The Virgin Mary appeared to a man named Juan Diego and instructed him to go to the Bishop to tell him to build a church at this town. This was a miraculous event that happened on December 9, 1531. One of the things that still survives today is Juan's mantle that was used to carry the flowers for prove to the Bishop that the Virgin Mary had appeared to him. This incredible event is celebrated today on …showed first 75 words of 1156 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1156 total…the rest of his life retelling the story of his vision. He died on May 30, 1548, at the age of 74. Juan Diego said to the Blessed Virgin Mary, "I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf," as a model of humility for all of us. And in July of 2002 Juan Diego was canonized (declared a Saint) in the Basicila of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City.