The beautiful brown-skinned Virgen de Guadalupe is, of course, the patron saint of Mexico who managed to convert millions to Catholicism. But even Catholicism can't seem to explain everything that this mestiza mother figure has come to mean in the hearts and minds of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and even people with no Mexican heritage. Her significance is so deeply etched in the identity of her devoted followers that many have etched her image onto their bodies. Many of these tattoos are beautiful, but what's more amazing is the profound meaning behind the Virgen Morenita ink.
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Virgen de Guadalupe tattoos are not rare, as you will see. Some of the tattoos we'll show you here are lifelike and gorgeous, others are more abstract. Some are colorful, while others keep the color to a minimum and go for a more stylized aesthetic. What they all have in common is that they are all beautiful because they're meaningful.
Click through this gallery to see a sampling of body art dedicated to the Virgen de Guadalupe. Although we don't have all the backstories to the tattoos of the people we feature here, we are sure that the motivations are all deep and powerful. Along with each tattoo, we'll go through the story of of how and when La Virgen de Guadalupe first appeared in all her glory to an Indigenous man in Mexico.
The year was 1531.
It is said that the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, an Indigenous man, on December 9, 1531, on Tepeyac Hill, which is now a suburb of Mexico City. This wasn't the only time she appeared to him, but it was the first time.
He was on his way to church.
Juan Diego, a recent convert to Catholicism, was on his way to mass when the Virgin Mary appeared and spoke to him in Nahuatl, his native language. Keep in mind that this was about 12 years after the conquest of Mexico by Spain.
She chose him to be her messenger.
She told Juan Diego that she was the Virgin Mary and that she wanted a church to be built on the spot where they were so that those who needed her help could come. She asked him to go to the bishop and relay her message.
He reluctantly did what was asked of him.
Juan Diego went to see the bishop and shared that he had seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary and that she wanted a shrine erected in the spot where she appeared. Can you imagine how the bishop reacted?
The bishop was skeptical.
Well, it's not really surprising that the bishop was skeptical. Who wouldn't be a little skeptical of someone saying that they had been visited by the Virgin Mary on their way to church?
Juan Diego went back to Tepeyac Hill with the bad news.
That same day, Juan Diego saw the Virgin again and told her that the bishop wasn't buying his story. He was ready to give up because he didn't feel important enough to be the Virgin's messenger, but she told him to try again.
Juan Diego tried again and again he was met with skepticism.
Juan Diego went back to the bishop the next day, which was December 10, but still the archbishop did not believe him. This time around the bishop gave Juan Diego a mission to prove the apparition was real.
A miracle was needed.
Juan Diego was instructed by the archbishop to go back to Tepeyac Hill and ask the apparition for some kind of sign to prove she was who she said she was. Basically, a miracle was needed because how else could there be proof?
And so back he went back to talk to the apparition.
This messenger thing was not easy, so much back and forth. Makes you wonder why Mary couldn't just appear to the bishop, but the thing is that by appearing to an Indigenous man, after the conquest, it's like she was saying, "I see you and now you see me and I look like you and you are important enough to relay my message."
Juan Diego asked for proof.
It was still December 10, when Juan Diego went back to Tepeyac Hill to ask for a sign from the Virgin Mary that he could share with the bishop. She wasn't upset by the request and was more than willing to provide proof.
She promised to have something the following day.
The Virgin told Juan Diego to come back on December 11 for the proof he needed. She didn't tell him what it would be, just that he needed to come back the next day to get it and take it to the doubting bishop.
Then life got in the way.
On December 11, Juan Diego did not go back because he had to take care of his uncle who had gotten very sick. Who wouldn't have done the same thing? When a loved one is sick, you want to be there for them regardless of your other obligations.
He thought his uncle was about to die.
Early on December 12, Juan Diego went to get a priest to administer last rites because he didn’t think his uncle was going to make it. But, he really didn't want to run into the Virgin because he was embarrassed that he had flaked on her, even though it was for a good reason.
He tried to hide.
Juan Diego was trying to avoid running into the Virgin so he took a different route to church. A route that would avoid Tepeyac Hill so that he wouldn't come across another apparition.
You can't hide from an apparition, though.
The Virgin appeared to him nonetheless and once he told her about his uncle, she gently admonished him for not going to her by saying, “¿No estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre?” (Am I not here, I who am your Mother?).
She told him his uncle would get better.
She told Juan Diego that he did not need to go get a priest as his uncle would be just fine. So, instead of continuing on his way to church, he listened to the Virgin and headed to the top of Tepeyac Hill.
What he found there was amazing.
Somehow in a spot where only cactus and scrubs could grow, there were flowers in full bloom. And it was winter, these flowers were not meant to bloom in the winter and they weren't there just a couple of days ago.
They weren't even local flowers.
