“a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet”

“Evangelization means to bring the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new, ‘Now I am making the whole of creation new’ (Revelation 21:5).  But there is not new humanity if there are not first of all new persons renewed by baptism, and by lives lived according to the Gospel” [ii]
 
Many times we think of evangelization being done somewhere else, maybe for pagan, non-believers.  Pope Paul VI says that evangelization is needed when lives are not being lived according to the Gospel.  Baptism is a door into a life lived according to the Gospel.  One of the most drastic examples in history of a culture not living according to the Gospel is the Aztec Empire of the 1500’s.

In the 1500’s, there were 15 million people in the Aztec Empire.  There were 371 towns, but not all towns had temples, those that did have temples, the temple was the center of the town much like the courthouse is in small towns or the Church was in European towns.  The Aztecs had two primary gods that they worshiped; a good god and a bad god.  1000 human sacrifices were required by law each year from each town with a temple.  It is reported that there were about 50,000 human sacrifices each year in the Aztec empire, and the skulls were kept on racks to make sure the number was exact.The Aztecs could be the most gruesome civilization in the history of the world.  During a human sacrifice the person climbed to the top of the temple, was bent over backwards and then the priest cut them open in the chest and pulled out their beating heart.  The body was left in convulsions and then kicked over the side of the temple.  The limbs were eaten by the people in the town (cannibalism was allowed), and the rest of the body was given to animals.  In 1487, human sacrifice reached its height when a new pyramid was dedicated in Mexico City and 80,000 people were sacrificed non-stop for 4 days and 4 nights (this amounts to a person every 15 seconds).  Even in the midst of such evil and culture of death, God shows His mercy .  Mary in her Magnificat says, “He has mercy on those who fear Him, in every generation.”  Although the Aztecs did not know Jesus Christ, they did believe in the gods and feared the gods and it is this fear, obedience and love of a higher power which saved the Aztecs. 
 
In 987AD, an Aztec priest and leader, named Ce Acatl Topiltzin, was kicked out of the Aztec empire because he did not approve of human sacrifices. He left to live with the Mayans, but before leaving he gave a prophecy saying that he would return and end all human sacrifice.  The Aztecs took priests and gods seriously, so they paid close attention not only to what he said but passed this prophecy to the next generations.  He gave the prophecy, according to the Aztec calendar, which pointed to a day and a year he would return.  On the European calendar, the year was 1519, and the day was Good Friday, a day Catholics remember the last and final human sacrifice of Christ, the God-Man. 
 
Cortez and 500 Spanish arrived in the Aztec empire on Good Friday, 1519 and knew nothing of the prophecy.  It was the Spanish Catholic custom to wear black on Good Friday, ironically black was also worn by Aztec priests.  When Montezuma II’s men came to greet the Spanish, they would have assumed that the 501 men dressed in black was a fulfillment of the prophecy.  The priest (Cortez) had come back as predicted and brought 500 people with him. 
 
Cortez trusted completely in God’s providence and had all of the ships that would have given the Spanish an escape, sent away.  Cortez and his men were in Mexico to stay, dead or alive.  Marching into Mexico City, the Spanish were outnumbered 10,000 to 1.  They walked into the city with no blood shed.  Within the first year of being there Cortez had an altar, cross and image of Mary put on the temple, and Mass was said rather than human sacrifices.  At one point, there were no human sacrifices for 3 months. 
Cortez landed in 1519, took control of the Empire in 1521.  “The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego on Tepayac hill near Mexico City on the 9 ^th of December 1531.” [iii]  San Juan Diego died in 1548. 
 
From 1531, the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, to the death of San Juan Diego in 1548 (17 years) 9 million people converted, that is 60% of the Aztec empire.  This is incredible, and can only be attributed to the grace of God and the loving intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The population of New York City is around 8 million.  Imagine all of New York City changing from one faith to another in less than 20 years.  This rapid conversion did not happen merely because of military force, but also because the Aztecs had a religion already, which was a preparation for Christianity.  The Aztecs, as bazaar as they were, had a culture that valued human sacrifice and would definitely appreciate and be open to worshiping and following a God who became man.  He, Himself, became the one and only Sacrifice.  They too would appreciate the Mother of this God appearing to them as an Aztec princess and appearing to one of their own (San Juan Diego was an Aztec).

The Aztec people, who did not have a written language, used pictures and symbols to convey messages.  Our Lady’s appearance to San Juan Diego, and the image that she left on his tilma is a pictograph full of meaning that the Aztec culture would have understood.  It is this message from God, through Our Lady, that helped 9 million convert to Christianity in less than 20 years.  This rapid conversion occurred in the 1500’s.  Between the years of 1517 to 1579 many left the Catholic faith in Europe due to the errors of Protestantism.  Despite the mass exodus of the faithful in Europe, more faithful were gained in Mexico.  More were gained during this time frame, than lost due to Evangelization.  It might be good to watch the video and have a full image of Our Lady of Guadalupe present.  After playing the video, ask how many symbols those watching the video remember.  Below are some of the big symbols:
In front of the sun– Our Lady is greater than the Aztec sun god.   Standing on the moon– Our Lady is greater than the Aztec moon god.   Eyes are lowered– This means that she is not a god.   Stars on her mantle– The exact pattern of the stars / consolations in the sky on that night in 1531.   Pregnancy belt– Our Lady is wearing a belt that Aztec woman wore when they were pregnant, this is a sign that although she is not a god, she will give birth and that her child is God.   Aztec woman wearing Cross of Cortez– Mary appears as an Aztec princess but yet wears the Cross of Cortez and the Spanish.  The Spanish and the Aztecs did not get along but it is through this image that the Aztecs begin to trust the Spanish and through Our Lady that they trust the religion of the Spanish to be the true religion.
 
Are the Aztecs the most barbaric, anti-Christian people ever?  In America over 3,000 babies are aborted each day.  This is over 1 million each year; this is 95,000 more human sacrifices than the Aztecs each year.  We are definitely more barbaric, and we allow the killing because it is silent and no one sees the blood.   How can this kind of barbaric, pagan behavior happen in Christian countries that know, love and serve Christ?  Pope John Paul II said we are in need of re-evangelization.  Countries, like Europe, Mexico and America, which were once evangelized, are in need of evangelization again, re-evangelization.  “Now in Europe, however, we find a growing temptation and tendency toward atheism and skepticism.  There is widespread uncertainty concerning morality itself.  In the wake of this ignorance has come the disintegration of the family and the wholesale deterioration of the Christian way of life.  A dangerous trend of ideas and practice conspires to stifle the expression of Christian life in society?” [iv]  The skepticism regarding truth and the uncertainty concerning morality cause a deterioration of the Christian way of life that leads to more barbaric and evils acts than even some of the most pagan cultures in history.  We should be ashamed of ourselves, that we, like the prodigal son, have squandered the great inheritance that the Father has given us.  The great Christian countries have become like prodigal sons and must return back to their Father’s arms, this will only happen through evangelization.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is not only the patroness of the Americas, but she is also the patroness of the unborn.  It was the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the cooperation of the Aztec and Spanish people with God’s grace that caused the end of human sacrifices in Mexico.  It will only be through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the cooperation of the American people, government officials, Church leaders, etc. that will put an end to the human sacrifice of abortion in America.
 

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[i] Anne W. Carroll; Christ and the Americas; Chapter 2
[ii] Pope Paul VI; Evangelii Nuntiandi, 18
[iii] Fr. Francis Fernandez; In Conversation with God; Vol. 7; section 55
[iv] John Paul II, Address, 6 November 1981