Chang, Nicholas (Week 3)

 My first experience of the Lady of Guadalupe was when I heard about the story behind the image. Growing up  in a Catholic household, my grandmother has told me a plethora of stories regarding holy figures in the Catholic faith, including the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe. I remember my grandmother telling me how on the North American continent, a recent convert with a very sick uncle saw the image of the Virgin Mary that appears from the sun, who instructed him to build a church near modern-day Mexico City. When the man tried to convince a bishop to build this church, he was unsuccessful in doing so. It was only when the convert brought a cloak with flowers that formed an image of the Lady of Guadalupe that the bishop believed the convert’s experiences which culminated in a chapel being built at the site. The Lady of Guadalupe also healed the convert’s sickly uncle when he was on his deathbed. I remember hearing this story as a child and being very surprised to learn about how Christianity had stories of miracles and holy figures that are set in North America. 

As a Californian, I have seen many renditions of the picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe on cars, buildings, Spanish classes, and in images online. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a very iconic image that I have seen in many places, but I have seen this image the most around Southern California and Los Angeles. From my experiences, the image of the Lady of Guadalupe depicts the Virgin Mary with beams of light like how the convert in the story observes an apparition of Mary from the sun. Especially since I heard the story about how the Lady of Guadalupe healed the convert’s sickly uncle, I mostly saw the image as a representation of healing through faith.