The Guadalupe Miracle
PRELUDE
In the year 1531, the Aztec nation was in a dangerous state of near revolt. The Spanish, led by Cortes, had invaded Mexico 12 years earlier, and conquered it, in bloody battles during which the great Aztec leader Montezuma II was killed.
The "First Audience", a group of five Administrators appointed by Spain's King Charles V in 1528 had been dealing with the Aztec people cruelly and tyrannically, believing them to be soul-less, and little more than animals.
Bishop Zumarraga, a Spanish Franciscan had also been appointed by Charles V in 1528 as Bishop of Mexico. Despite many attempts, he had been unable to curb the violent excesses of the First Audience. He had been fervently requesting Our Lady to prevent a bloody revolt, the result of which would have been the extinction of all Spaniards in Mexico, the extinction of the Church, and a return to paganism.He secretly asked that she send him some Castilian Roses, as a sign that his prayers had been heard.
Into that scene then came the Mexican Indian, Juan Diego.
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