Huei tlamahuiçoltica
Encyclopedia
Altepetl
The altepetl, in Pre-Columbian and Spanish conquest-era Aztec society, was the local, ethnically based political entity. The word is a combination of the Nahuatl words ā-tl, meaning water, and tepē-tl, meaning mountain....
of Mexico
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, at a place called Tepeyac
Tepeyac
Tepeyac or the Hill of Tepeyac, historically known by the names "Tepeyacac" and "Tepeaquilla", is located inside Gustavo A. Madero, the northernmost delegación or borough of the Mexican Federal District. It is the site where Saint Juan Diego met the Virgin of Guadalupe in December of 1531, and...
ac", generally shortened to Huei tlamahuiçoltica and translated as "The Great Event") is the title of a 36-page tract
Tract (literature)
A tract is a literary work, and in current usage, usually religious in nature. The notion of what constitutes a tract has changed over time. By the early part of the 21st century, these meant small pamphlets used for religious and political purposes, though far more often the former. They are...
published in 1649 by Luis Laso de la Vega
Luis Laso de la Vega
Luis Laso de la Vega was a 17th century Mexican priest and lawyer. He is known chiefly as the author of the Huei tlamahuiçoltica , an account published in 1649 and written in the Nahuatl language, which contains a narrative describing the reported apparition of the Virgin Mary before Saint Juan...
, the vicar of the chapel at Tepeyac
Tepeyac
Tepeyac or the Hill of Tepeyac, historically known by the names "Tepeyacac" and "Tepeaquilla", is located inside Gustavo A. Madero, the northernmost delegación or borough of the Mexican Federal District. It is the site where Saint Juan Diego met the Virgin of Guadalupe in December of 1531, and...
, and published the same year in New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
(now Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
). It contains an account of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe , also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe is a celebrated Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary.According to tradition, on December 9, 1531 Juan Diego, a simple indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The lady...
at Tepeyac
Tepeyac
Tepeyac or the Hill of Tepeyac, historically known by the names "Tepeyacac" and "Tepeaquilla", is located inside Gustavo A. Madero, the northernmost delegación or borough of the Mexican Federal District. It is the site where Saint Juan Diego met the Virgin of Guadalupe in December of 1531, and...
.
The tract is written almost entirely in Nahuatl and includes the Nican mopohua which contains the story of the apparitions. According to the sworn testimony of D. Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora was one of the first great intellectuals born in the Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. A polymath and writer, he held many colonial government and academic positions.-Early career:...
, the original preprint was in the calligraphy of Valeriano, its author. A very old and battered partial manuscript copy of the Nican Mopohua in 16 pages, dating c. 1556, can be found at the Public Library of New York; it has been there since 1880 together with two later ones (one copy is complete). The older copy appears in Tonanzin Guadalupe with full historical details. The Huei tlamahuiçoltica contains also the "Nican motecpana" listing the miracles by D. Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl; neither he nor Valeriano are mentioned as authors by Lasso.
There is an even older (c.1570) and much shorter manuscript in Nahuatl preceding the Nican Mopohua, which is known as the Inin huey tlamahuiçoltzin meaning This is the great marvel, also known as "The Primitive Relation" of the apparitions. It is kept at The National Library of México.
The first Spanish printed rendering of the tradition belongs to Fr. Miguel Sánchez
Miguel Sánchez
Miguel Sánchez was a Novohispanic priest, writer and theologian. He is most renowned as the author of the 1648 publication Imagen de la Virgen María, a description and theological interpretation of an apparition to Juan Diego of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe which is the first published...
's 1648 Imagen de la Virgen María, Madre de Dios de Guadalupe ("Image of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God of Guadalupe"), a theological dissertation linking the Guadalupan Image to .
Preface
The first section, a prefacePreface
A preface is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a foreword and precedes an author's preface...
, is titled in Nahuatl "Noble Queen of Heaven, Forever Virgin, Mother of God". In it Lasso addresses the Virgin directly, and after an introduction of four to five lines proceeds to the reason why he took up Nahuatl to print the history of the apparitions:
- "You yourself spoke in Nahuatl to a poor Indian and painted yourself in his ayate, thus showing you are not displeased with many languages..."
- "That the Indians of this land remember and keep in their language all you did for them and how it happened..."
- "Christ on the Cross had His sentence in three languages..."
- "You were with the apostles in Pentecost to receive the Holy Spirit" (a remembrance of the miracle of Diaspora Jews understanding each in his own language )
The preface ends with a short prayer in two lines pleading the Virgin's intercession that the Holy Ghost may help him to write in Nahuatl.
Nican mopohua
Juan Bernardino
Juan Diego Bernardino was one of two Aztec peasants alleged to have had visions of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531.- Life :...
). It is probable that the Nahuatl manuscript used by Lasso was the original by Valeriano which is actually in the New York Public Library. Most authorities agree on this and on the dating of when it was written: c. 1556, even O'Gorman.
