The Virgin Mary appeared to a man named Juan Diego and instructed him to go to the Bishop to tell him to build a church at this town. This was a miraculous event that happened on December 9, 1531. One of the things that still survives today is Juan's mantle that was used to carry the flowers for prove to the Bishop that the Virgin Mary had appeared to him. This incredible event is celebrated today on December the 12th. It is estimated that 10 million people visit her Basilica every year, making her Mexico City home the most popular Marian shrine in the world, and the most visited Catholic Church in the world next to the Vatican.
After two years of the Aztec capital of Tenochitlan falling to Hernán Cortés and his Conquistadors, the first Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in Mexico to branch out Christianity. …
