Saint Juan Diego

This is a 5”x7” Print. 

The Virgin said to Juan Diego: “Listen and understand, my littlest son, let nothing frighten and afflict you or trouble your heart … Am I not here, I, who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow? Am I not your health? Are you not by chance held in my mantle?”

I worry so much. About silly things and passing things and weighty things. Over and over again when I bring them to Jesus or Our Lady they say “Do not be anxious or afraid.” Juan Diego was the first saint I thought of painting when I was starting this saint series. He was a simple man, on his way to care for his uncle, with many worries. The radiant lady chose him even though he was small. She called him her littlest son. He is the saint that brings me tender consolation. He became an icon bearer of our Lady in the way Veronica did for Jesus. He bore her to the world and all he did was give his yes.

But Our Lady surprised me when I started painting. My drawing lined up exactly with the Eucharist on my planner. Right over her womb. She revealed a deeper truth to me as I was creating. She was pregnant with the bread of life. She held Jesus within her womb. Juan Diego wasn’t just revealing Our Lady- Our Lady was revealing her son!

What is our Lady asking of you today? What are you anxious about? Why are you afraid? Is she not here who is your mother? How is she pulling you into Jesus’s Eucharistic heart?