In 1531, a few years after the conquest of Mexico, an Aztec Indian named Juan Diego was walking past a hill called Tepeyac where he saw a beautiful woman who told him she was the Virgin Mary. She asked him to contact Bishop Zumarraga in Mexico
City to tell him to build a church in her honor. Juan Diego attempted this twice and on the third try, the Virgin asked him to pick up roses he found growing on the hillside and take them to the Bishop. When Juan dumped the roses at the Bishop’s
feet, he saw the image of the Virgin miraculously imprinted on his cloak (tilma). This tilma still hangs in the Basilica of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. She is the Virgin of the America’s and her feast day is December 12th.