Product Review

One morning, while walking to an early church service, Juan Diego hears a voice calling, "Juanito! Juan Dieguito!" He comes face to face with the Virgin Mary! "I would like a shrine built on this hill", she tells him, and she instructs him to take her wish to the bishop. Juan Diego, a lowly peasant, protests that the bishop will pay no attention to him, but the Virgin says that she will protect him. Juan Diego visits the bishop three times, but only after he brings a sign from the Virgin, a bunch of roses that are miraculously blooming in December, does the bishop relent and agree to the Virgin's request. From then on, the image of the Virgin is imprinted on Juan Diego's rough cactus-fiber tilma, the cloak in which he carried the roses. Today, millions of pilgrims visit the shrine and pray before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Tonya Engel's sweeping oil-and-encaustic illustrations capture 16th-century Mexican country and city landscapes with stunning clarity. An Author's Note about the origins of the legend and miracle is included.