· p. 1 of 5 begin class with the opening prayer. opening prayer: god our loving father, ......

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Consecration Curriculum High School Lesson: Evangelization

and the Artistry of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Diocese of Metuchen Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe

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Teacher Guide Lesson: Evangelization and the

Artistry of Our Lady of Guadalupe High School

p. 1 of 5

Begin class with the Opening

Prayer. Opening Prayer: God our Loving Father, we lift up our

hearts in gratitude for sending Our Virgin Mother of

Guadalupe to set hearts on fire in the “New World” with

the saving message of the Gospel.

She is our compassionate Mother and she desires to

remedy our troubles, miseries and pain by bringing us into a

saving friendship with her Son Jesus Christ.

We turn again with renewed confidence and

outstretched arms to our Virgin Mother of Guadalupe to

set our hearts on fire in our Diocese of Metuchen as we

prepare to be consecrated to her maternal care.

Give to each one of us a desire to be a missionary

disciple—so that the world may come to know the

transformative love of Christ through us.

Mother of the Americas and Star of the New

Evangelization, pray for us.

Read aloud the following

scripture verse. Scripture: (Matthew 28:19–20) Go therefore and make

disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them

to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with

you always, to the close of the age.

Show or distribute the image of

Our Lady of Guadalupe and read

aloud the prompt. Give students

5–10 minutes to look at the

image and write down what they

notice.

Prompt: Students, I am going to share the image of Our

Lady of Guadalupe with you. Take a few moments to

consider the image. Then make a list describing how she

looks, what she is wearing, and everything around her.


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p. 2 of 5

When you are ready to move to

the discussion, read aloud the

prompt.

Prompt: Students, let’s use what you have written and try to

understand the meaning of this image that Mary gave Juan Diego.

Discussion

Lead students in a discussion by

asking the following questions.

Good answers are provided

below each question.

If helpful for discussion, you can

compile good answers on the

board or ask a student(s) to write

the answers on the board.

1. What do you notice about her clothes?

–Mary’s belt is high and her dress curves outward; she looks pregnant

with the child Jesus.

–She wears a blue cape or mantle with gold stars.

–She wears a rose-brown dress or gown covered with different kinds of

flowers.

2. What do you notice about her face and the way she holds

her hands?

–Her skin coloring shows a mix of native Mexican and Spanish heritage.

–Her hands are folded like she is praying.

3. What do you notice around her?

–She stands in front of the sun, surrounded by its rays.

–She stands on top of the moon.

–She is supported by an angel with the wings of an eagle.

Read aloud the prompt to begin

the next part of the discussion. Prompt: In Mary’s first conversation with Juan Diego on December 9,

1531, she identified herself as Mary, the Mother of “the true God by

whom we all love, the Creator of people, the Lord of the near and far,

the Lord of heaven and earth.” She explained her love for Juan Diego

and his people. She gave him a message to deliver to Bishop-elect Friar

Juan de Zumárraga. She said that she wanted a church to be built at

Tepeyac hill, so she could introduce her son Jesus “to all people in all

my personal love.” But she did not stop here. Why?

Why did she also give Juan Diego an image which exists to this day?

Was there something special about the image?


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p. 3 of 5

Continue to read aloud the

prompt to begin the next part of

the discussion.

Prompt: The short answer is: yes. Every part of the image was like a

code or symbol which would have said much more to Juan Diego and

his people than could be expressed in words. So let’s take a look at

some of these symbols and see what they would have communicated to

Juan Diego and his people.

Continue with the discussion.

Students may not know the

answer to every question, but

you can continue to involve them

in the discussion by asking them

to guess at the answers and

letting them share their thoughts

and reactions.

4. One aspect of Aztec and other native religions taught that

the sun and moon were associated with different gods in

conflict. Look at Mary’s relationship to the sun, moon, and

stars. What does it suggest about her relationship to these

things?

She eclipses or stands in front of the sun. The moon is under her feet.

Instead of submitting to the stars she wears them like clothing. In fact,

the blue color of her robe was considered a color for royalty, for rulers.

To viewers of the image, Mary would appear to be more powerful than

sun, moon, stars, or anything they had ever known.

5. But is Mary god? Look at how she holds her hands. What

does she seem to be doing? What does that tell about her?

She seems to be praying. When you pray, you pray to God. You don’t

pray if you are God. To viewers of the image, Mary was more powerful

than anything they knew, but the fact that she was praying meant she

was not God, but someone who loved God and prayed to him.

6. Consider Mary’s facial features, showing a mix of native

Mexican and Spanish heritage. What does that tell the

viewer about Mary?

