Our Lady of Guadalupe commemorates the appearance if the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego in 1531. The feast holds an important place in the religious life of Mexico and all of North America.  On December 9 and again on December 12, 1531 the Blessed Virgin appeared to Juan Diego, who was an Aztec convert to Christianity.  During her first apparition she requested that a shrine to her be built on the spot where she appeared, Tepeyac Hill (now in a suburb of Mexico City).  However, the bishop demanded a sign before he would approve construction of a church.  Mary then appeared a second time to Juan Diego and ordered him to collect roses, which of course in December were not in bloom.  In a second audience with the bishop, Juan Diego opened his cloak, miraculously letting dozens of roses fall to the floor and revealing the image of Mary imprinted on the inside of the cloak—the image that is now venerated in the Basilica of Guadalupe.