A journalist is hoping to bring the wonder of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Australian audiences with a new documentary which tells the story of the Mexican miracle.
Grace Farah, based in the Southern Highlands and used to be a resident of San Diego and close to the shrine, said the miracle is one of the most tangible in the world and yet is unknown compared to other Marian sightings.
The documentary, Guadalupe: Mother of Humanity, was directed by Andrés Garrigó and tells the story of a series of Marian apparitions in Mexico in the 1500s, featuring testimony from priests and experts attesting to the miracles.
The first appearance of the Holy Mother in Guadalupe in Mexico was to Juan Diego, on 9 December 1531. She identified herself as the “mother of the very true deity” before instructing Diego to build a church on a hill in the area.
Diego went to Mexico City Archbishop Juan de Zumárraga to tell him of the apparition and her request, which was denied as Diego’s story was not believed.
The Virgin Mary appeared again to the peasant asking him to keep up the requests for the church.
After two more apparitions, Mary told Diego to search the hill which was to be the site of the church and he found roses not native to Mexico, which she arranged in the peasant’s cloak, also known as a Tilma, who later found the Virgin’s image on the fabric.
The cloak was then transferred to a small chapel built in the area the Holy Mother wanted and Diego said she had wanted herself to be known as “Guadalupe.”
Diego’s cloak has lasted to this day and is displayed for veneration in the basilica near the site of the apparitions.
“To make matters even more miraculous, the Tilma contains many hidden messages and symbols, like a codex,” she told The Catholic Weekly.
“Some were immediately recognised by the native people and resulted in thousands of conversions soon after, and even more that has been uncovered by science in the years since.”
Farah said even though the story is revered globally and the site at Guadalupe is the most visited Marian shrine, many domestically aren’t aware of the apparitions or of its significance, a fact she hopes the documentary will change.
“The vast majority of Australians that I have met aren’t familiar with Our Lady’s story or her image on the Tilma, which I believe is tangible evidence of heaven,” she said.
“In these uncertain times, I feel and have seen the impact the story presented throughout the film Guadalupe: Mother of Humanity has on people, bringing them renewed faith and hope.”
Farah said when she lived in San Diego she would see murals, pictures, and paintings of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which “gently filtered” the Virgin Mary and the significance of the apparitions into her life.
“After I had heard the story in its entirety, I was stunned with how I didn’t know about the story, and so I made a promise to Our Lady of Guadalupe that I would share her story with Australia, and everyone I meet,” she said.
Garrigó, who also serves as CEO for Spain-based production company Goya Producciones, was similarly moved by the events at Guadalupe, and says he was moved by the message of the Virgin Mary, the conversion of millions of native Mexicans in a short amount of time after the apparitions, and the miracles both in the ancient cloak and performed with Our Lady’s intercession.
“There have been other documentaries on Guadalupe before this, but, in my opinion, none succeeded in showing the reenactments of the apparitions with such realism and beauty,” he said.
“This is the most complete one, with a solid historical background, impacting scientific discoveries, and a variety of testimonies from different countries that justify the title ‘Mother of Humanity,’ proving that Guadalupe is not an exclusivity of Mexico.”
Guadalupe: Mother of Humanity has also received an official letter of recommendation from Filipino Papal Nuncio Monsignor Bernadito Auza, who said the documentary was a “catechetical tool of the first order very appropriate for the times we live in.”
The film will be screened ahead of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast day on 12 December, with a screening in Empire Cinema in Bowral on 10 December and St Catherine Labouré parish in Gymea on 11 December.