by Loube M.

Burkhart

Koejry.irican 3»ti

UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
boston public librar
Copley Square
Boston MA 02116
 IMS Monograph 13

Before Guadalupe
The Virgin Mary in Early Colonial
Nahuatl Literature

by

Louise M, Burkhart

Institute for Mesoamerican Studies

University at Albany
Albany, New York

Distributed by
University of Texas Press
For submission of manuscripts address the publisher:

Institute for Mesoamerican Studies

University at Albany
State University of New York
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Cover illustration: stone relief on Franciscan chapel at San Andres Calpan, Puebla, Mexico.
Photo by the author. Cover design by Jill Nelson

© 2001 by the Institute for Mesoamerican Studies

All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Burkhart, Louise M., 1958-

Before Guadalupe : the Virgin Mary in early colonial Nahuatl literature / by Louise M. Burkhart.
p. cm. — (IMS monograph ; 13)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-942041-21-6
1. Nahuas—Religion. 2. Nahuas—Missions. 3. Mary. Blessed Virgin, Saint—Cult. 4.
Nahuatl literature—History and criticism. 5. Nahuatl language—Texts. I. Title. 11. Series.

F 1221.N3 B87 2001

232.91'089'97452—<lc21 2001039645
In memoriam

Lloyd Lutz Burkhart (1918-2000)

Tlamatini, temachtiani, notlazohtahtzin

Of studye took he most cure and most heede.

Nought oo word spak he more than was neede.
And that was said in form and reverence,
And short and quik, and full of high sentence:
Souning in moral vertu was his speech,
And gladly wolde he leme, and gladly teche.

Geoffrey Chaucer
 Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2018 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
n —

https://archive.org/details/beforeguadalupevOOburk
 Contents

List of Illustrations vi
Preface vii

Introduction: Before Guadalupe I

1. The Conception 9

2. Nativity, Childhood, and Marriage 23

3. The Annunciation and the Visitation 37

4. The Expectation and the Birth of Christ 53

5. The Purification 63

Plates 71

6. The Sorrowing Mother 87

7. The Assumption 99

8. Prayers 115

9. Miracle Narratives 131

Afterword 149

References Cited 151

Index 159
 Illustrations

Plates:

1. The Immaculate Conception, Huejotzingo, Puebla 71

2. Indo-Christian sculpture of the Immaculate Conception 72

3. The madonna and child, Sermonario of Juan Bautista, 1606 73

4. AntiphonfortheNativity of Mary, Ps'a/tenwm, 1584 74

5. ChantsfortheFeastoftheAnnunciation, Ps'a/ten'Mm, 1584 75

6. The Nativity of John the Baptist, P5a/mo<iia c/imhana, 1583 76

7. The madonna and child, c/jmhana, 1583 77

8. Mary and Anne with the infant Christ, Psalmodia Christiana, 1583 78

9. Mary with Christ and Dominican saints, Tepoztlan, Morelos 79

10. The Purificaiion, Psalmodia Christiana, 15^3 80

11. Mary at the Crucifixion, Malinalco, Mexico 81

12. The Assumption, Calpan, Puebla 82

13. Mary’s death and coronation, Epazoyucan, Hidalgo 83

14. Assumption narrative, Doctrma, evangelios, y epistolas en nahuatl 84

15. Corona of Mary, Doctrina cristiana en lengua mexicana of Pedro de Gante, 1553 85

16. Miracle narrative, Sermones y santoral en mexicano 86


B ack when I was searching for a dissertation topic, I really
wanted the Mexican Virgin Mary to be a baptized Aztec
goddess. The idea that Our Lady of Guadalupe was a syn¬
cretic mixture of saint and goddess, Coatlicue and her sisters
barely hidden under the blue robe, appealed to me much as it
has to many others. On beginning serious research into the
matter, I found it not so, and moved on to other things. But I
retained an interest in the cult of Mary and its introduction to
the Nahuas. With a view toward eventually producing a mono¬
graph on the subject, I gathered and translated Nahuatl texts
on the Virgin and gleaned other information from the
chronicles. One of the texts that I gathered, the “Holy Wednes¬
day” drama of Christ’s farewell to his mother, demanded a
monograph of its own (Burkhart 1996). Returning to the
broader project after that digression, I decided to pursue the
format of an anthology of original texts. Many of the sources
excerpted here also deserve monographs of their own, but in
the meantime at least some sense of the full range and depth
of Marian literature in Nahuatl can be conveyed by these
selections.
This book may be considered a companion volume to
Holy Wednesday in that it presents a broader range of Marian
literature beyond the Passion-related writings analyzed there.
It can also be considered a companion volume to my first
book. The Slippery Earth (Burkhart 1989), which focused
on the friars’ moralizing discourses about sin and hell. The
Virgin, merciful and compassionate, represents a kinder side
of Christianity. She loves her devotees and will do her best to
help them even if they fail to measure up to the moral models
promoted by their priests. And now that the first scholarly
edition of the Nahuatl Guadalupe legend in English has ap¬
peared, prepared by Lisa Sousa, Stafford Poole, and James
Lockhart (Lasode la Vega 1998), this volume can also be con¬
sidered a complement to that, for it represents the traditions of
Nahuatl writing on the Virgin predating that pivotal text.
This project received direct support from the John Simon
Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, which allowed me to take
a full year’s sabbatical in 1998, and from the Translations
Program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an
independent federal agency, which supported part-time work
on the project in 1995-1996 and contributed to the prepara¬
tion of the manuscript for publication. Research conducted
under previous grants and fellowships found its way into this
Preface
work, and so I also thank the NEH for my Translations grant of
1992-1993, Dumbarton Oaks for my 1988-1989 Fellowship
in Pre-Columbian Studies, the John Carter Brown Library at
Brown University for my NEH-funded fellowship there in
1988, the Newberry Library for my 1983 and 1987 fellow¬
ships, and the American Philosophical Society for the grant
that took me to Spain in the summer of 1987.
Libraries whose rare book and manuscript collections
were vital to this project include the Fondo Reservado of
the Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico, the John Carter Brown
Library, the Newberry Library, the Bancroft Library, the
Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas,
the Princeton University Libraries, Beinecke Library at
Yale University, the Biblioteca Nacional of Spain, and the
Hispanic Society of America Library in New York City. I thank
the staff of all of these institutions.
Among individuals, thanks must go first to Stafford Poole,
C. M., who not only has responded with enthusiasm and in¬
sight to all of my work on the Virgin but who also reviewed
and corrected my translations of the Latin passages that ap¬
pear in this volume and helped to identify some of them. 1 am
also grateful to the medievalists who helped me with this
project: Rachel Fulton, Anne Winston-Allen, Ann Matter, and
Amy Remensnyder. Their work has shown me that studies of
the medieval cult of Mary are as innovative and interesting as
anything I could produce on colonial Mexico. I would gladly
have delved much deeper into the medieval context, but I
will leave that to the specialists.
Nahuatlahtohqueh colleagues who have helped with
points of translation include Barry Sell, Frances Karttunen,
Una Canger, Jonathan Amith, and Jonathan’s students in the
1998 Nahuatl Language Institute at Yale University. 1 also
thank Sam Edgerton, Dick Trexler, Jeanette Peterson, and
R. Joe Campbell. Jeffery Triggs at the Oxford English
Dictionary helped me to find my way around the OED’s on¬
line edition of the Vulgate Bible, a resource that proved use¬
ful in identifying fragments of biblical text embedded in my
Nahuatl sources. As this project developed over a period of
years, I am sure to neglect many of the others who.se insights
and support have contributed in various ways to my efforts,
but I at least want to thank Elizabeth Boone, Nancy Farriss,
Bill Hanks, Doris Heyden, Susan Kellogg, Cecelia Klein,
James Lockhart, Susan Schroeder, and James Taggart.
viii PREFACE
I also thank my colleagues in the Institute for Meso-
american Studies at the University at Albany for supporting
the publication of this book, especially Michael Smith,
former director, and Robert Carmack, acquisitions editor.
Cynthia Heath-Smith, our editorial assistant, turned my files
into this book, working valiantly to match up Nahuatl
and English text and format diacritics as well as overseeing
the entire editing process. Our former and current secretaries,
Mary Flynn and Patricia Walker, assisted her with editorial
tasks. Judy Bedian of the University’s Creative Services
oversaw the printing process and Jill Nelson designed the
cover.
Brian Ladd, in addition to providing much support and
companionship, copy-edited the manuscript. Clare Elizabeth
Burkhart Ladd delayed its completion but tremendously en¬
riched the production period. But it is to my late father, to
whom I owe my passion for old literature and old languages,
that this volume is dedicated.
Introduction
Before Guadalupe

