As the story goes, a miraculous apparition of the Virgin Mary, now known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, appeared to an Aztec Indian, Juan Diego, near Mexico City in December 1531. Following three appearances in as many days, and a miraculous image of the Virgin appearing on Juan Diego's cloak or tunic (tilma), a shrine for the Virgin was erected on the site. The effect of this legend has been profound. Over the centuries, Our Lady of Guadalupe has become the spiritual center of Central American Catholicism and the place where she appeared has become the most visited pilgrimage site in the world, hosting millions of visitors each year.

The apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one among hundreds over the centuries. It might easily have been forgotten were it not for the enormity of influence she has achieved. Rising above the thousands of saints of the Catholic Church, she is revered in Central and South America virtually as a goddess. She has inherited the entire body of Catholic doctrine surrounding the Virgin Mary that claims her as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven, Immaculately Conceived and Ascended to Heaven—stopping just short of raising her to Co-Redemptrix with Christ. However the Indians of Mexico revere her as Our Mother, Queen of Mexico and a reborn Tonantzin, goddess of the earth. Meanwhile, more than three and a half centuries later, on October 12, 1895, Juan Diego received “canonical coronation” by the Roman Catholic Church; his beatification was completed on May 9, 1990. On July 31, 2002 Pope John Paul II conducted the ceremony of canonization at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, establishing Juan Diego as a saint.

The cultural significance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, not only for Mexico but also for world understanding of spirituality, was described many years ago in The Meeting of East and West by F. S. C. Northrop who recognized the power of this narrative: “In some way the Virgin of Guadalupe and the story of her revelation, directed especially to the Indians, call forth from the Mexican spirit a devotion and sweeping response not equaled by any other influence in Mexico even today” (1946, 26). “It is impossible,” writes Jaroslav Pelikan, “to understand the history of Western spirituality and devotion without paying attention to the place of the Virgin Mary” (1996, 247).