Sunday, September 24, 2006

Though somewhat identified as a separate saint, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a name used by The Virgin Mary as she appeared to a young Mexican lad named Juan Diego. To make a long story short, Mary wanted Juan Diego to get the local bishop to up and build a temple. As usual, nobody believes anybody of cosmic importance talked to a nobody, so they tried to get him to prove it. Mary suggested taking some out-of-season roses, which, when shown to the bishop, had left a pretty impressive glowing, life-size image of Mary on Juan Diego's cloak.

Juan Diego's cloak was not the same exact colors as the Mexican flag. The rendition of Our Lady of Guadalupe depicted was an attempt at cross-promotion for both Church and State.