O utside the Hidalgo metro station in downtown Mexico

City, a small’ shrine houses a floor tile from the station
is some sort of amalgam of Aztec mother goddess and Chris¬
tian saint. To many, la virgen morena ‘the dark Virgin’ is more
indigenous than European.
platform below. A stain on the tile forms a shape that vaguely
Although Pope John Paul II has beatified Juan Diego,^
resembles the image of the Virgin Mary at Mexico s principal
since the end of the eighteenth century more critical minds
devotional center, the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
have doubted the story’s veracity. The most meticulous ex¬
which lies a few subway stops to the north in what was once
amination of the historical evidence is Poole’s 1995 book
the town of Tepeyacac. The faithful come to leave offerings,
Our Lady of Guadalupe, which lays out in detail the lack of
pray, and kiss the plastic shield in front of the tile. The Virgin
convincing evidence that the apparition legend existed or,
of the Metro is but one recent manifestation of an intense
at any rate, was commonly known—prior to the middle of the
devotion that cuts across lines of class, gender, and ethnicity.
seventeenth century (see also Burkhart 1993). That the shrine
Like all great religious symbols. Our Lady of Guadalupe is
was not a major focus of indigenous people’s devotion is
richly multivalent, representing dispossessed indigenous
clear from the research of Taylor (1987, 1996:282-291) and
villagers as readily as, wrapped in the colors of the Mexican
Lockhart (1992:246-250). The shrine’s principal clientele
flag, she represents the interests of the political elite. It is hard
was the Spanish population of the Mexico City area, who by
to imagine Mexico without her, but that is what this book is
the early 1600s were attributing miraculous cures and rescues
about. Or rather, it is about a Mexico not entirely without her,
to the devotion. Some Nahuas of the immediate area partici¬
for her shrine and possibly her cult image (or a predecessor
pated, as evidenced by the 1588 will of dona Catalina de
of it) date to the mid-1560s, when the Tepeyacac shrine
Siena of Coyoacan, who left four tomin, equaling half a peso,
was founded and named for Spain’s principal Marian advoca¬
to the Tepeyacac shrine (Anderson et al. 1976:55). It was not
tion, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Extremadura. But during the
until after the foundation legend was published, in Spanish in
shrine’s early history it operated without its foundation leg¬
1648 and in Nahuatl the following year, that native people
end and without the high level of popular devotion that would
outside of the Valley of Mexico participated to any signifi¬
later elevate it above all other sacred sites in Mexico’s rich
cant degree, and even then it was in response to propagation
devotional landscape.
of the cult by creole^ priests rather than any particular attrac¬
The foundation legend tells of a Nahua' commoner named
tion they felt toward the devotion. In outlying areas,
Juan Diego, recently converted to Christianity, to whom the
Guadalupe had little impact at the village level before the
Virgin Mary appeared on four occasions in December, 1531.
1750s (Taylor 1996:287). Wood’s survey of seventeenth- and
She cured his uncle of a mortal illness and sent Juan Diego
eighteenth-century Nahuatl wills from the Toluca Valley, west
to the bishop, the Franciscan Juan de Zumarraga, with orders
of Mexico City, reveals one testator who bequeathed an im¬
to build a shrine to her on the hill at Tepeyacac, site of the
age of Guadalupe as early as 1638, but all other Guadalupe
apparitions. When Zumarraga dismissed his story, the Virgin
bequests postdate 1690 (1991:275).
told Juan Diego to pick the flowers that bloomed on the hill¬
Lockhart (1992:247-248) describes the 1649 publication
side and take them to the bishop. He gathered them into
of the legend in Nahuatl as “a turning point in Guadalupan
his cloak, and when he shook it out before the bishop, the
history”: it established the classic, canonical version of the
Virgin’s image was miraculously imprinted on the rough fab¬
legend and also triggered or, perhaps, responded to an up¬
ric. According to legend, this is the same image as the cloth
surge in devotion to Guadalupe in much of central Mexico at
Immaculate Conception revered at the shrine today. Popular
the time. The book was titled Hvey tlamahvigoltica omonexili
tradition further asserts that many native people embraced
in ilhvicac tlatocacihvapilU Santa Maria, totlagonantzin
Christianity in the wake of these apparitions, that the Nahua
Gvadalupe in nican hvei altepenahvac Mexico itocayocan
scholar and governor don Antonio Valeriano wrote down the
Tepeyacac ‘By means of a great marvel the heavenly royal
Nahuatl version of the legend, and that Our Lady of Guadalupe
2 BEFORE GUADALUPE
noblewoman, Saint Mary, our precious mother Guadalupe,
appeared here next to the great city of Mexico in the place
called Tepeyacac.’ Its author was Luis Laso de la Vega, a cre¬
ole priest, who apparently used as his principal source the
Spanish version published the year before by Miguel Sanchez,
also a creole priest, although the Nahuatl text is not simply a
translation of the Spanish/
Where the legend really came from, including the extent
to which indigenous people may have participated in its for¬
mulation, remains unknown. Whether a deliberate fabrica¬
tion or, as seems more likely, a product of pious creativity, it is
highly consistent with European legends about apparitions
and the foundation of religious shrines, such as the Spanish
examples documented by Christian (1981a). In the introduc¬
tion to their edition of Laso de la Vega’s text (1998), Sousa,
Poole, and Lockhart describe the story as “entirely European”
(p. 18) and, although they allow for the possibility that a
Nahua assistant worked with the priest and even authored
parts of the text, they build a compelling case for virtually
sole authorship on the part of Laso de la Vega. By his time the
role of indigenous scholars in the production of devotional
texts had declined. Paradoxically, the work contains gram¬
matical errors that a native speaker would, presumably, have
corrected, yet it is written in a formal, elegant, archaizing
style by a man whose erudition in or out of Nahuatl has left no
other trace (Laso de la Vega 1998:43-47).
The'origins of the Guadalupe devotion and legend may
be more Spanish and creole than Nahua, but Laso de la Vega,
with or without Nahua assistants, had over a century’s worth
of Marian discourse in Nahuatl on which to build in con¬
structing his version of the story. Even without mother god¬
desses impersonating Mary (or vice versa) on hilltops, Nahuas,
at least those of the central, densely populated area of Mexico
City and its environs, were widely exposed to the cult of the
Virgin during the first decades of Christian evangelization.
Indeed, quite an extensive apparatus of Marian devotion was
translated or adapted into Nahuatl. The intent was not to cre¬
ate some local, syncretic cult but to transplant the full-grown
devotion of late-medieval and Catholic-Reformation Europe
into Nahua communities.
It is this attempted transplantation, rather than the local
offshoots that grew from it in various places and times, that is
the subject of this book. I present here a sampling of Nahuatl
texts on the Virgin dating from the 1540s through the 1620s.
Most if not all of these were written with at least some degree
of participation by the educated Nahuas who, throughout this
period, served as ghost writers to Laso de la Vega’s predeces¬
sors. In some, the voice of the native speaker seems to resound
more clearly than that of any priestly overseer. Even so, these
can be considered the “canon” of early Nahua Marianism:
written texts, most of them published, that come from Mexico
City or its immediate environs and were subject to the scru¬
tiny of Catholic priests. Thus, they represent only a portion of
the entire universe of Nahua discourse on the Virgin—oral
and written, spoken and sung, visual and gestural, public and
private, festive and mundane. But these were the models pre¬
sented to Nahuas as authoritative texts. While the sample is
hardly random and the sources are by no means exhausted, I
have selected a wide range of materials representing the
Franciscan, Augustinian, Dominican, and Jesuit orders as well
as two manuscript texts that cannot be securely linked to any
particular religious order. Translations of the Bible, the basic
catechism, and the standard liturgy are included along with
the least conventional hagiographic material and the most
creatively poetic orations that I have found.
These texts are “before Guadalupe” in two senses. First,
they all predate the publication of the shrine legend and its
propagation by creole priests. They belong to an earlier
phase of Nahua Christianity, when the religious orders
still dominated Nahua interaction with the Church and
when educated Nahuas had a stronger role in text produc¬
tion. The texts bespeak a rich and varied devotion to Mary
among at least some Nahuas, very different from the
narrower devotion to the Guadalupe shrine and image
that would later prevail, albeit over a much larger area. Sec¬
ond, they are “before Guadalupe” in a logical sense. While
the Guadalupe legend may strike its most recent editors as
“entirely European,” in one way it is less European than
any of the texts in this volume: it is inscribed into the
Mexican landscape, with a named, Nahua protagonist and a
date. It is specific and local. Thus, it bears the seeds of the
nativist and nationalist interpretations that would eventually
become deeply rooted in Mexican culture (Lafaye 1974).
The earlier Marian texts, though they occasionally make
direct reference to local traditions or the Nahuatl language,
stand at the “dialogical frontier” (Tedlock 1983:334) between
European Catholicism and the Nahuas; their authors, how¬
ever engaged they are with the local context and however
artful their Nahuatl, do not cross that frontier to create some¬
thing as overtly Mexican as the Guadalupe legend. Much
has been made, by those who wish to indigenize Our Lady
of Guadalupe, of her chatting in Nahuatl with Juan Diego,
but she speaks Nahuatl throughout this corpus. Laso de la
Vega’s innovation was to publicize, in Nahuatl, a story in
which Mary speaks Nahuatl to a particular Nahua at a particu¬
lar place and time.
CONQUISTADORA?
As they conquered the Aztec Empire, Cortes and his soldiers
believed they had not only God on their side but also two
other warriors seasoned by the conflicts of the Spanish
reconquista-. Saint James, the patron of Spain, and the Virgin.
They appeared during battles, dazzling and even casting dirt
into the eyes of the indigenous soldiers (Weckmann

