“Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us,” says everyone in unison. Every day, following the Angelus at noon, the employees of Relevant Radio invoke the name of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a remembrance of Mary’s miraculous appearances to Saint Juan Diego in Mexico. This specific title holds a very important place in the hearts of our supporters because Relevant Radio received its first license to broadcast from the FCC in 2000 on her feast day, December 12.
On December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a poor Aztec convert to the Catholic Faith, was walking to Mass and as he crossed Tepeyac Hill, Our Lady appeared before him. Like the story of Our Lady of the Snows, she requested that a church be built in her honor, this time a shrine and chapel. Juan Diego, wanting to please Our Lady, rushed off to see the bishop. After he told his story, the bishop requested a sign that this was really Mary asking for a chapel.
Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac Hill and Our Lady again appeared to him. He told her that the bishop required a sign and she granted him just that. On the morning of December 12, Mary guided Juan Diego to a hill where Castilian roses miraculously bloomed across the frost-covered, infertile ground. After picking some and filling his tilma (cloak) with roses, Mary arranged them and sent him to the bishop to present them.
Upon being granted an audience, Juan Diego opened his cloak for the bishop, scattering the roses before him. However, it wasn’t just the roses that took them by surprise. There, imprinted on the surface of his tilma, was the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The bishop fell to his knees. He now knew that it was indeed the Virgin Mary who had made this request and the bishop had the church built soon after.
To this day, the tilma remains intact. The colors have not faded and while the material should have deteriorated after 30 years, it has lasted 490. Scientists have no explanation for the image as there are no brush strokes or stretching, the image appears iridescent (an effect irreplicable by human hands), the image appears to hover or float 1/100th of an inch above the surface of the tilma and it displays a myriad of other miraculous traits.
Just a few years following the events of Juan Diego and his tilma, over 9 million Aztec Indians were converted to Christianity. And just a few years after the founding of Relevant Radio, we have expanded from one station to a national network that has reached hundreds of millions of listeners across the country. It is clear why Relevant Radio is so devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!