Juan Diego and his people were familiar with the Aztec and native

religions. These religions were practiced only by people of Mexican

heritage. The Spanish Catholic missionaries taught of Mary and Jesus,

but the missionaries were only Spanish. So it might have seemed like

this was just some Spanish religion for Spanish people. But in the image

of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mary looks both Mexican and Spanish: she is

a mother for everyone. Her son Jesus came for everyone. To viewers of

the image, it was clear that Mary is one of us and our mother.


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p. 4 of 5

Continue with the discussion.

7. What do you notice beneath Mary?

She stands on the moon, and beneath that, an angel is carrying her. He

has the wings of an eagle.

8. One aspect of Aztec religion taught that they must nourish

their gods with human sacrifices to keep peace in the world

and save civilization. In their mythology, an eagle carried

the sacrifices to the gods. So if the angel with eagles’ wings

is carrying Mary, what does that suggest?

To viewers of the image, it would seem like either Mary or her child

Jesus was to be the sacrifice which would bring peace to the world and

save civilization. Jesus was that sacrifice. Instead of demanding human

sacrifice to keep peace, Jesus sacrificed himself, dying and rising to save

us and give us true peace.

Show or distribute “Glyph

Diagram.”

9. Náhuatl writing (the writing of Juan Diego and his people)

did not use an alphabet, but a mixture of pictures and

“glyphs,” which were picture-like-symbols. Take a look at

this first glyph. The four petals symbolize the four

directions of the world. The center symbolizes the idea of

the one god who is over all other gods. This symbol of the

one god is found one time only on her dress. Can you find

this symbol and its location?

Correct! The symbol is located just beneath her belt, right over her

uterus or womb, right over where she is carrying the Child Jesus.

10. To Juan Diego’s people, the one god who ruled the world

was someone totally removed from human life and

uninterested in human problems. What does it suggest if

the symbol of the one god is placed right over the child

Jesus?

It suggests that the child Jesus is the one god, who rules the world. But,

unlike Juan Diego’s people thought, God is not removed from human

life and uninterested in us. In fact, he loves us so much and is so

concerned to help and heal us, that he became a human being and took

on every aspect of our own life, even being a baby.


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p. 5 of 5

Read aloud the prompt to begin

the next part of the discussion.

Prompt: Take a look at this other glyph. It combines images for hills,

temples of worship, and rivers to symbolize civilization. The fact that

this glyph is close to Mary suggests she was trying to communicate a

new idea to Juan Diego and his people. It was an idea that there was to

be a new understanding of God and a totally new kind of civilization,

one that would be close to Mary and transformed by the love of Jesus.

Ask the final question of the

discussion.

11. The first Catholic missionaries came to Mexico and began

officially teaching about the love of Jesus in 1524. Their

message was not different from the message of Our Lady

of Guadalupe. Why do you think few people besides Juan

Diego listened to their message, while after Our Lady of

Guadalupe, nine million people received Baptism and

became followers of Jesus? What was the difference?

It is true that God made us because he loved us. He became a man to

heal us from our sins and give us happiness with him forever. Mary is

our mother. She wants to help us. When we know Jesus’ love, we want

to follow him and share his love with others. This is all true.

But depending on our background and experiences, these things might

not make sense to us. Perhaps one reason that so many people came to

follow Jesus after Our Lady of Guadalupe was because she gave them an

image whose artistry explained the Catholic faith in a way that made

sense to them and their experience. Mary considered the needs of Juan

Diego and his people. And that is something we can learn from her as

we consider how to share the love of Jesus with others.

Take-home activity

Read aloud or write the take-

home assignment text on the

board.

Assignment Text: Spend some time looking at the image of Mary. If

you want, talk to Mary about how to share the love of Jesus with others

and pray the prayer from the beginning of class.

End class by reading aloud the

scripture again. Scripture: (Matthew 28:19–20) Go therefore and make disciples of all

nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of

the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded

you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.


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Glyph Diagram

Náhuatl writing (the writing of Juan Diego and his people) did not use an alphabet, but a mixture of pictures and “glyphs,” which were picture-like-symbols.

Four-Petaled Jasmine Flower Glyph

The four petals symbolize the four directions of the world.

The center symbolizes the idea of the one god who is over all other gods.

This symbol of the one god is found one time only on the dress of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Can you find this symbol and its location?

Flower Cluster Glyph

It combines images for hills, temples of worship, and rivers to symbolize civilization.

This symbol is found nine times on the dress of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Can you find an example on her dress?

· p. 1 of 5 begin class with the opening prayer. opening prayer: god our loving father, ......

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