1984:v. 1; 199-207). Cortes bore an image of the Virgin on his
standard, and in Spanish chronicles of conquest he leaves a
trail of Marian images in native temples as he marches on
Tenochtitlan, the most famous of which is the statue known as
La Conquistadora, reportedly given to his Tlaxcalan allies
(Padden 1970; Weckmann 1984:v.l:348). In Christianizing
non-Christian sacred spaces with images of Mary, Cortes was
following the common Spanish practice of turning mosques
in conquered Moorish territories into churches by dedicating
them to her (Remensnyder 2000).
Cortes’s role as amateur evangelizer culminates in his
ejection of the image of Huitzilopochtli from the Mexicas’
Great Temple and its replacement by a crucifix and a statue of
Mary. Bernal Di'az del Castillo, narrating the flight of the
Spaniards and their allies from Tenochtitlan on the so-called
noche triste, states that when they briefly recaptured and then
torched the Great Temple, no trace of Mary’s image remained.
He assumes that Motecuhzoma had the statue removed for
safekeeping (Diaz del Castillo 1956:307). A more inventive
tradition held that the Mexica tried to remove the statue of
Mary but, like characters in countless European legends of
stubbornly unmovable sacred images, they were unable to
budge it (Cervantes de Salazar 1971 :v.2:43-44; Remensnyder
2000:208). The Franciscan historian Juan de Torquemada
(1975-83:v.2:211) borrows this episode from Cervantes de
Salazar’s chronicle, but chooses to omit another fanciful epi¬
sode in the following chapter of that work, in which the Mexica
are said to have complained that this same image threw dirt in
their eyes during the ensuing battle (Cervantes de Salazar
1971:v.2:44).
From Spanish accounts, one could conclude that Mary
was an important presence in the conquest of Tenochtitlan for
Nahuas and Spaniards alike. How curious, then, that the prin¬
cipal Nahuatl account of the conquest, appended as Book 12
to fray Bernardino de Sahagun’s encyclopedia of Nahua
civilization, does not mention her, either as image or as
apparition. Nor is she depicted in any of the book’s illustra¬
tions, even on the Spaniards’ standards (Sahagun 1950-
82:bk.l2). The Andean chronicler Felipe Guaman Poma
de Ayala put Mary’s military intervention to good propagan-
distic use, arguing that the indigenous armies were too be¬
fuddled by the apparitions of Mary and Saint James to offer
any real resistance to the Spaniards; hence the Andeans should
not be treated like conquered people (Adorno 1986:21-22,
30-32). Rather than taking this approach, the Nahua tradi¬
tion represented in the sahaguntine account’ indicates a
deliberate exclusion, a decision not to incorporate Mary
into native history in the persona of a conquistadora. This
silence need not be seen as a rejection of Mary, as it may,
rather, represent an attempt to separate her very welcome
presence in Mexico from the legacy of Spanish military
conquest. A similar treatment of Saint James is implicit in a
Nahuatl song also produced by Sahagun and his circle of
Nahua scholars (Burkhart 1992a).
INTRODUCTION 3
It was the friars, foremost among them the Franciscans,
who really brought the Nahuas into the Marian fold, and their
chronicles tell their version of the story.* The early friars
found that the Nahuas, thanks probably to the Spaniards’ habit
of handing out Marian images wherever they passed, did not
understand the difference between Mary and God, “and they
would call all the images that they saw Saint Mary” (Motolinia
1979:24). The earliest instruction that the friars gave their
native pupils—working through pictures and sign language
as they struggled to acquire Nahuatl—included this about
Mary: “that this female image that they saw there was a figure
of the mother of God, called Mary, from whom he wanted to
take our humanity: and how he wanted his mother to be hon¬
ored and revered, and that we must take her as our advocate
and mediator to obtain from God what we need” (Mendieta
1980:218-219). Four Marian feasts would number among the
twelve Church festivals that indigenous people were required
to observe as part of the annual ritual round: the feasts of the
Purification on February 2, the Annunciation on March 25,
the Assumption on August 15, and the Nativity of Mary on
September 8 (Mendieta 1980:272).’
As the friars learned Nahuatl and, equally important,
young Nahua students learned to read and write in Latin
and Spanish as well as Nahuatl, first the catechism was trans¬
lated and then, over time, the full range of Marian literature
represented in this volume came into being. Some genres no
longer survive in Nahuatl, such as the Franciscan grammarian
Alonso de Molina’s translation of the Hours of Our Lady. This
lost work was suppressed because of the restrictions that the
Council of Trent imposed on vernacular religious literature,
which perpetually interfered with the friars’ desire to use
Nahuatl as the idiom of their Church (Mendieta 1980:551).
Latin texts were used by some Nahuas, especially for the chant¬
ing of the Hours and for liturgical singing by the indigenous
choirs during church services, but such a small minority of
people actually understood what the Latin words meant that
the Nahuatl-language corpus is a surer guide to Nahua knowl¬
edge of the Virgin.
Text production was one important practice through
which Mary became inscribed into Nahua language and cul¬
ture, but the textual focus of this study should not be taken to
imply that other avenues were not equally or even more im¬
portant. The oral recitation of the prayers and the Hours, the
singing of hymns and antiphons, the playing of musical in¬
struments, the Saturday masses,* the dramas and processions,
the flowers and incense, the fasts and feasts, the building of
churches and chapels to various Marian advocations, the view¬
ing and production of images, the collective acts of devotion
and charity performed by confraternities dedicated to her,''
the careful tending and dressing of the statues that Clendinnen
(1990) finds so evocative as an expression of indigenous reli¬
giosity: all these things contributed to the development of
Nahua Mariani.sm as lived religious experience. Performed
religion was certainly more meaningful to most people than
4 BEFORE GUADALUPE
written texts, but to the extent that those texts were performed
aloud and also informed other practices they had repercus¬
sions well beyond the pages of the books and manuscripts.
Although their links to ritual are, for the most part, not di¬
rectly apparent, most of these texts were associated with par¬
ticular festivals that were part of the yearly round of religious
observances.
While the texts suggest a wholesale importation of
Europe’s Mary, the impact on Nahuas is difficult to gauge.
The problem stems not only from an inadequacy of historical
sources. Native responses were not necessarily coherent or
consistent, and public acts and declarations were not neces¬
sarily coterminous with private ones. By that I do not mean
that the public ones were insincere, only that they belonged
to a domain of discourse conditioned by other needs and
other goals. The “official story” is part of the whole, but it is
only ever one part, and many of the ways in which Mary was
adapted, manipulated, or even rejected by Nahuas remain out
of view. The “hidden transcripts,” in Scott’s terms (1990), of
Nahua Marianism only occasionally and partially intrude into
the extant devotional texts, and even when they do, as in the
“Holy Wednesday” drama (Burkhart 1996; excerpted as text
6.3 in this volume), it is difficult to know whether these intru¬
sions are idiosyncratic or representative of Nahua views more
generally. Genres controlled more directly by native writers,
such as wills, may show a somewhat more spontaneous
expression of devotional discourse in their invocations of
Mary, but even these were conditioned by standardized for¬
mulae and belonged to a public forum (Terraciano 1997, 1998;
Wood 1991). The purpose of this book is to show what sorts of
materials were available and known to Nahuas, not to suggest
that their responses were contained or constrained by these
Europe-derived models. While I suggest avenues of interpre¬
tation, I do not attempt to draw firm conclusions about what
large numbers of Nahuas made of their Virgin, which was only
partly conditioned by the content, persuasiveness, and aes¬
thetic appeal of texts such as these.
Fortunately, scholarship on colonial Mesoamerican
religion is moving, to borrow Taylor’s phrase (1996:59), “be¬
yond syncretism”: beyond the “mix and match model”
(Clendinnen 1990:109) of colonial religion as a bricolage of
traits easily compartmentalized as “native” or “Christian,”
beyond a search for pagan survivals, beyond a dichotomy
between spiritual conquest and native resistance. Colonial
Nahuas, having undergone no spiritual “conversion,” saw no
contradiction in reevaluating both Christian and traditional
practices and discourses and concocting from them new
formulae, for the most part consistent with accustomed modes
of eliciting sacred experience, that suited their colonial cir¬
cumstances at any particular time and place. Thus, Nahua
traditions became Nahua-Christian traditions. And thus, I
can write this book without identifying the Nahuas’ Mary as
either a veiled Aztec goddess or the embodiment of the
Church Triumphant, and also without defining in any narrow
way Just what she was instead. These texts present her in
many personae, from tender mother to determined advocate
to celestial queen, and allow for at least as wide a range of
responses on the part of Nahuas who encountered these repre¬
sentations. Some Nahua responses to Mary, such as her asso¬
ciation with the maguey plant, sacred source of the fermented
pulque beverage, that Taylor (1979:59) documents for the
eighteenth century, could not be predicted from the texts
circulating in this earlier period; space must be allowed for
creative adaptations beyond these “official stories.”
The cult of Mary is full of paradoxes, and that is part of
its power and its appeal. She is female and human in a religion
in which God is male, yet many of her devotees, male and
female, have, over the centuries, focused their religious life
far more on her than on the Trinity. She is so desexualized as
to make any other woman a harlot by comparison, yet she
gave birth to and breastfed a child. Does she, then, exalt wom¬
anhood or degrade it, splitting sexuality from fertility and
setting an impossible moral example? She is a liminal figure,
female but elevated to a high position in a patriarchal scheme
of reality, human but partaking of the divine, and thus well
suited to serve as a mediator. She is a mother, and thus a
figure on whom all the affect—positive, negative, and every¬
thing in between—associated with the most basic and univer¬
sal human relationship can readily be projected. It is this
ambivalence that allows her to be many things to many people,
that invests her cult with the rich potential that continues to
be explored and expanded as the years go by.
When the Spanish invaders suppressed the Nahuas’ pub¬
lic religion and offered the cult of the saints in exchange,
Mary became the most important sacred female available for
indigenous adaptation. Coming from a tradition in which
female divinities were significant players and the sacred was
conceived in terms of male-female duality or complementarity,
Nahuas were predisposed to grant importance to the only major
female figure presented to them by Christianity. On the one
hand, they suffered the loss of the female side of god just as
they came under a colonial system that gradually downgraded
the social status of Nahua women (Kellogg 1995, 1997). But
on the other hand, Mary may have proven a not unattractive
alternative to female divinities who, at least in the Aztec state
cult, not only tended to play second fiddle to their male coun¬
terparts, with none of them enjoying the prominence that Mary
would have in Nahua Christianity, but who, as Taylor
(1996:279) puts it, “often had a cold edge of intimidation and
violence and an association with disorder that also separate
them from Mary.” Mary, resplendently beautiful and victori¬
ous over death and sin, could hardly be more distant from the
conquered, dismembered, and sexually ambivalent goddesses
of Aztec art and ritual (Klein 1988). Violence and disorder
certainly had their place in the Nahua cosmos, but colonial
Nahuas, conquered and beleaguered, may have had more use
for an indulgent protector and intermediary. And, as I suggest
in the chapters that follow, Marian devotion dovetailed with

