Why is the Virgin Mary called Guadalupe?

When she appeared to St. Juan Diego’s uncle, he understood her to say “Call me and call my image Santa Maria de Guadalupe.”

While in Spain there was a shrine called Our Lady of Guadalupe in Extramadura, it seems unlikely that the Virgin called herself by this Spanish title. Although well known, especially to sailors––Columbus visited it both before and after his voyage of discovery, neither Juan nor his uncle spoke Spanish, and would have repeated the title to the bishop with difficulty. It is more likely she spoke to both in their native Náhuatl, calling herself by something understandable to them, but misunderstood by the Spanish.

One possibility is that she said that she was “Coatlaxopeuh” (the one who crushes the serpent), which suggests “Guadalupe” (also known as the “dark virgin” of Spain). In addition to the hints of the Spanish virgin, this name holds and two-fold reference, understandable and appealing to Spaniards and Mexicans.

The first is to Genesis 3:15, in which God says to Satan, appearing under the form of a serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” In this text, known as the protoevangelium (first gospel), is both the promise of a Redeemer to crush the Serpent, as well as the mysterious participation of the “Woman” in the fulfillment of that promise. The second reference is to Cuetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, a predominate deity in the Aztec pantheon. The Aztec religion had many gods, some of whom demanded human sacrifice. Cuetzalcoatl was a god of creation, of man, of knowledge and of wisdom, yet a parody of the true God nonetheless. By taking this name the Blessed Virgin announced that she and her Son, the True God, would defeat the feathered serpent and the religious system that held sway over the people of Mexico.

Why is Our Lady of Guadalupe so important?

At the time of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation was resulting in millions of people in Europe leaving the Church. During this massive departure in the Old World, the image and story of Our Lady of Guadalupe helped to convert millions in the New World. To this day, Our Lady of Guadalupe is incredibly significant to the Mexican people. She is the patron of Mexico and truly interwoven into Mexican culture.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is also revered throughout the Catholic world. In fact, the apparition site of Our Lady of Guadalupe has become the most visited Catholic pilgrimage destination on earth.