Content, style, and structure
The Nican mopohua which has been described as "A Jewel of Nahuatl literature, whose beauty and depth of thought make it worthy of renown the world over" relies on the beauty of the dialogues between the Holy Virgin and Juan Diego to express the most tender feelings to be found in world literature. Her promise to grant the wishes of the locals who beseech her is prominent, as is her demand for a temple on the very spot. The Nican Mopohua section by Valeriano of Lasso de la Vega's account is related in a poetic style, typical of the most elegant formal classical Nahuatl in its full beauty. The other parts are clearly different and with greater Spanish influence. The Nican Mopohua is unique for presenting a blending between the deepest Nahuatl thought with the Christian message. It is precisely on this point that an abysmal difference exists with other Dialogues which invoke elements of the dramatic writings (called autos), many of which were used for the purposes of proselytization during the SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
colonization
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
of Mexico. The autos reflect only Spanish Christian thinking, while the main characteristic of the Nican Mopohua is the exceptional blending of the best of two cultures. The emphasis on the beauty of a miraculous event as given by the Nican Mopohua can be contrasted with the account of Sánchez, which focuses primarily on the agreements between Indian accounts of the apparition and Biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
prophecy
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
(most notably and ).
Because the apparition, and the purportedly miraculous transposition of the Virgin's image
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
onto Diego's tilma ("mantle") of ayatl, or maguey
Century plant
Agave americana, commonly known as the century plant, maguey, or American aloe , is an agave originally from Mexico but cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant...
cloth, are largely credited with the conversion of the Native American Mexica (Aztecs) and other peoples of Mexico to Roman Catholicism, all documents pertaining to the alleged miracle have been the subject of the intense scrutiny of the Roman Catholic Church, the colonial Spanish Crown
Spanish monarchy
The Monarchy of Spain, constitutionally referred to as The Crown and commonly referred to as the Spanish monarchy or Hispanic Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and an historic office of Spain...
(and after 1820, the Mexican government
Politics of Mexico
The politics of Mexico take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic whose government is based on a congressional system, whereby the president of Mexico is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system...
), scholars of Latin American religion and history
History of Latin America
Latin America refers to countries in the Americas where Romance languages are spoken. This definition, however, is not meant to include Canada, in spite of its large French-speaking population....
, scholars of classical Nahuatl, as well as independent Guadalupanos, skeptics, and historians the world over.
Critical response
Today, Catholics (especially those in Mexico and the rest of Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
) accept the Nican mopohua, whether written by Laso de la Vega, Valeriano, or another, unknown author, as the primordial telling of the Virgin Mary's personal evangelism to the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Until recently, there had been little secular scholarship that questioned the literal or factual nature of the origin of the images or texts. Baltazar González, a Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, Nahuatl speaker, and contemporary of Laso de la Vega, explained that the Huei tlamahuiçoltica "...agrees with what is known of the facts from tradition and the annals."
Some contemporary scholars have written skeptical or critical texts about the origin of the image and the texts. Sousa
Lisa Sousa
Lisa Sousa is an American academic historian active in the field of Latin American studies. A specialist in the colonial-era history of Latin America and of Colonial Mexico in particular, Sousa is noted for her research, commentary, and translations of colonial Mesoamerican literature and...
, Poole
Stafford Poole
The Reverend Stafford Poole, C.M., is a priest, full-time research historian, formerly a history professor and president of St. John's Seminary College in Camarillo, California. He is known for his extensive writings about the Virgin of Guadalupe.Poole was born in Oxnard, California, the son of...
and Lockhart
James Lockhart (historian)
James Marvin Lockhart is a U.S. historian specializing in the history of colonial Latin America.Born in Huntington, West Virginia, Lockhart attended West Virginia University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison . He is an expert in the study of historical sources in the Nahuatl language and...
concluded that Laso de la Vega's narrative was based on Sánchez's Image of the Virgin Mary..., and that the icon was most likely painted by human hands, possibly those of Marcos Cipac de Aquino, an Indian painter from the school of Fray Pedro de Gante
Pedro de Gante
Fray Pieter van der Moere, also known as Fray Pedro de Gante or Pedro de Mura was a Franciscan missionary in sixteenth century Mexico. Born in Geraardsbergen in present day Belgium, he was of Flemish descent...
.
The Nican mopohua and liberation theology
According to Cambridge professor of Mexican history David Brading, "...the romantic engagement with folk cultureFolk culture
Folk culture refers to the lifestyle of a culture. Historically, handed down through oral tradition, it demonstrates the "old ways" over novelty and relates to a sense of community. Folk culture is quite often imbued with a sense of place...
that characterized the revolutionary years was eventually taken up by the clergy. Equally important, the effect of the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
(1962–1965) and the rise of Liberation Theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
was to convert the text into a potent catechetical instrument, since its emphasis on a poor peasant and his willing acceptance of the Virgin's message, not to mention [Bishop] Zumárraga's initial disdain, responded perfectly to the new-found 'option for the poor'."