Nahua concepts and practices in more subtle ways than sim¬
ply as a replacement for outlawed goddess cults.
Against the argument that the medieval cult of Mary was
inherently misogynist, Bestul (1996:115-117) offers a more
subtle reading of the texts pertaining to her devotion. Texts
that bear misogynist messages may also permit alternative
readings. He states: “We must...allow for the possibility of
emancipation, subversion, challenge, and revolution, even in
texts that are produced from inside the dominant culture”
(Bestul 1996:117). If medieval Europeans could find such
multiple meanings in the texts of Marian devotion, colonial
Nahuas can hardly be expected to have had a less compli¬
cated response to their Nahuatl adaptations. Gender dynamics
interlace with the dynamics of colonialism: male over female,
Spaniard over Nahua; the cult of Mary simultaneously up¬
holds and challenges both orders. Feminized in the discourses
of their conquerors, which constructed them as weak and
passive (Burkhart 1998), Nahuas had in Mary not only a po¬
tential ally but a potential representative of themselves, up
there right next to God in the highest heaven. The Spaniards’
conquistadora. shifting shape, becomes the mother and ad¬
vocate of the conquered.
THE TRANSLATED VIRGIN
The texts in this volume derive, sometimes directly, some¬
times indirectly, from European sources. Much of my
commentary on them is intended to clarify that European
background, particularly for readers who are New World spe¬
cialists. In order to evaluate what was offered to the Nahuas,
it is important to understand what Mary meant to the priests
and colonists and how she was represented in the texts famil¬
iar to them. Hence, I consider the broader medieval context,
represented by the Latin liturgy, popular legends, and such
influential works as Jacobus de Voragine’s Golden Legend
of the thirteenth century (Voragine 1993) and the treatise
on Mary in Saint Antoninus of Florence’s 1477 Summa
Theologica (Antoninus 1959). For a view from Spain contem¬
porary with the Nahuatl texts, I rely especially on the Toledan
theologian Alonso Villegas Selvago, who lived from 1534 to
1615 (1760), and the Jesuit Pedro de Rivadeneira, who lived
from 1527 to 1611 (1669), as well as the Flos sanctorum of
Pedro de la Vega (1569), which went through several editions
in the mid-to-late sixteenth century.
Translated into Nahuatl in New Spain, European dis¬
courses are no longer European, and Mary is no longer quite
the same Mary. What changes is not simply a matter of lan¬
guage, the often inadvertent shifts and lapses that result from
the lack of equivalence between Spanish and Nahuatl or Latin
and Nahuatl. The texts are now directed to a Nahua audience,
and no one who produced or used these materials considered
INTRODUCTION 5
Nahuas to be the same as Spaniards. If what Bakhtin (1986:95)
calls “addressivity” is indeed an essential aspect of any text,
then these must be read with the Nahuas always in mind,
however redolent they may be of the waning medieval world
from which they have been transposed. In Bakhtin’s words,
which he applies to written as well as oral texts, “Both the
composition and, particularly, the style of the utterance de¬
pend on those to whom the utterance is addressed, how the
speaker (or writer) senses and imagines his addressees, and
the force of their effect on the utterance.” Following Bakhtin.
Hanks (1987:671) argues that texts have a dual orientation, a
thematic orientation embedded in the content of the work,
and a pragmatic orientation “toward the action contexts in
which they are produced, distributed, and received.” The the¬
matic content may come directly from the European cult of
Mary, but it is now operating in a very different context. Writ¬
ing for Nahuas, the authors of these texts, whether Nahua or
European, had to re-imagine Old World discourse in relation
to the developing Christianity of indigenous Mesoamericans
and the colonial power relations in which their religious life
was entangled.
The Nahua audience is not imagined in any consistent
fashion. This is not simply a matter of genre, which Bakhtin
(1986:95) identifies with different conceptions of the ad¬
dressee. Certainly, a moralizing sermon imagines its audience
differently from a laudatory hymn or exemplary narrative.
But even within the same genre, some write as if Nahuas
are sophisticated in their Christianity, as if they really know
something, while others write as if they are, at best, well-
intentioned neophytes or, at worst, in danger of slipping into
sins of idolatry or carnality. This variation points out, in
addition to the variable skills and training of the authors,
the contested nature of Nahua Christianity, the lack of
agreement over whether the Nahuas were good Christians,
poor Christians, or really not Christians at all. Notably, the
Marian texts do tend to assume, rather generously, that their
audience consists of reasonably pious Christians who are
devoted to Mary and willing to participate in her cult. To
imagine the Nahuas as good Christians was an assertion,
on the part of the writers, that they were legitimate subjects of
the new colonial order, as deserving as Spaniards of Mary’s
advocacy and God’s mercy. These texts are, thus, “regulariz¬
ing” discourses in Bourdieu’s sense (1977:22), in that they
strategically position not just their authors but also their
audience as being in line with the values of the dominant
group. Hanks (1987.678) applies Bourdieu’s concept to this
type of colonial situation, stating, “the display of conversion
is a kind of regularization.” The texts are efforts to assert a
certain reality, one in which Nahuas understand and partici¬
pate fully in Marian devotion.
Writing about the Virgin in Nahuatl thus acted not Just to
introduce European traditions of Marianism to the Nahuas
and subject them to the official sacred discourses of their col¬
onizers, but also to establish their credentials as Christians. The
6 BEFORE GUADALUPE
more fully they participated in Mary’s cult, the better they
could present themselves as pious and virtuous people to
Spaniards, who also focused their devotions on her. Spanish
overlords may have exploited rosary-wearing, Hail Mary-
chanting Nahuas as willingly as they did any others, but
Nahua displays of piety at least rendered such scenes morally
ambiguous and provided their victims with a legitimate dis¬
course of self-defense.
Friars paid little attention to indigenous literary genres
when introducing European discourses. The preconquest
genre distinctions used by the Nahuas were poorly under¬
stood by the Europeans who documented their culture, and
remain so today (Mignolo 1995:215). Beyond a basic dis¬
tinction between the spoken word (tlahtolli) and the sung or
chanted word (cuicatl), classifications are difficult to make
(M. Leon-Portilla 1985). Within the category of tlahtolli,
prayers or supplications were distinguished, as tlatlatlauh-
tiliztli ‘asking for things,’ and so were admonitions, or tenono-
tzaliztli ‘admonishing someone’; texts of these types bearing
ancestral authority were called huehuehtlahtolli ‘old speech’
or ‘speech of the elders.’ These genres corresponded reason¬
ably well to the prayers and sermons of Christianity. Narra¬
tive, separated from ritual enactments and from historical
record-keeping, takes on a stronger role in the Nahua-
Christian corpus than it seems to have had in preconquest
literature, with the introduction of hagiographic and exem¬
plary narratives such as the stories of Mary’s life and mira¬
cles included in this volume. Such terms for narratives as
nemiliztli ‘life’ and tlamahuizolli ‘marvel’ are, like the term
neixcuitilli ‘example’ that designated dramas, colonial adap¬
tations based on Spanish and Latin usage.
Various texts in this volume describe themselves as
songs or chants. Yet, stylistically, they read more like tlahtolli
than like cuicatl, if such texts as the well-known Cantares
mexicanos (Bierhorst 1985a), with their vocables, line-and-
stanza organization, and often cryptic language, are represen¬
tative of the latter genre. Mary gets mentioned in the Cantares,
and occasionally a few lines are devoted to events in her life,
but no more than that; no song in the collection can really be
considered a Marian text (Bierhorst 1985a:254-259, 288-
91, 338-339). The friars introduced a performance genre of
chanted tlahtolli, texts in the style of oratory or narrative
chanted in the fashion of European plainsong. Typically, these
were translated directly from the Latin liturgy, their content
more readily understood and controlled by the priests than
that of true cuicatl. And that is how Nahuas were taught to
sing to the Virgin.
The translated Virgin brought with her new styles of
speaking, of singing, of praying, of telling stories. But, trans¬
lated, she became a cihuapilli ‘noblewoman’ instead of a
sehora, an ichpochtli ‘girl, young woman’ instead of a virgen;
she became tonantzin ‘our mother’; she became a speaker of
Nahuatl; she became known and familiar. She became an ob¬
ject of affection as well as wonderment and respect. The ground
was prepared for the blossoming of the Guadalupe devotion
in later years.
I have organized this book not by genre, as these too
often merge and overlap within individual texts, or chronol¬
ogy, as some texts are undated or were composed well before
their extant version was redacted, but according to the Virgin’s
life story, the major episodes of which correspond with
festivals in the Church calendar. The last two chapters, post¬
humous or, rather, post-Assumption, deal with the genres of,
respectively, prayers directed to Mary in heaven and miracle
narratives telling of her interventions on behalf of devotees.
The work constitutes, then, a composite Nahuatl Life of the
Virgin. Each text or text excerpt is preceded by commentary.
When a source is used for the first time I give some informa¬
tion about its context and authorship. Texts are designated
according to chapter and order within the chapters; thus,
text 6.2 is the second text in chapter 6.
Many of the texts include passages or marginal notes in
Latin; there are also a few in Spanish. I translate these into
English and place them in italics in the translations in order
to distinguish them from the Nahuatl text, since most Nahuas
would not have understood them. Latin passages, like quoted
speech in general (Hanks 1987:680), grant authority to the
text in which they are embedded. They imply, not always
correctly, that the associated Nahuatl is a translation and/or
explication of that authoritative Latin and thus was suitable
for dissemination. I’hey represent the text’s redactors, whether
indigenous or European, as men of letters, conversant with
the official language of the Church, which was not the lan¬
guage of the conquerors. Native scribes clearly considered
these passages important, for they struggle to reproduce them
even when they cannot help garbling their orthography, in
some cases nearly beyond recognition. I have identified the
sources of these passages as completely as I have been able. I
do not italicize individual Spanish or Latin loanwords, or
common phrases such as “original sin” (pecado original), but
foreign terms that are being defined in Nahuatl are placed in
quotation marks, as is Nahuatl text that is represented as trans¬
lating a preceding Latin passage.
Doctrinal terms are always tricky to translate; I have
tended to choose words other than those most loaded with
Christian significance in order to minimize baggage from
the Old World. Hence, I have stuck with “maiden” instead of
“virgin,” “pure” instead of “immaculate,” “rescuer” instead
of “savior,” “reviving” instead of “resurrection.” Having, I
think, established the point that “sin” meant something dif¬
ferent to Nahuas than to Spaniards (Burkhart 1989), I here,
for the sake of convenience and consistency, use “sin” for
tlahtlacolli and related terms. Teoyotica, used by priests as an
equivalent for “spiritual,” means “through divinity” or “by
means of sacredness.” In actual usage, it tended to confer
not divine instrumentality so much as a broader sense of
holiness or an association with Christianity; I translate it as
“in a sacred way.” Similarly, tlamahuizolli was taken as an

