The book, The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Empress of America, is a very moving account of the history of the most remarkable event to happen in America. I was inspired to write this book in August 1998, after viewing photographs of the paintings of Jorge Sánchez-Hernández work on the apparitions, which a friend of mine showed me on her return from Mexico.
Then in January of 1999, Pope John Paul II visited Mexico and consecrated all of the Americas to Our Lady of Guadalupe, elevating her feast day to a Solemnity to be kept throughout the Americas. I began the first draft of this book a week later.
The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Empress of America tells the story of the apparitions of Our Lady to St. Juan Diego in 1531. For my illustrations, I chose full-color photographs of the paintings of the Nican Mopohua by “El Maestro,” Jorge Sánchez-Hernández. His masterpieces are perhaps the most exquisite and moving depiction of the apparitions ever painted.
These pictures of the apparitions are so moving, so compelling, and express so much that I wanted to put it all together for the world to see. Eighteen pictures in all, they are truly breathtaking, and each one for me, is a meditation. The master artist, Sánchez, expresses in exquisite detail, the tenderness and pathos of the apparitions in a truly moving depiction of each encounter.
In these times of so many broken families, so much moral evil perpetrated on children, so much chaos, I felt the tenderness and beauty of these pictures would make a very big impression on children. I dedicated the book to children who have never known a mother’s love. For Our Lady loves each of them tenderly, and when there are no human hands or heart to convey this, she herself never ceases watching over them with a bleeding heart. I wanted children to know her love the way I have experienced it in my life.
I think children and adults will delight in seeing these images, for they help make this timeless story fresh for our times. The paintings have rarely seen outside of Mexico, making this sacred art a wonderful addition to your home library.
To purchase a copy of The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Empress of America, visit my website.
