Evangelization

Millions of devotees acclaim the Nahuatl-language Nican mopohua account of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego as the foundational text of the Guadalupe tradition. A number of scholarly analyses have examined the Nican mopohua as a prime source for that tradition. But no previous study has focused on a theological examination of Luis Laso de la Vega’s Huei tlamahuiçoltica, in which the Nican mopohua was first published. Huei tlamahuiçoltica is the premier publication focused on Guadalupan catechesis of the Nahuas of central Mexico. It encompasses the Nican motecpana account of miracles attributed to Guadalupe’s intercession and the earliest published synopsis of Juan Diego’s life posed as a model for Christian discipleship. This chapter explores the evolution of natives’ devotion over the first century of the Guadalupe cult, as well as the strengths and limitations of priests’ evangelizing initiatives and catechetical treatises such as Huei tlamahuiçoltica.