equivalent for “miracle” (see chapter 9) but referred more
broadly to the wondrous or marvelous. Hence, I translate
tlamahuizoltica with phrases such as “in a wondrous way” or
“by means of a marvel” rather than “miraculously.” While
European texts emphasize Mary’s mercy, in Nahuatl her pre¬
dominant attitude toward her devotees is one of compassion,
or tetlaocoliliztli ‘being sad on behalf of someone.’ This des¬
ignates an emotional state rather than a bestowing of or incli¬
nation to bestow favor, although she often does this as well.
One way that Nahuas expressed respect for Mary was
through the use of Nahuatl’s honorific system for addressing
and referring to her. This adds the reverential suffix -tzin to
nouns and an extra layer of prefixes and suffixes to Nahuatl’s
onion-like verbs. As English has nothing truly comparable to
this grammatical system, the reverential forms are not evident
in my translations. Although cihuapilli ‘noblewoman’ and
ichpochtli ‘maiden’ typically appear without the -tzin suffix,
other titles and most verbs applied to Mary are honorific in
form. This is especially true, as may be expected, in the more
formal oratory; a non-honorific verb occasionally slips into
less formal writings such as the “life of Mary” in texts 2.4
and 3.3.
The orthography of the original texts varies widely, espe¬
cially in the manuscript sources. Scribes and typesetters spell
words in different ways and sometimes make actual mistakes.
Punctuation marks often bear little relationship to syntax;
nasals are frequently omitted or are inserted where they do
not, in standard grammar and orthography, belong. My tran¬
scriptions follow the originals, except that I have placed spaces
between words and eliminated spaces within words. An ex¬
ception is some cases where words that are run together are
spelled in such a way as to make it difficult to separate them
(for example, yniquetetl for inic etetl, text 4.3). While I do not
comment on typical orthographic variants, including miss¬
ing or superfluous nasals, I have added explanatory endnotes
for some terms, particularly where my reading depends on
reconstructing or correcting the text’s orthography to any sig¬
nificant degree. The occasional word or phrase that I was un¬
able to read or to translate also receives an explanatory note.
Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century scribes and printers
used various diacritics and abbreviations that do not adapt
well to a digital format. I have standardized overbars indicat¬
ing nasalization as tildes, and approximated other diacritics
as closely as possible. The letter q often has an apostrophe¬
like mark directly above or above and to the right, indicating
an abbreviation for qui or que', this I have standardized asq’.
Abbreviations that I could not reproduce electronically have
been resolved, with the inserted letters printed in italics. An
exception is unreprodicible diacritics over thep in Xpo, which
stands for Christ but, derived from Greek, is not really an
abbreviation for Christo. Where whole words or phrases
appear in italics or underlined in the original-language text,
it is because they appear so in the original sources. Abbrevia¬
tions corresponding to “etc.” appear frequently in the Nahuatl
INTRODUCTION 7
text, indicating places where text has been omitted or
where the reader/performer was invited to extemporize be¬
yond the written text. I have tended to leave these out of the
English translations, as scribes sometimes seem to throw them
in indiscriminately, but they are all shown in the Nahuatl
transcriptions.
In my study of the “Holy Wednesday” drama (Burkhart
1996) I made a tentative analysis of the texts into lines or,
more properly, phrasal units. I have not done this with the
texts in this volume, even though some of them would lend
themselves very well to such treatment. As my intention here
is not to analyze any particular text in great detail but to
publish a corpus of representative materials, I thought it best
to conserve space by printing the texts in “prose” fashion.
Readers are invited not only to pursue their own interpreta¬
tions of the texts’ content but also to delve more deeply into
their poetics. As always, my translations are designed to con¬
vey the structure of the texts by preserving diphrases and
other parallel constructions. Nahuatl tends to string phrases
together like beads on a necklace, often stating an idea in two
or more ways or using two or more words or phrases to convey
a single idea. Hence, the translations often present series of
phrases linked by commas, a departure from conventional
English syntax but necessary to convey some sense of Nahuatl
style. I have sometimes inserted the word “and” between
paired words in order to ease their passage into English.
Two of the works excerpted here have been previously
published in English, in both cases by the late Arthur J. O.
Anderson; the Psalmodia Christiana of fray Bernardino de
Sahagun (Sahagun 1993b) and the Exercicio, also attributed
toSahagun (Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin 1997:130-183).
Anderson also published the Exercicio in Spanish (Sahagun
1993a: 145-203). None of the other materials presented here
have appeared in any recent translations into Spanish or
English apart from my own work, although several of my
entries come from texts originally published in a bilingual
Nahuatl-Spanish format. Two works, fray Pedro de Gante’s
1553 doctrina (Gante 1981) and the Dominican doctrina of
1548 {Doctrina cristiana 1944), have been published in fac¬
simile editions. All translations from Spanish, Nahuatl, and
Latin are my own unless otherwise stated in the endnotes.
NOTES
1. The term refers to speakers of Nahuatl, the language of the
Aztecs and related groups. Nahuas were the principal linguistic group
in central Mexico at the time of the Spanish invasion. Nahuatl served
as a lingua franca in the Aztec Empire and remained so during the
early Spanish colonial period. Today, with about a million speakers,
Nahuatl remains one of Mesoamerica’s major indigenous languages.
8 BEFORE GUADALUPE
2. Or, more precisely, in light of the historical problems, he
beatified the Juan Diego tradition, rather than the man himself, and
canonization appears unlikely (Stafford Poole, personal communica¬
tion, 2001).
3. Or criollo, referring to persons of Spanish descent who were
born in New Spain.
4. The relationship between these two works is discussed at
length by Sousa, Poole, and Lockhart in Laso de la Vega (1998).
5. And, as far as I have as yet determined, other early Nahuatl-
language chronicles.
6. See especially the chronicles by the Franciscans Motolinia,
Gerdnimo de Mendieta, and Juan de Torquemada; the Dominican
Augustin Davila Padilla; and the Augustinian Juan de Grijalva.
7. On these festivals see chapters 5, 3, 7, and 2, respectively.
8. A mass specifically for Mary was conventionally celebrated
on Saturdays; there was also a custom of abstaining from meat on that
day in her honor. According to a 1570 report, the Nahuas of Tepotzotlan
sponsored the mass of Our Lady there every Saturday (Garcia Pimentel
1897:86).
9. Although confraternity foundings in Central Mexico cluster
during the years 1620 to 1700 (Chance and Taylor 1985:8), Franciscans
began establishing them during the early decades of their mission. In
1585 it was reported that there were over 300 indigenous confraterni¬
ties just in Mexico City, many of them operating without formal
constitutions (Gruzinski 1990:207), According to Vetancurt’s docu¬
mentation from the late seventeenth century (1971:pt.4), Marian
advocations were common among the sodalities in Nahua communi¬
ties, as they were in Spain (Flynn 1989:27-29); Vetancurt lists the
Solitude, the Transit of the Virgin, the Immaculate Conception, the
Assumption, the Annunciation, the Purification, the Nativity of Our
Lady, the Rosary, and others. Augustinians also founded confraterni¬
ties devoted to Mary, which sponsored masses every Saturday (Grijalva
1624:72v), while Dominicans specialized in propagating the rosary
confraternity (see text 8.4). These were devotional and mutual aid
societies that sponsored festivals and banquets, tended the religious
buildings and images, and provided charity for the sick and indigent,
while also serving as a forum for local politics operating semi-inde-
pendently of the priests (Gruzinski 1990).
1
T he Church’s celebration of Mary’s life begins with her
conception, with its feast day on December 8. During the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Mary’s conception was
widely held to have been immaculate; that is, although Mary
was created through the sexual union of Saints Anne and
Joachim, she was free from the taint of original sin from the
very moment of conception. Although fully human in nature,
she was granted this privilege by God as a special favor, hav¬
ing been predestined through eternity to bear Christ. Thus
Mary, as was only fitting for Christ’s mother, was elevated
above all other mortals. Pious legend held that the prophet
Jeremiah and Saint John the Baptist had been purified of origi¬
nal sin in utero, but Mary alone had never known the burden
of Adam’s fall. This doctrine had gained broad but not univer¬
sal acceptance through the Middle Ages, promulgated most
famously by the thirteenth-century Franciscan theologian
John Duns Scotus, and with opposition coming primarily from
members of the Dominican order. In 1439 the Council of Basel
declared it a pious doctrine and mandated observance of the
December 8 festival, but this decree was not enforced because
of disputes over the council’s legitimacy. In 1546 the Council
of Trent, which paid little attention to Mariological matters,
