Advent Lights · Week 2 · Grades 9–12
Guided Notes: St. Juan Diego
- Name
- Date
- Class
Follow along as your teacher presents. Fill in each section when its slide is on the screen.
Between two worlds
Juan Diego was born in 1474 in Cuautitlán, north of Tenochtitlan, the island capital of the Mexica (Aztec) empire. His name, Cuauhtlatoatzin, means “the talking eagle.” He spoke blank 1 and worked as a farmer and mat weaver.
In blank 2 Tenochtitlan fell to Spanish forces under Hernán Cortés and their Indigenous allies. War and epidemic disease devastated the population. Many survivors were forced to labor for the conquerors, and some Europeans questioned whether Indigenous people were fully human.
Franciscan friars arrived to preach the Gospel, and some defended Indigenous people against abuse. Around blank 3 Juan Diego was baptized. He was about fifty years old.
From Tepeyac to the altar
Write what happened at each point.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1474 | Write your answer |
| 1521 | Write your answer |
| c. 1524 | Write your answer |
| 1531 | Write your answer |
| 1548 | Write your answer |
| 1649 | Write your answer |
| 1990 | Write your answer |
| 2002 | Write your answer |
The message on the hill
According to the blank 4, Juan Diego was walking to Mass on December 9, 1531. On Tepeyac Hill a young woman addressed him tenderly in Nahuatl. She identified herself as the Virgin Mary and asked that a church be built there, where she would show her compassion to the people.
Bishop Juan de blank 5 heard him and asked for a sign. On December 12, worried for his dying uncle, Juan Diego tried to avoid the hill. Mary met him, told him his uncle was healed, and sent him to gather roses on the summit.
When he opened his blank 6 before the bishop, the roses fell. On the cloth was the image now called Our Lady of Guadalupe.
What historians can and cannot say
No document written in 1531 describes the apparitions. blank 7 Zumárraga’s surviving writings do not mention them. The fullest account, the Nican Mopohua, was printed in 1649 and is commonly attributed to the Nahua scholar Antonio Valeriano, who wrote in the mid-1500s.
For this reason some historians have doubted the story, and a few have questioned whether Juan Diego existed. What is well documented is that devotion at blank 8 was strong within a few decades of 1531.
Before the canonization, the blank 9 set up a historical commission to study the evidence. It concluded that Juan Diego was a real person.
Apply it
A classmate says, “Christianity was only ever a tool of the conquerors.” Which point from this story best complicates that claim? Circle one.
- A The Spanish built churches all over Mexico
- B The message came through an Indigenous man, in Nahuatl
- C Juan Diego took a Spanish name when baptized
- D The bishop was the first to see the apparition
Why is that the right answer?
Apply it
A student with almost no followers posts a careful, true correction to a viral rumor. Which response fits Juan Diego’s story best? Circle one.
- A Ignore it, since popular accounts are usually right
- B Believe it at once, since unknown voices never lie
- C Wait to see which version gets the most likes
- D Take it seriously and check the evidence offered
Why is that the right answer?
Take a side
Juan Diego had no status, and his message still reached a bishop and then a continent. Resolved: social media gives people without status a real voice, the way Juan Diego was given one.
My side: ☐ Agree ☐ Disagree
- Who actually gets heard online: anyone with something true to say, or those the algorithm rewards?
- Juan Diego was heard face to face and had to return more than once. Does going viral count as being heard?
- The bishop asked for a sign. What plays the role of evidence online, and who checks it?
- Have Indigenous and minority communities gained a voice through digital tools, lost one, or both?
- Juan Diego did not seek an audience for himself. Does that change what a real voice means?
My strongest reason, with evidence from the slides:
The best argument for the other side, and my response:
Let us pray
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”
Luke 1:46
God our Father, you made every person and every people in your image.
Give us eyes to see those the world overlooks, and courage to speak the truth.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
St. Juan Diego, pray for us.
Amen.
My own prayer or intention:
Go and carry the message
An Indigenous farmer, about fifty-seven years old, became the messenger for a continent. His feast day is December 9, and Our Lady of Guadalupe is December 12.
One thing I learned today:
One question I still have:
How could the example of St. Juan Diego shape the way I live, online and offline?
Challenge: For seven days, notice whose voices fill your feed. Then follow, read or listen to one person or community you usually overlook, and thank someone whose good work goes unseen.