December 9

Born: 1474, Tlayacac, Cuauhtitlan (about 15 miles north of modern Mexico City, Mexico) as Cuauhtlatoatzin.
Died: 1548 of natural causes.

Born an impoverished free man in a strongly class-conscious society. Farm worker, field laborer, and mat maker. Married layman with no children. A mystical and religious man even as a pagan, he became an adult convert to Christianity around age 50, taking the name Juan Diego. Widower in 1529. Visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared at Guadalupe on December 9, 1531, leaving him the image known as Our Lady of Guadalupe.

"Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything." - Our Lady to Juan Diego, Dec. 9, 1531