exempted Mary from original sin but did not take a stand on
whether this exemption occurred at conception or later. It was
not until 1854, under Pius DC, that the Immaculate Conception
became binding Church dogma (B0rresen 1971, Graef 1963—
65:v.2;17; Pelikan 1996:191-199; Rivadeneira 1669:972;
Villegas Selvago 1760:15-16; Warner 1976:236-245).
From the Nahuatl literature, one would not guess that
there was any doubt as to Mary’s absolute and eternal purity,
she is frequently described as cenquizcachipahuac perfectly
pure’ and never touched by sin. Indeed, the Immaculate Con¬
ception, a devotion particularly popular in Spain, became the
most widely venerated advocation of Mary in Spain’s New
World colonies, especially in those areas evangelized by
Franciscans and Augustinians (Farriss 1984:310; Taylor
1996:278, 281). It was the custom of both orders to found
hospitals dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, thus set¬
ting up Mary as a guardian against epidemics and other health
problems; each hospital had a chapel with that vocation and
these chapels often became foci of indigenous peoples’ devo¬
tion (Munel 1990-91 :v.l; Taylor 1996:281, 291). The Virgin
of Guadalupe shrine image is, of course, a painting of the
Immaculate Conception.
The Conception
The Conception is referred to in the Nahuatl texts as
Mary’s “beginning,” her “engendering,” or her “being placed”
in her mother’s womb, or by codeswitching to the Spanish
word. According to indigenous views of fetal development,
the child formed through an agglomeration of male and fe¬
male sexual secretions, with multiple acts of copulation re¬
quired to “place” the child; additional semen was needed to
nurture the fetus over the first few months of pregnancy (Lopez
Austin 1980:v. 1:336-339). Becoming pregnant was more of
a process than an instantaneous event. But Mary’s concep¬
tion was problematic in the Old World as well. European ideas
at the time held that conception occurred through action of
the semen upon the mother’s menstrual blood; the soul was
implanted forty days later in males and eighty days later in
females (see text 3.4). When and how, then, in this process,
would Mary have been purified of sin? Theologians eventu¬
ally decided, following arguments of Duns Scotus, that she
was unique among humans in having her soul implanted at
the moment of conception, like Christ’s own, with both body
and soul being free of any moral taint (Bprresen 1971:61-
63). As the Spanish Jesuit Pedro de Rivadeneira explains (in a
seventeenth-century English translation), at the same instant
that God created Mary’s soul and infused it into the “little body
formed in Anne’s womb,” he also “enriched and beautifyed it
with his souerain grace, and kept it from falling into original
sin; into which of its own nature it was to fall” (1669:972).
The grisaille mural of the Immaculate Conception shown
in plate 1 was painted in the Franciscan cloister at the Nahua
town of Huejotzingo, Puebla, possibly in anticipation of the
Franciscan chapter meeting held there in 1558 (Phillips
1993:422). It is situated above the door that leads from the
cloister into the vestibule of the chapter room. Here Mary is
depicted with apocalyptic iconography (see text 7.3), sur¬
rounded by pictures and inscriptions of Old Testament refer¬
ents interpreted as figures of her, a sequence known as the
laureate liturgy (Fernandez 1992:131). Above her head, God
in heaven gestures in blessing over the inscription Tota pulchra
es arnica mea et macula non est in te ‘you are all fair, my
friend, and there is no spot in you.’ This line from the Old
Testament’s Song of Songs (4:7) was taken as one of the prin¬
cipal attestations of Mary’s immaculate condition.' This icono-
graphic composition is known as the Tota Pulchra (Fernandez
1992:131; Sebastian 1992:42). In the mural Mary is Banked
by Saint Thomas Aquinas^ and Duns Scotus in a triptych. The
10 BEFORE GUADALUPE
inscription above Thomas reads, “Mary was exempt from
abominable original and personal sin”; Duns Scotus pleads,
“Consider me worthy to praise you, holy Virgin.”
Phillips (1993:412-413, 419-428) interprets this image
as a symbol and protector of the purity and inviolability of
the cloister, which was itself identified with Paradise and, by
extension, with Mary. Processions would have passed under
the painting as they entered and exited the pure space of the
cloister, with the image visible to participants as they left the
cloister to return to the church. Thus, the image “admonished
or assisted” them “in carrying that purity back into the church”
(Phillips 1993:426). Phillips suggests that the cloister here
may, like that of the main Franciscan friary in Mexico City,
have been consecrated specifically to the Immaculate Con¬
ception (1993:426-427). A mural very similar to this one, but
in poorer condition, is at the Augustinian establishment in
Metztitlan, Hidalgo (detail in Sebastian 1992:42).^ A simpler
image, with Mary standing on the moon and flanked by an¬
gels, is in the sala de profundis of the Augustinian friary at
Tlayacapan, Morelos (Toussaint 1982:pl.56).
Plate 2 depicts a small statue of the Immaculate Conception
from colonial Central Mexico, probably executed by an indig¬
enous artist during the sixteenth century (Kline 1998). The orna¬
ments on her robe resemble representations of flowers and crinkled
paper on Aztec maize goddess sculptures, which, like this piece,
were small and portable. The tassels hanging below her hair
resemble the rather phallic-shaped raindrops that function as a
fertility symbol in pre-Columbian art. It is difficult to say just
what the artist intended to convey in using these symbols, but
Clendinnen (1990:128) suggests that the small images of maize
and water goddesses, employed in domestic ceremonies and
seen as benevolent sources of sustenance, may have been the
most likely “bridging figures” between preconquest concep¬
tions of sacred females and the benign, maternal figure of
Mary. In a broader sense, flowers were an important link be¬
tween the Nahua and the Christian sacred and were closely
1. Sermones en mexicano, late sixteenth century
Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico MS 1487
This manuscript is a 470-page compilation of sermons.
Gospel readings, hagiography, and other texts written by in¬
digenous scribes with limited knowledge of Spanish and Latin
(it is indexed by Moreno 1966:95-100). The last 122 pages
are copied from the Augustinian Juan de la Anunciacion’s
1577 Semonario (see text 2, below), indicating that the manu¬
script postdates that work and that it could also have come
from an Augustinian context.
In this manuscript, an account of Mary’s birth and child¬
hood begins with Adam and Eve getting expelled from para¬
dise. In a nonstandard addition to that tale, God sends the
archangel Michael to console the first couple and reveal to
associated with Mary (see below, text 1.4). The precise date
and original location of the piece are, unfortunately, unknown.'*
While the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception devel¬
oped over many centuries, the story of Mary’s parentage and
childhood goes back to the second-century apocryphal gos¬
pel known as the Protoevangelium jacobi or Gospel of James.
Written by an author claiming to be the apostle James the
Less, this account was excluded from the New Testament but
nevertheless was widely accepted as accurate even during the
Catholic Reformation. By telling of the virtuous and long-
childless Joachim and Anne, who pledge that any child they
may bear will be dedicated to the temple and raised there, and
of the birth and upbringing of Mary, it filled the gap left by
the canonical gospels, where Mary first appears as Joseph’s
betrothed, A similar account, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
or Gospel of the Birth of Mary, was written around 800 and
attributed, alternatively, to Saint Matthew and to Saint Jerome;
Jacobus de Voragine drew upon this text for much of the Marian
material in his popular thirteenth-century Golden Legend
(Asselin 1967:558-559; Henkey 1967:405, 408; James
1924:38-49,73-80). Interest in the legends of Mary’s child¬
hood, and in Jesus’s childhood as well, increased during the
later Middle Ages, a development Christian (198 la:219-220)
attributes to a growing concern and affection for children in
the era of the great plagues, which struck down so many of
them. Although Anne’s July 26 feast day was not made obliga¬
tory throughout the Church until 1584 (Farmer 1992:22), her
cult was popular in sixteenth-century Spain, where she, like
Mary, was invoked as a general community protector against
disease and as a helper of sick or hurt children; at least one of
Anne’s shrines was believed to remedy women’s infertility
(Christian 1981b:37, 53, 94, 98, 123, 245 n26; Nalle
1992:176-177). The great Spanish playwright Felix Lope de
Vega Carpio dramatized the story of Anne and Joachim and
the birth of Mary in La Madre de la Mejor; this play was
adapted into Nahuatl in 1640 by don Bartolome de Alva.’
them such future events as the flood and the coming of Christ.
They rejoice and proceed to bear children. Brief accounts of
the Cain and Abel story and Noah’s flood follow, and then the
scene shifts to Mary’s life. The text connects Saint Michael’s
visit to Adam and Eve with his visit to Mary for the Annuncia¬
tion: it appears that a native author is confusing or conflating
Michael and Gabriel.
The following excerpt tells of Mary’s conception. The
author misnames Anne (Spanish Ana) as Susana. The name
usually appears in the text as sus ana or even sus. ana, sug¬
gesting that an abbreviation for santa may be mistranscribed
as sus. Joachim’s identification as a ruler is nonstandard; Mary

