marian Dogmas: Where Do Catholic Scholars Say The Four Dogmas of Mary Came From?
Assumption of Mary Did Mary die? Was she taken to heaven on August 15th? What is known? What does the Bible show?
What Did the Early Church Teach About Idols and Icons? Did Catholic and Orthodox “saints” endorse or condemn idols and icons for Christians?
Fatima Shock! What the Vatican Does Not Want You to Know About Fatima, Dogmas of Mary, and Future Apparitions. Whether or not you believe anything happened at Fatima, if you live long enough, you will be affected by its ramifications (cf. Isaiah 47; Revelation 17). Fatima Shock! provides concerned Christians with enough Catholic-documented facts to effectively counter every false Marian argument. In addition to the print version, there is a Kindle version of Fatima Shock! which you can acquire in seconds.