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Virgin of Guadalupe of Estremadura.English.21.12,23,
Virgin of Guadalupe of Estremadura
Gil Cordero used to herd his cows along with other shepherds of the land in the Sierra de las Villuercas area. One day in the year 1326 of our Lord Jesus Christ, after finishing the daily day of grazing the cows, when he went to gather the herd and count his white Caceres cows, he realized that one of his precious cows was missing. Worried that the cows he raised and cared for were his property and his means of livelihood, he hurriedly set off in search of them.
For three days he searched for the lost cow throughout the mountains without finding any trace, and when he returned, considering the cow lost, he stopped to rest and quench his thirst on the banks of the Guadalupe River (a word of Arabic origin) near the Sierra de Altamira (Cáceres), and when he looked up again, in the distance among the vegetation he could make out the lost carcass.
Raudo approached her, finding her lying down without any sign of bruises or wounds on her skin, but the cowboy found no signs of life either, the cow lay dead. Since he did not know the reason for her death (it could be due to poisoning) the meat would no longer be useful to him, but he could use her skin. From his sheath he took out a knife to skin it and when he was preparing to make a cross-shaped incision in the animal’s chest, as was the custom among slaughterers, the cow stood up, alive.
The cowboy could not believe this event, fearful and surprised, he took a few steps back, and to his greater astonishment a ray of light blinded him for a few moments, and when he looked again he made out the appeared figure of a woman who looked at him with sweetness and love, and thus he spoke to her: “Do not be afraid, for I am the Most Holy Mary, Mother of God, and I appear before you in good faith.
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Take your cow and gather it with the others, for it is healthy and alive by the grace of God. Return with them to your Villa and spread the word to everyone about the miracle that you have witnessed here – the pastor from Cáceres, kneeling, listened in astonishment to the words of the Virgin – and tell the clerics and ministers of the Christian faith that I have sent you so that together You come to this place, because here under these stones where you found your cow dead, I find myself in an image.
And when they take me out of my burial, tell them not to move me or take me away from this place, to make a shelter for me right here to take refuge and in time to build a church in that place where my son’s people can come to pray and offer worship, and for such devotion, miracles will be performed at my request. So let him know.» The fearful and timid cowboy crossed himself first and responded:
«My lady, Most Holy Mary, praise your name, and I will spread your word just as you have revealed it to me in all places, but I am a shepherd and a humble man, and if I have to speak in this way, my people will take me to be crazy or bewitched.”
“Do not be afraid,” the image that appeared told him again, “because the moment my words for you are pronounced before everyone, another miracle will happen.” I will carry it out by attesting to the veracity of said words, so it will be by the work and grace of God Jesus Christ, son of my conceived child. So he sees, and he fulfills my will.” And after saying these words the image vanished.
The cowboy was ready, grabbed his cow and headed towards the town to fulfill the good news. Day and night without rest he walked, and when he finally arrived at the town of Cáceres, to the Cabildo and the gathered clerics he related what he had told him in the Sierra. It had happened, but as he had said they did not believe him and he was taken for mad: «Crazy,» some said, «sacrilegious, -others.» Even the parish priest at his luncheon reproached him:
“Stop your foolishness and go home because your little son died this morning at dawn and they are going to give him a burial.”
The shepherd, upon hearing such tragic news, ran desperately to his house and upon entering he found his wife, Mencia, crying over the lying body of her son.
The shepherd, with teary eyes and kneeling, but with great devotion and faith, before the body of his son, invoked the Mother of God: “Blessed Virgin, I am your slave and faithful keeper of your word, but no one believed what you ordered. , forgive me, and do not bring my little son before you for my sins.
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Work your miracle now, raise my offspring, as our almighty Lord Jesus Christ raised Lazarus, and I will serve you until the end of my days.» And when the clerics came to take the body to bury it, before everyone present, the A miracle occurred and the child was resurrected, as if he had just woken up from a peaceful dream, and thus he spoke to his father:
“Father, please take me to where the Mother of God appeared to you, I want to thank her and pray to her.” Many present were stunned, others crossed themselves and began to pray and voices were heard shouting: «Miracle, miracle, the Lord has worked a miracle!» Soon the news spread throughout the town and the surrounding area.
And everyone believed the commands given by the Virgin to the shepherd, given the miracle now wrought.
And guided by the shepherd towards the Sierra de las Villuercas, clerics, authorities and people of all social classes went in profession, and there near the Guadalupe River in the indicated place: “Here is the place” – Said the cowboy and they began to dig and a few meters underground they found, inside an ancient marble tomb, an incorrupt image of Our Most Holy Lady, just as she had told the cowboy. – «The miracle has been accomplished, let us pray and fulfill his will,» the clerics shouted.
Pastor and clerics of Cáceres discover the Image of the Virgin. Canvas by Juan de Santa María, 17th century. The image was a small carving of a dark-skinned Virgin with a child in cedar wood. Together with the image they found a bell, jewels, precious stones and a manuscript with the history of the Sacred Image. According to him, the image was the work of the evangelist Saint Mark himself in the 1st century, who was buried with it upon his death.
In the year 590 in Rome, Pope Gregory the Great became a great devotee of the image. Shortly after, it was It was moved to Seville as a gift from said Pope to Archbishop San Leandro and was there until the Arab invasion in 711; In the year 714, some clerics who fled from Seville because of the invasion took with them ecclesiastical relics and the image, which they buried shortly after on the banks of the Guadalupe River to protect it from the Saracens and remained buried for 600 years. In honor of the place where the image was found, it was called Santa María de Guadalupe. Right there, as requested by the Virgin Mary, the first hermitage was built, small, poor and humble, which became a pilgrimage site.
Pilgrims as illustrious as the Catholic Monarchs, Charles V, Miguel de Cervantes, Christopher Columbus, Hernán Cortés and Saint Teresa of Jesús showed their devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
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The cowboy Gil Cordero remained in said sanctuary until his death, as he had promised the Virgin, he was buried there and it is said that his body, when it was transferred to the Main Chapel, was still preserved whole, 270 years had passed since his burial. He was the first settler of the town, and by order of King Alfonso C., will be called from then on Don Gil de Santa María de Guadalupe
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