is occasionally ascribed noble birth, given her descent from
King David’s line (e.g., Rivadeneira 1669:57, 687), but for
Joachim to be a tlahtoani is a departure from the European
tradition. However, the motif of the prosperous couple’s parti¬
tion of their goods comes from the traditional accounts. The
angel who visits Mary’s parents, unnamed in the apocryphal
gospels, is identified as both Michael and Gabriel.
Mary is referred to here as tonantzin ‘our mother’ (with
reverential suffix). The same term appears elsewhere in this
volume in other excerpts from these Sermones (texts 2.5 and
3.4), fray Juan de la Anunciacion’s sermons (5.1), fray Juan
Bautista’s sermons (1.3), and the anonymous doctrina from
the John Carter Brown Library (texts 7.1 and 9.2). It is also
used frequently in the sermons of the great Franciscan eth¬
nographer Bernardino de Sahagun (1563) and in other doctri¬
nal texts. According to Lockhart (1992:252), in civil
documentation (such as wills) Nahuas avoided using tonantzin
for Mary but did very frequently refer to her as totlazohnantzin
‘our precious mother’ (with reverential suffix). This variant
appears in this volume in fray Pedro de Gante’s doctrina (4.3,
8.1), fray Domingo de la Anunciacion’s rosary (8.4), fray Juan
de la Anunciacion’s sermons (5.1), the John Carter Brown
Library doctrina (7.1, 9.2), and the Jesuit santoral (7.2, 9.3).
A further combination, in which mahuiz(tli) ‘honored’ is in¬
serted before or after tlazoh(tli), giving “our honored and pre¬
cious mother” or “our precious and honored mother” is used
by fray Juan de la Anunciacion (5.1), fray Martin de Leon
(6.4), fray Juan de Mijangos (7.3), fray Juan Bautista (8.5),
and in the rosary text (8.4). The Catholic Church is also some¬
times referred to as tonantzin (texts 1.3,5.2, 8.6, 9.2); as Mary
is considered a figure for the Church, this relates indirectly to her.
Tonantzin was controversial because of its alleged asso¬
ciation with preconquest divinities and its implication that
Mary is a sort of mother goddess. In his later historical writ¬
ings Sahagun criticized the use of tonantzin for Mary on the
grounds that the title had pertained to a preconquest mother
goddess worshipped at the site of the shrine to Our Lady of
Guadalupe. Indigenous people called Guadalupe tonantzin
and he feared this masked continuities with the idolatrous
past; the proper title for Mary was “mother of God” (Sahagun
1981:v.3:352). Tonantzin may have been used in reference to
one or more preconquest divinities, but it appears in this sense
only once in the entire Florentine Codex', the midwife uses it
in combination with the deity names Cihuacoatl and Quilaztli
{in Cioacoatl, in Qujlaztli in tonantzin) after the woman in
her care has successfully given birth (Eisinger 1997:1352;
Sahagun 1950-82:bk.6:180). It comes after these names rather
than preceding them in the way it often precedes Mary’s name
{tonantzin sancta Maria), and could even be taken as a veiled
allusion to Mary as a patron of childbirth, a role she plays in
one of the miracle legends in chapter 9. In any case, tonantzin
is less a personal deity name than a title of respect for a mother
figure. Sahagun was probably being overly scrupulous in re¬
gard to the old deities. The term seems to have been usurped
THE CONCEPTION 11
by Mary, even if Mary as tonantzin is understood, as today
among rural Nahuas for whom she is a creator figure and mother
of the seed spirits, in terms far more indigenous than Euro¬
pean (Burkhart 1993:207-209; Sandstrom 1991:242-244).
Goddesses aside, the use of these maternal titles is sig¬
nificant for understanding Nahua views of Mary. Both “our
mother” and “our precious mother” posit a close kinship rela¬
tion between Mary and a collectivity of devotees, while the
usual Spanish title nuestra Sehora ‘our Lady’ posits a hierar¬
chical relationship of class rather than kinship. European devo¬
tees saw Mary as a maternal figure, but did not ordinarily
proclaim this in such a direct, first-person, and collective
manner. Lockhart (1992:252) asserts that this is one of the
few instances in which conventional Nahua-Christian usage
implies “an important doctrinal alteration of Spanish ortho¬
doxy” and that it sets Mary up as “a mother goddess to
humanity parallel to the father God.” This is as close as
Nahuas came to the Mixtecs’ audacious pairing of Mary and
God as co-divinities and co-rulers of heaven, based on their
own traditions of male-female ruling pairs (Terraciano
1997, 1998:127-131). Nahua terms for Mary are colored by
social hierarchy as well as kinship: she is a noblewoman
{cihuapilli), a lady {cihuatecuhtli ‘woman lord’), and a queen
{cihuatlahtoani ‘woman ruler’). But Mary as tonantzin is com¬
patible with a connected, affectionate, and to some degree
female-centered view of close social relationships, such as
what Taggart (1997, 1998) describes for a contemporary Nahua
context. Lockhart (1992:252-253) suggests that the Nahuatl
usage may be rooted in linguistic considerations as well as in
Nahuas’ desire for a maternal figure and most priests’ willing¬
ness to tolerate the form, as there is no “smooth or stylish”
way to render “our Lady” or “mother of God” into Nahuatl,
especially for use as a vocative. Texts in this volume do have
various such constructions, even as vocatives, but they are,
indeed, rather elaborate for commonplace usage.
It should be emphasized that, even if tonantzin implies
or allows for a relationship of divine maternity, Mary is not
referred to as a teotl ‘divinity’ in any text that I have seen.
Mary’s followers do not “worship” her {teotia ‘to take as a
divinity’ or ‘to make a divinity of’), but are referred to as her
devotees, itlateomatcahuan ‘her ones who think about di¬
vine things’ or ‘her devout ones.’ This comes from the verb
{tla)teomati, which Molina’s 1571 vocabulary (1970:101 r)
defines as “to occupy oneself in spiritual and divine things.”
The references to “we commoners” {timacehualtin) are
ambivalent. Macehualtin means common or ordinary people
in a broad sense, but was coming to be associated specifically
with native people. By around 1600 this had become the most
common term for designating indigenous people, with Nahuas
referring to themselves as timacehualtin (Lockhart 1992:96,
114-116). Thus, these passages could have been understood
as relating the narrative specifically to Nahuas, and authors
who chose to use this term are representing themselves in
their texts as Nahuas.
12 BEFORE GUADALUPE
The word I translate as “sign” is machiotl, it is used more
or less interchangeably with nezcayotl, which I translate in
this volume as “symbol,” not because of a real difference in
their referents but simply to distinguish them consistently.
[125] in ye huecauh omneca. cen tlacatl tlatohuani. intocan.
Juanchin. yn inamic yn icihuauh. yn itoca susana. cem altepetl
yn ipa monemitiaya yntocayoca. Nazaret. cenca huei tlatovani
catca. yn Juanchin cenca pampaquia cenca miec catca. yn
intlatqui yn inecuiltonol. nima quixexeloque exca q’nquix-
tique yn intlatqui cecni quinmacacque yn teopa monemitia
cecnin quimacaqwe yn motolinia cecnin quinmacacque yn
itla monemitiaya. yn quintlapieliaya yn iuh quichiuhqwe huel
machiotl techtlalilitiaque yn timacehualti tiq’ntlaocolizque.
in motolinia yn mocuiltonohua yn Scan yn imaxca. yn
intlatqui quitlaocolizque in motolinia yehica yn amo tasca
yn amo totlatq’ yn timacehualtin ca in yaxcatzin in tt." in dios
in ye yuhqui in ye monemitia in Juanchl in susana. amo
pilhuaqwe ayac honca ympiltzin yc quinozque yc quimotla-
tlauhtilique in dios in ce xihuitl yexpa yn omohuicaya in
teopa ynic onmohuicaya ynic ontlatlauhtiaya. in tt.° in dios
yn iuh quimolhuiliaya tt.^ diose ma xitechmotlaocolili ma
xitechmomaquilli yn topiltzin Ma titopilhuantica yntla
xitechmomaquilli. ga no timiztomaquilizque motlatzinco
nemiz in teopa’ mizmonochiliz mizmotlatlauhtiliz [126] yn
iuh quintoque. yn Juanchi. in susana. in tt.° in dios nima huel
quimocaquitin yn iuh quitlatlauhtique nima cen tlacatl
comonochilli, yn ipillo yntla90 yn itoca Sant miguel angel,
quimolhuili. xihuallauh. ximotemohui yn tlalp^ ye tlaocoyan
yn omenti y notlachihualhua yn Joanchin. yn susana. ynic
nechnot9a ynic nechtlatlauhtia Quineq^i in mopilvatizque
auh yn axca xiquiyollali macamo netlamatican mopil-
huantizque yn iconetzin yez in quitlacatilizque civa9intli
yez cenca qualli yez cenca yectli yez ayaquiuhqui* yez yn
cemanahuac. ynic qualli yn otlacat quitocayotizque maria
auh in ye no ceppa quitlacatiliz yn iconetzi yez Jesus. Qn.
temaquixtiani y nohuia cemanahuac. auh yn otlacat y yevatl
maria quicahuatihui teopa anca quittaz yn oquichtli auh in
ye yuhqui yn oq’monavantili in tt.” in dios nima hual-
motemohui. in Sant gabriel angel, yn opa monemitiaya. in
Joanchin. niman opa tlamellauh in sant gabriel yn iuh
quimonahuatili in dios mochiuh’' q’milhui. mochiuh*
quinnonoz ca yntlatoltzin in dios yn iuh quimilhui Maca
xinetlamatica Maca xitlaocoyaca huel quichihuaz in dios
amopilhuantizque yn aquichihuazque maria 9an exiuhtiz yn
amotla nemitz in ye yuhqui yn oq’monahuantili mohuicac
motlecahui. yn ilhuicatl itic auh in yevanti in ye monemitia
in yehuatl in susana. nima oztic auh in otlacachiuhque
innomotlacatili’ in tonatzin in sancta maria quimo-
tocayotilique maria ye mopava''’ ye mozcaltia 9an oxiuhtzin
yn intla yn inatzin yn itatzin nima vnpa quimocavilito in
They are abstract noun forms of, respectively, the verbs mati
‘to know’ and neci ‘to appear’ and'thus may be conceived as
referring to something through which something else is mani¬
fested, revealed, or made known.
^ *
[125] A long time ago there lived a certain ruler whose name was
Joachim. His spouse, his wife, her name was Susana. They lived
in a city called Nazareth. Joachim was a very great ruler. They
were very prosperous; their goods, their riches were very many.
Then they divided their goods, they put them into three parts.
‘One part they gave to those who lived in the temple; one part
they gave to the afflicted ones; one part they gave to those who
lived with them, who were their wards. By doing this, they estab¬
lished quite a sign for us. We commoners will have compassion
for the afflicted. Those who are wealthy, who have possessions,
who have goods, will have compassion for the afflicted, because
they are not our possessions, not our goods, us commoners—
they are the possessions of our lord God. This is how Joachim
and Susana were living. They were not parents, there was no one
who was their child. Thus they called to, thus they prayed to
God. Three times a year they would go to the temple. Thus they
would go, thus they would pray. They would speak like this to
our lord God, “Oh our lord, oh God, may you have compassion
for us. May you give us our child, may it be that we become
parents. If you give her" to us, likewise we will give her to you.
She will live with you in the temple, she will call to you, she will
pray to you.” [126] Thus spoke Joachim and Susana. Our lord
God then listened well to the way they prayed. Then he called a
certain noble of his, his precious one, whose name is Saint Michael
the angel. He said to him, “Go forth, descend to earth. Now two of
my creations, Joachim and Susana, are sad. They call to me, they
pray to me that they want to become parents. And now console
them. May they not be worried. They will become parents. They
will have a child, they will give birth to her, she will be a little
.woman. She will be very good, she will be very proper. There will
be no one like her in the world, so good. When she has been bom
they will name her Mary. And at another time she will give birth.
Her child will be Jesus, which means ‘rescuer everywhere in the
world.’And when Mary has been bom, they will go to leave her at
the temple. She will see no man.” And when our lord God had
thus commanded him, then Saint Gabriel the angel came down
to where Joachim was living. Then and there Saint Gabriel ex¬
plained what God had commanded. He told them all, he advised
them of all God’s words. Thus he said to them, “May you not
worry, may you not be sad. God will really do it. You will become
parents. You will make Mary. She will live with you for only
three years.” When he had thus commanded them, he departed,
he ascended into heaven. And they went on living. Susana then
became pregnant. And they bore a child. Our mother. Saint Mary,
was born. They named her Mary. She was brought up, she was
raised just for two years with her mother and her father. Then they

