Her name was Abigail. She was ten years old with shining brown eyes and a shy smile. Her parents were members of the Ananda Mexico City Center, where we were staying, and they had brought her over to meet us before she went to school.
Putting her arms around my waist, Abigail hugged me and sweetly rested her head on my chest. After a long embrace, Abigail looked up at me with sparkling eyes, and said softly in Spanish, “I can hear your heart talking to me.”
A little surprised, I asked her, “What is it saying?”
“That you love me so much,” she answered trustingly. And that was how we began the day of our visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe outside Mexico City.
We had made plans to come to Guadalupe to fulfill the intention of Swami Kriyananda, who wanted to visit there during the summer of 2013. Unfortunately he left his body earlier that spring, but we came now in his stead.
The Shrine is the most beloved holy place in all of Mexico, visited annually by many hundreds of thousands. Its story began on Dec. 9, 1531 when Juan Diego, a simple peasant, saw an apparition of a young girl on the hilltop of Tepeyac, an ancient sacred site. The girl asked that a church be built there in her honor, and from other things she said, Juan realized that she was the Virgin Mary.
Amazed, Juan Diego ran to tell the Spanish bishop what he had seen and heard. But before accepting Juan’s story, the bishop told him to go back to Tepeyac for a miraculous sign. And there on the normally barren hilltop in mid-December, Juan found blooming flowers not native to Mexico – beautiful Castilian roses.
The Virgin appeared to him again and arranged the roses in his woolen cloak. Juan raced back, but when he opened his cloak to show the bishop the miracle, there he found more than just roses – on the fabric was imprinted the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The miraculous cloak is still on display in the Basilica that was later built there, for all to see and worship.
On the day we visited, thousands of people from a distant district, Puebla, were completing a week-long pilgrimage to Guadalupe which happens every year from Feb. 5-12. Some came on horseback; the elderly came in buses; but most of the people we saw – men, women, and children – made the journey on foot.
They were weary, footsore and limping, with eyes reddened from sun and dust, but they carried aloft beautiful white silk banners with the image of the Lady of Guadalupe and her words, “Am I not your Mother always?” Trustingly, her tired children come from all over Mexico to receive Her blessings.
The Divine Mother has appeared in different times, places, and cultures throughout the world, but the experience is the same for all. She comes so that we can feel Her embrace once more and hear the words Her heart speaks to us always: “I love you so much.”
In Her love,
Nayaswami Devi
17 Comments
“Am I not your Mother always?” Yes, always…
Thank you, Devi, I really needed Her loving embrace this morning.
Thank you for reminding me that her love is always there for all of her children. We are never alone on this path.
I love you so much!
Thank you.
Bless you. Your story brought tears to an old man’s eyes. Divine Mother is a most blessed part of the One.
Namaste
I feel Devine Mother’s, Master’s and Swamiji’s light coming through both of you. In loving friendship. Joy!
Esta es una historia dulce de un país dulce.
Thank you so much for this one!! Divine Mother has come to me as Guadalupe too, just recently. Very special!
What a beautiful story and, so beautifully framed, Devi! It brought tears to my eyes…
So beautiful – thank you
Mary
My husband is from Acapulco, and when I first visited his family before we were married, the Virgin of Guadalupe had an honored place in their home. I’ve always believed that she is Divine Mother, not “only” Mary, mother of Jesus, and we now have her image several places in our home as well. Isn’t it a beautiful story?
Pat C.
Thank you Devi–I’m reminded of Master’s song…Blue Lotus Feet. “Engrossed is the bee of my mind, on the blue lotus feet of my Divine Mother…”
Dearest Deviji,
Tears of deep awareness came to me as well when I read this sweet story!
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us all!
Deep Gratitude,
your little sister,
Brindey
Thank you for sharing, Devi. You touched on the quality of ‘trust’ twice – a quality that is so important in this world of bewildering complexities and uncertainty. A quote came to me recently that reads, simply: “Happiness is believing.”
Joy to you, friends
Thank you for the beautiful expression of Mary as Divine Mother. As a practicing catholic and long time Kriya practitioner and devotee of Master, I have known the encompassing embrace of Mary/Divine Mother, particularly when my family has been in need. Divine Mother never fails in Her love for us all. We have only to ask.
Blessings,
Dawn
Tears of joy & gratitude overwhelmed me as I finished this beautiful post. I began to wonder, why fret & worry over anything in this world when the loving embrace of Divine Mother is so close? How easily we forget, how easily we believe the dream over the infinite reality just beyond. That a child’s embrace, her words, trust & insight inspired your thoughts is just magnificent! May we all have eyes to see & ears to hear. I can’t thank you both enough for dedicating yourselves to these letters. They really are special. They really are integral to my practice, to my walk on this Path.
Thank You Devi, for sharing this story, so sweet…so sweet…
Sweet as the fragrance of the rose from Divine Mother, sweet as Abigail and her words of truth.
From the mouth of babes, we can always learn the truth that our hearts speak. We are all beloved, and never alone.
~~~Peace, Josette
Thank you so much for sharing this, Devi. Divine Mother manifested through Mother Mary is an incredible inspiration to me, and hearing stories like this helps me to remember that She’s still here, watching over each of us.
Dear Devi,
Thank you for sharing this very touching story! it moved me deeply. She is “the Mother of us all”!
Blessings and joy to you!
Hello Devi, gracias por escribir la historia de ese gran motor que es para mi vida Abigail, lo escribiste de una forma tan dulce seguido de nuestra madre de Guadalupe, nuestra hermosa madre divina y gracias por ser un ser tan lleno de dulzura y amor, siempre estarán en mi corazón. Los quiero muchísimo.
Bendiciones.