That is to say, the existence of the Nican mopohua provided a theological justification of the sanctity not only of the Virgin's apparition, but of the especial sanctity of the indigenous peoples of the American continents to the Virgin Mary and to the Church itself, an idea that was highly prized in the contentious dialogue revolving around the social status of indigenous and poverty-stricken people in the Catholic Church that existed during the 1960s-1970s.
Description
The third section is a description of the imageIcon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
of the Virgin of Guadalupe as it was exhibited at the chapel of Tepeyac during Laso de la Vega's day.
Nican motecpana
The fourth section, called the "Nican motecpana" (Nahuatl: "Here is an ordered account"), relates the fourteen miracleMiracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
s ascribed to the image of the Virgin that remained stamped on Juan Diego's tilma after the apparition.
Biography of Juan Diego
The fifth section is a post-apparition biography of Juan Diego, detailing his pious life and devotion to the Virgin and her image.Nican tlantica
The sixth section, the "Nican tlantica" (Nahuatl: "Here ends"), is a general history of the Virgin in New Spain and an exhortation to her devotion.Final prayer
The seventh section is another prayer, this one following the structure of the Salve ReginaSalve Regina
The "Salve Regina", also known as the Hail Holy Queen, is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity...
.
Publication and authorship
The responsibility for the composition and authorship of the Huei tlamahuiçoltica is assigned by a majority of contemporary Nahuatl scholars and historians to Licenciado Luis Laso de la Vega, vicar of the sanctuary of TepeyacTepeyac
Tepeyac or the Hill of Tepeyac, historically known by the names "Tepeyacac" and "Tepeaquilla", is located inside Gustavo A. Madero, the northernmost delegación or borough of the Mexican Federal District. It is the site where Saint Juan Diego met the Virgin of Guadalupe in December of 1531, and...
. There is some possibility that Laso de la Vega had collaborators in the composition of the work, but there is insufficient material evidence to demonstrate whether one or more hands were involved in the construction of the Nahuatl-language text.
The work was initially published under the auspices of Dr. Pedro de Barrientos Lomelín, vicar general of the Mexican diocese, at the press of Juan Ruiz in 1649.
In 1666, Lic. Luis Becerra Tanco (1603–1672), a secular priest, affirmed that the Nahuatl account was based on long-standing oral tradition in a deposition for the enquiries of Francisco de Siles, who was commissioned to compile documentation of the continuity of the Virgin's popular cult since the time of her apparition. Becerra Tanco later elaborated on this position in his Felicidad de México (Spanish: "Mexico's Happiness") (1675), claiming that Laso de la Vega's text must have been based on documents created through collaborations between the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
faculty of the College of Santa Cruz Tlatelolco and their indigenous pupils shortly after the apparition itself and purported to have been in the custody of Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl
Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl
Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl was a Novohispanic historian.-Life:A Castizo born between 1568 and 1580, Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl was a direct descendant of Ixtlilxochitl I and Ixtlilxochitl II, who had been tlatoque of Texcoco...
. He even claimed to have seen among these papers "a manuscript book written in the letters of our alphabet in an Indian's hand in which were described the four apparitions of the Most Holy Virgin to the Indian Juan Diego and his uncle Juan Bernardino."
Other scholars who have disputed Laso de la Vega's authorship include Francisco de Florencia, a Jesuit chronicler, who assumed that the "Indian manuscript" mentioned by Becerra Tanco was written by Jerónimo de Mendieta, (d. 1605), a Franciscan missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
and historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
in early New Spain, and Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora was one of the first great intellectuals born in the Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. A polymath and writer, he held many colonial government and academic positions.-Early career:...
, Florencia's censor, who, by way of correction of his charge, swore that he "found this account among the papers of Fernando de Alva. [...] The original in Mexican [Nahuatl] is of the letter of don Antonio Valeriano
Antonio Valeriano
Antonio Valeriano was a colonial Mexican, Nahua scholar and politician. He was an assistant to fray Bernardino de Sahagún in the compilation of the Florentine Codex, and served as judge-governor both of his home, Azcapotzalco, and of Tenochtitlan.-Question of authorship of the Nican Mopohua:The...
, an Indian, who is its true author...".
Some contemporary scholars uphold the notion that Becerra Tanco, Florencia, and Sigüenza y Góngora endeavored to authenticate the events of the narrative by placing its original authorship in hands that were both native to Mexico and of greater antiquity than the mid-seventeenth century. Since Mexican petitioners to the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
for official recognition of the miracle relied on Sigüenza y Góngora's testimony that the story predated the publication of both the Nican mopohua and Image of the Virgin Mary, ecclesiastical writers have continued to cite Valeriano as its author.