Talking Eagle and the Lady of Roses: The Story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe

“Long ago, in a small village in old Mexico, a baby boy was born. A child of the Great Eagle Clan, he was named Talking Eagle, Cuahuhtitlan, in the language of his people, the Nahuas. He was a kind boy and a dreamer of visions, and like the eagle, he could rise above and see things that others could not. He loved to wander alone among the hills, and was always the first to greet the dawn, to find the newborn fawn in its secret resting place and gather the wild and glorious roses of Castilla that dotted the hillsides near his village.

“Many years before, from the faraway land of Spain, men in long robes, who called themselves Brothers of St. Francis, came to the land of the Nahuas. They brought with them the lovely roses of Castilla, and they told wondrous stories of the Son of the Great Creator, the one they called the Lamb. The holy stories etched deep and vivid pictures in Talking Eagle’s mind. Talking Eagle became a faithful follower, and received a new name that would mark his place in the flock of the Lamb.... Talking Eagle became Juan Diego...”

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This is the traditional story, told simply and elegantly, of how Juan Diego meets the beautiful Lady on a windswept hilltop in December and carries her message to the disbelieving bishop. The Lady fills Juan’s cloak with full-blooming roses and impresses her image on its fibers as a sign for the bishop to fulfill her request of building a house of prayers. The story tells of how, over many years, countless hands built the great church dedicated to the Lady of Roses, Nuestra Senora Guadalupe on the hill of Tepeyac. And it stands there still, as a center of prayer, healing, and hope for all of Our Lady’s precious children of the Earth. Everyone will enjoy the story of Talking Eagle and the Lady of Roses and the wild and glorious illustrations of award-winning, Taos, New Mexico, artist Amy Cordova. Also included is an informative afterword by Gene Gollogly.