Juan Diego was running late for Mass on December 9. But as he approached Guadalupe’s Tepeyac hill, he heard sweet music, then a voice calling his name, then a beautiful woman he recognized as the Blessed Virgin. She asked him to have a chapel built for her. His bishop was skeptical. When Juan saw Mary again the next day, she said she would provide the bishop with proof. But Juan was unable to come on that day; his uncle, who was like a father to him, was seriously ill. When he returned on December 12, Mary said she would heal his uncle, and told him to pick flowers from the hill—typically, an impossibility in the arid area in December—to take to the bishop. When Juan reached the bishop, the cloak in which he carried the flowers showed an imprint of Mary’s face. The church was built within a year. The Americas’ first canonized indigenous saint recognized that listening to the lady was even more important than Mass. He reminds us to keep our ears attuned to God rather than keeping our eyes on the clock.
