Real Life Catholic’s Chris Stefanick shares a powerful message with the world in his recent YouTube video titled, “How God Used a ‘Nobody’ to Convert 10 Million People at Guadalupe.”
Stefanick filmed the video during a visit to the very place where Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in 1531: present-day Mexico City.
“Right behind me is where Mary appeared to Juan Diego,” Stefanick begins.
Juan Diego was an indigenous peasant and Our Lady of Guadalupe’s visionary, known for his humility and faith.
Stefanick explains that to the world, Juan Diego was an “absolute nobody” before Our Lady visited him.
“By the way, if you feel like a nobody, if you feel insignificant, if you feel unimportant, you’re in good company,” he adds.
“Literally every Marian apparition was delivered to somebody who is a nobody in the eyes of the world in order to change the world.”
Stefanick references Jesus’ words in scripture, emphasizing the power of humility, then continues telling the powerful story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the changes that occurred leading up to this apparition.
He explains how evil had distorted the inherently religious and well-formed culture in that area. He tells the audience that about 20,000 human sacrifices were made every year by the native people.
“...there was one Aztec feast where about 80,000 people were offered in four days' time,” he adds.
The gruesome human sacrifices were offered up to idols and false gods.
As the video progresses, Stefanick takes viewers along the scenic route where Juan Diego went to the top of the hill to gather roses as instructed by Our Lady during one of her visits.
He then talks about the cultural division that followed when Colonizers began tearing down Aztec temples, using the stones to build churches. Following these changes, he says, terror took hold. He tells of political revolts and ongoing human sacrifice.
Then, Stefanick notes, God answered the prayers of the people by sending His Blessed Mother. God entered human history, Stefanick explains.
He candidly shares the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s conversations with Juan Diego, including some of her powerful message that resonates even today:
“I am your merciful Mother, the Mother of all who love me, of those who cry to me, of those who have confidence in me. I will hear their weeping and their sorrows … their necessities and misfortunes. ... Listen, and let it penetrate your heart. ... Do not fear any illness or vexation, anguish or pain. Am I not here, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?”
You can find the full message here.
Aside from the fact that Our Blessed Mother came down from heaven to appear to poor, uneducated Juan Diego, Stefanick begins to note the additional things that make the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe extra special and something that might be overlooked.
“Here’s the beauty, guys. Mary was not only correcting the Aztec false religion, she was also correcting the colonizers who mercilessly smashed people.”
He explains that Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared as an Aztec woman, adorned with Aztec imagery, in front of the sun, a symbol of their most powerful God. Her bowed head, Stefanick says, points to the greatness of God and her role as his humble mother.
As the candid vlog comes to a close, Stefanick shares that the miracles didn’t stop following the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe:
“10 million conversions in 10 years. The largest mass conversion in all of human history.”
Our Lady of Guadalupe has a special place in the hearts of the Mexican people even today.
Before he departs, the camera captures a touching moment between Stefanick and a Mexican woman, who, in Spanish, thanks him for “loving her Mexico.”