The flowers he found weren't even native to the area. They were Castilian roses. Imagine seeing flowers you've never seen before blooming during the wrong season? Juan Diego cut the flowers and scooped them up in his tilma — the cloak he was wearing.
She rearranged the flowers in his tilma.
The Virgin then took the flowers that Juan Diego had placed in his cloak and rearranged them before sending him off to the bishop. Surely, Juan Diego must have thought that the flowers alone were the proof he was delivering.
The flowers were just one part of the miracle.
On December 12, when Juan Diego opened his tilma in front of the archbishop, the flowers dropped to the floor. The site of roses from another continent would have been impressive enough, but there was more.
They were just a preface to what was coming.
That there were blooming flowers that had never been seen in that part of the world was a miracle in itself. But once the flowers came out of the tilma, there was something even more miraculous.
What was to come was so much more amazing.
Somehow, the Virgin had created something on Juan Diego's actual tilma that made the roses seem like no big deal. They were just the frosting on the cake so to speak. Once the flowers dropped to the ground, the big reveal happened.
It was the tilma was the actual proof that would live on after the flowers were long gone.
Where there once was only fabric, there now was the image of the Virgin that has become so iconic and so well known throughout the world. The image of the Virgin standing in front of the sun with her cloak of stars.
Message, proof, and miracle received.
The bishop kept the tilma and accepted it as miraculous proof. Once the shrine that the Virgin had asked for was built, the tilma went to live there so that pilgrims could see it and be amazed.
But La Virgencita wasn't done.
Juan Diego went back to his uncle Juan Bernardino on December 13 and guess what? Whatever illness had brought him so close to death was gone. He was all better, just like the Virgin had told Juan Diego.
Juan Diego's uncle saw her, too.
Juan Bernardino told Juan Diego that the Virgin had appeared to him as well. There he was laying in his sick bed, ready to die, when the Virgin appears to him. She was there to help him.
She was there to cure the man.
Just like she had assured Juan Diego, his uncle had recovered. She probably could have cured Juan Bernardino without appearing to him, but she had something that she wanted help with as well.
She talked to Juan Diego's uncle.
She didn't only stop by to cure Juan Bernardino. She stopped by to ask him to help her out as well. She wanted him to tell the bishop of her visit and to also share her name.
She revealed her name.
She told him what she wanted to be called. It's significant and important that the two people that the Virgin appeared to in the Americas were Indigenous people and that she spoke to them in their language and not Spanish.
Yes, her name is Mary, but it's also Guadalupe.
Many think of her as Mary of Guadalupe, so why isn't she just called the Virgin Mary? Because in Mexico, her apparition wanted to be called something special. When she appeared to Juan Diego's uncle, she made it clear that she had a different name in mind.
And that's where the name Guadalupe comes in.
It was during her apparition to Juan Bernardino that she asked to be called “Santa Maria de Guadalupe.” Guadalupe has become a pretty popular name for both boys and girls in Mexico and Spanish-speaking countries.
There are Indigenous elements throughout.
In the image, which works as a pictograph, the Virgin is dressed like a traditional Aztec princess. The color of her manta was a color that only Aztec royalty could wear.
Things can be inferred from images alone.
The black sash worn high up on her waist was a symbol used for pregnancy in Aztec culture. A quick look at that sash let the Indigenous people know that this woman, although a virgin, was pregnant.
The tilma tells a story that isn't always retold the same way.
The tilma depicts a pregnant Mary with the sash. Nowadays, many artistic liberties are taken with her depiction and the sash is either left out or it is included in a different color than on the tilma.
She spoke to the Indigenous people in their own language.
The story of how the Virgin appeared to Juan Diego dressed like an Aztec princess and spoke to him in Nahuatl is believed to be responsible for millions of people converting to Catholicism in less than seven years.
As per her request, a shrine was built.
The shrine that was constructed in her honor is called the Basílica de Santa Maria de Guadalupe. The New Basilica was built in 1974. The Old Basilica is on the side of the New Basilica and was built between 1695 and 1709.
She is incredibly popular.
Every year, more than as many as 10 million people visit the shrine. It is one of the largest Catholic pilgrimages in the world. Of course, many of those pilgrims choose to go during the December 12 celebration.
And can you believe Juan Diego's tilma is still around?
The tilma has survived all these years and is still on display. This is a big deal because the tilma is made of cactus fibers that only tend to last about 30 years, so it's hard for skeptics to explain how it has survived for hundreds of years.
Never mind separation of church and state.
In 1859, the day of the Virgin de Guadalupe became a national holiday. Schools and many businesses close when the celebration falls on a weekday. There are feasts and celebrations throughout the country and many from far and wide make a pilgrimage to see the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
Oh, and Juan Diego became a saint ... eventually.
Juan Diego's existence was questioned by Catholics and non-Catholics. The Vatican confirmed his existence. On July 31, 2002, Juan Diego was canonized by Pope John Paul II, making him the first Indigenous saint from the Americas.
