Pope St. John Paul II said that the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe is the “heart of the Americas.” A close look at the tilma on which the image appeared shows how our Lady changed the Aztec heart.
A new heart for the Aztecs
The Aztecs to whom Mary appeared were known as the “people of the heart” because of their preoccupation with heart imagery. This led them to dark practices, however, because they offered human hearts in sacrifice.
This practice of heart sacrifice is reframed in the image itself. The intricate flower clusters on Mary’s garment form the likeness of a human heart and its arteries, similar to depictions from native art of the time. Yet the arteries in this image are attached to the Virgin’s mantle, showing God as the one who sustains the heart.
One of the heart-clusters appears above the Virigin’s hands, as if being offered to God. The natives were moved by this new imagery. Oral tradition of Zozocolco goes as follows:
Our elders offered hearts to God so that there might be harmony in life. This Lady says that, without tearing them out, we may place them in her hands so that they may be offered to the true God.
A new heart for us
If God can reframe the imagery of heart sacrifice in the Guadalupe image, then God can reframe everything about our past as well. Like the Aztecs, our hearts have sought harmony in foolish ways. Yet we find true harmony only when our hearts are connected to Christ. This Advent, let’s offer our hearts anew to Christ through the Virgin who longs to see our hearts fulfilled in him.