68 TIME-LIFE MIRACLES OF FAITH
stories is that they are often dismissed altogether at first or
viewed as disruptive to the community.
That’s especially true if the visionary begins to attract a
following or if the site becomes a destination for flocks of
pilgrims seeking spiritual experiences of their own. Fam-
ily, friends, and neighbors may ridicule the visionaries,
questioning their sanity or motives.
In Lourdes, France, in 1858, a 14-year-old miller’s
daughter named Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have
seen Mary numerous times in a local cave. At first, she was
dismissed by many as dull-witted or mentally ill, but over
time Bernadette attracted a following of people who at-
tested to the miracles she was describing.
Today she is recognized as a saint, and the sanctuary
that was built at the site of her Marian visions is now one
of most visited religious places in the world.
BuildMeaChurch
MEXICO CITY, 1531
Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was on his way to church
one day. Walking through an area of Mexico City called
Tepeyac Hill, the 57-year-old peasant, a native Aztec who
had converted to Catholicism, heard strains of beauti-
ful music. Then he saw a woman, who called out to him,
“Juanito...JuanDieguito.”
Juan Diego asked the woman who she was. According
to lore, she responded in his native tongue,“Tlecuatlecupe,”
meaning “the one who crushes the head of the serpent.”
The woman also identified herself as “the perfect and per-
petual Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, the true God, through
whom everything lives, the Lord of all things near and far,
the Master of Heaven and Earth.” She asked that a church
be built on the site in her honor and sent Juan Diego to
convey her request to his local bishop.
Bishop Juan de Zumarraga was a protector of Mexico’s
indigenous people, whom Catholic Spain had conquered
a decade earlier. He doubted Juan Diego’s story but agreed
to reflect on the matter. When Juan Diego came back a sec-
ond time, the bishop told him to bring proof that the vi-
sion had been real. Juan Diego reported this back to Mary,
who told him to return to her the following day.
But Juan Diego had to care for a dying uncle and was
She asked that a church be built on the
site in her honor and sent Juan Diego to
convey her request to his local bishop.MARY AND THE SAINTS