Celebrating Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe

Salerno Pawn and Jewelry sells many religious products containing the Virgin of Guadalupe, such as charms and pendants, rings, earrings and bracelets for men and women. While these are not part of the celebration of December 12, they have been traditionally worn to honor La Virgen de Guadalupe. Others wear it for protection. We wondered about the celebration on December 12 that honers the Lady of Guadalupe. We learned that it became a national holiday in Mexico since 1859. Tens of thousands of people make their way to the place where the Virgin Mary first appeared, in the Basilica, in Mexico City. Much of the population attend morning mass at church followed by fun festivities which include music, dances, plenty of food and parades. The story behind this celebration is that of miracles and faith that changed the history of Mexico. The story began with The Virgin Mary and Juan Diego who was a young Indian man. On December 12, 1531, Juan Diego was walking towards the hill of Tepeyac when the Virgin Mary first appeared in front of him. She told him to go to the Bishop and order him to build a church at the top of the hill. Diego did as he was told but the Bishop did not believe him and ignored his request. Later on, the Lady of Guadalupe appeared again and ordered him to collect flowers from the top of the hill. Diego thought this would be a difficult task since it was December and not many flowers were blooming. When he reached the top of the hill, he was surprised to see a lot of beautiful flowers in many colors on the rocky hill. He started collecting flowers and putting them in his poncho. He hurried back to the Bishop to give him the flowers. Upon opening the poncho, both Diego and the Bishop were astonished to see the image of the Virgin Mary beautifully traced on the poncho along with the flowers. The Bishop finally believed Diego and the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe was built on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico City. The miracle of the top of the hill being covered in flowers marks the beginning of the festival of Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe. To this day, people put beautiful flowers of many colors by pictures and altars of the Virgin Mary.