Blog Post Week 5: Virgen De Guadalupe

The Virgen de Guadalupe has been a prominent figure for me growing up here in East Los Angeles and as a Mexican Catholic. For my family, religion has been a place of keeping tradition while being away from our family in Mexico, who also value the Virgen highly. More importantly, it is a place where my mother gains strength and maintains faith when she feels times are tough. Growing up, my mother had the difficult responsibility of raising my sister and me by herself so the Virgen served as an icon of strength for her. Additionally, my mother and aunts would take turns, along with other women, in having possession of a Virgen statue for a period of time at their households. They would hold rosarios and to me, the Virgen de Guadalupe came to signify a symbol of womanhood and strength.  Although we are not devout Catholics, the Virgen de Guadalupe is a religious aspect that remains present in our family. 

Since coming to UCLA, I have had access to more information about the roots of Catholicism in Mexican history and one of those topics has been the Virgen de Guadalupe. The most interesting thing that I have learned is how the Virgen de Guadalupe had become a myth created by the Catholic church in order to convert the natives into Catholicism. The Mexica goddess Tonanzin Coatlicue had served as a major obstacle for the Catholic church because many natives held strongly in their beliefs to the mother goddess which is why they fabricated the story of Juan Diego and the Virgen de Guadalupe. While this historical information sheds light on how religion in Mexico and Latin America has dark roots and awareness should be raised, I also understand the importance that the Virgen has for many people such as my mother. Although this new information has made me more skeptical of the Catholic church and the Virgen de Guadalupe, I continue to show some belief because it is the source of strength for my mother who depended on the Virgen when times were extremely tough.