Mexican Phoenix: Our Lady of Guadalupe: Image and Tradition across Five Centuries - Hardcover

Brading, D. A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521801311 ISBN 13: 9780521801317

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2001

Synopsis

In 1999 Pope John Paul II proclaimed Our Lady of Guadalupe a patron saint of the Americas. According to oral tradition and historical documents, in 1531 Mary appeared as a beautiful Aztec princess to Juan Diego, a poor Indian. Speaking to him in his own language, she asked him to tell the bishop her name was La Virgen de Guadalupe and that she wanted a church built on the mountain. During a second visit, the image of the Virgin miraculously appeared on his cape. Through the centuries, the enigmatic power of this image has aroused such fervent devotion in Mexico that it has served as the banner of the rebellion against Spanish rule and, despite skepticism and anticlericalism, still remains a potent symbol of the modern nation. In Mexican Phoenix, David Brading traces the intellectual origins, the sudden efflorescence, and the theology that has sustained the tradition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Brading also documents the interaction of religion and patriotism, and describes how the image has served as a banner both for independence and for the Church in its struggle against the Liberal and revolutionary state. David Brading is Professor of Mexican History at the University of Cambridge. He began his career at the University of California, Berkeley, and at Yale University. He is also the author of Church and State in Bourbon Mexico (Cambridge, 1994), The First America (Cambridge, 1991), and Miners and Merchants in Bourban Mexico, 1730-1810 (Cambridge, 1971). Hb ISBN (2001): 0-521-80131-1

About this title

Book Description:

In 2002 Juan Diego--a poor Indian to whom the Virgin Mary appeared in 1531, miraculously imprinting her likeness on his cape--was canonised in Mexico by Pope John Paul II. How did a poor Indian and a sixteenth-century Mexican painting of the Virgin Mary attract such unprecedented honour? This is a story that will fascinate anyone concerned with the history of religion and its symbols.

About the Author:

David Brading is Professor of Mexican History, University of Cambridge.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0521801311
• ISBN 13: 9780521801317
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 464