teopa yn ichatzinco in tt.“ in dios yn opa techmotlamacehuili
in limacevalti in topampa in q’tlatlauhtin in dios in yevatl yn
itoca Conceptio ynic tzitic ynic [127] ynic nelhuayohuac in
sancta maria yn ichpochtli ynin tlatolli cenca ticmahui^ozque
yn itlatoltzin in totecuiyo in dios.
2. Fray Juan de la Anunciacion, Sermonario en lengua mexicana, 1577
Fray Juan de la Anunciacion, an Augustinian born in Toledo
around 1514 (Garcia Icazbalceta 1954:282), is the only mem¬
ber of his order to produce a significant body of work in
Nahuatl during the sixteenth century. As Sell notes (1993:142),
his Sermonario is the only such work published before fray
Juan Bautista’s of 1606, and the only Nahuatl sermonary to
include a complete cycle of sermons for Sundays and for feast
days, including all of the major Marian festivals. The Augus¬
tinian chronicler Juan de Grijalva compared Anunciacion’s
book to “a grammar for those who preach and administer
(1624:207v). Along with the 1583 Psalmodia Christiana com¬
piled by fray Bernardino de Sahagiin and Nahua scholars
(Sahagun 1993b), it is the major Nahuatl treatise on the saints.
For Anunciacion, narrative was a tool of homily, and he re¬
counted the lives of the saints with a constant eye toward the
moral education of his Nahua audience. He wrote in what, for
Nahuatl, was a relatively straightforward and matter-of-fact
—which is why he was able to cover the entire Church
In conceptione virginis MARI/E
[213r] Y CENQVIZCAQVALli ychpuchtli sancta Maria yn
ichpuchtzin catca in loachin, yuan yn inamic sancta Anna: yn
nehuan qualnemiliceque catca. Auh ayac oncatca inconeuh,
yc cenca motequipachoaya, yuan quimotlatlauhtiliaya
totecuiyo Dios, ynic quimmocneliliz. Yuan yhuictzinco
monetoltique ca intla quimomaquiliz inconeuh, ca qui-
mouemmanililizque ytetzinco quimopouilizque. Auh niman
ce yangeltzin totecuiyo DIOS, quimonextili in loachin
quimolhuili. Yn monamic quitlacatiliz ce ychpuchtzintli,
yuan tictocayotiz Maria: ca niman ypeuhyan ytzintiyan m
motemiltitiez Spiritu sancto, yn iytic inantzin. Auh yehuatzm
cequizcaqualli ychpuchtli, yn iquac yytictzinco motlalitzino
inatzin, nima amotle itetzico acic in tlatlaculpeuhcaiutl: ca
nel ynemactzi omuchiuh, ynic atle ytetzinco aciz, in peccado
original, quitoznequi. Tlatlaculpeuhcayutl.
InfestosanctceAnncematris virginis MaricE.
[171r] NOTLAgOPILHVAne in axcan ylnamico yn itlatequi-
panoliz yn iquallachihualiz in sancta Anna, ynic ytech
titixcuitizque. Ca yn ipampa yn icenquizcaqualnemiliz
THE CONCEPTION 13
went to leave her at the temple, the home of our lord God. There
she did penance for us, us commoners. For our sake she prayed to
God. It is called “conception,” how Saint Mary, the maiden,
began, [127] how she took root. We will marvel very much at
these words, the words of our lord God.
calendar in one volume (albeit one of over 500 pages). While
he presumably had native speakers assist with the text, the
priest’s voice predominates.
Two excerpts follow. The first, from the sermons on the
Conception, briefly recounts the story of Anne and Joachim,
adding to the angel’s speech a pronouncement on the im¬
maculate nature of Mary’s conception. The second, from the
sermons on Saint Anne, uses the story of Mary s conception to
warn infertile people away from the native healers (titicih). To
the priests, the Nahua doctors seemed to possess a wealth of
useful herbal knowledge, but this was combined with idola¬
trous practices and an alliance with demonic forces. Fertility
specialists called tepillaliliqueh ‘they who place children for
people’ employed an herb called tlanechicolli. believed to
enable sterile women to become pregnant (Bautista
1600:112r). In noting that Anne chose not to have recourse to
such practitioners, Anunciacion sets her up as a moral ex¬
ample for Nahua women.
On the Conception of the Virgin Mary
[213r] The utterly good maiden. Saint Mary, was the daughter
of Joachim and his spouse. Saint Anne. Both of them were of
good life. But there was no one who was their child. Thus they
felt great anguish, and they used to pray to our lord God that
he grant them favor. And they vowed to him that if he would
give them a child, they would lay her as an offering to him,
they would turn her over to him. And then an angel of our lord
God appeared to Joachim. He said to him, “Your spouse will
give birth to a little maiden, and you will name her Mary.
Right then in her beginning, in her origin, she will be filled
with the Holy Spirit, inside her mother.” And the utterly good
maiden, when she was placed inside her mother, the begin¬
ning of sin did not reach her at all. Truly it became her gift
that “original sin, ” which means the beginning of sin, did not
reach her.
On the Festival of Saint Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary.
[171r] Oh my precious children, today are remembered the
labors, the good deeds of Saint Anne, so that you will take her
as an example. Because of her completely good life she
14 BEFORE GUADALUPE
oquimaceuh, ynic ynatzin omochiuh ciuapilli sancta Maria.
Ca amo quinenquixtiaya in cemilhuitl in ceyohual, mochipa
quimotlaiecultiliaya totecuiyo Dios, amono teoyeuacatini
amono tlatlametl catca, cenca quimmotlaoculiliaya yn
icnotlaca quimmacaya in tlaqualli, yua in tlaquemitl. Ca yn
ixquich yn iaxca yn itlatqui exca quixeloaya, in cecni
quimmacaya in teopa nemia, auh in occequi quimacaya in
motolinia, auh in occequi intech monequia yn ichan tlaca, yn
ihua nemia. Yua yn inemiliz aye ma ytech nez in temictiani
tlatlaculli. Auh omochiuh, ca in loachin yn inamietzin sancta
Anna, quauhtla chocatinenca quimotlatlauhtilitinenca in
totecuiyo DIOS, ynic quimocneliliz ynic mopilhuatiz: niman
quimonextili ce angel ytecopatzinco in totecuiyo DIOS,
quimolhuili loachine macamo xinentlamati ca tlacachihuaz
in monamic, quitlacatiliz ychpuchtli anquitocayotizqwe
Maria, ynantzin yez in totecuiyo lesu Christo. Xiquitacan ca
in sancta Anna amo ma quinotz in tetlapololtiani titici, in
tepillalilia: ^an vel yehuatzin in totecuiyo DIOS, quimo-
tlatlauhtiliaya quimitalhuiaya. Totecuiyoe ma tlacaua
moiollotzin ma mopaltzinco tinechmocnelili ce piltzintli,
ca intla tinechmomaquiliz mohuictzinco nicnetoltia,
ynic nimitznouemanililiz nohuetzin yez, mitzmotlaye-
cultilitzinoz in mochatzinco in cecemilhuitl in ceceyohual.
Auh in totecuiyo DIOS, quimouelcaquilili yn itlatla-
tlauhtiliz oquimonequilti, ynic quimotlacatiliz in
seta Maria. Ypapa y, in 9a90 ac tehuatl in ticiuatl in titetza-
catl in amo tipilhua, ma ytetzinco ximixeuiti in S. Anna,
yua in s. loachin: macamo ye[171 vjhuatin xiquinnotza in
titici in tetlapololtiani in teixeuepani in tepillalilia, macamo
no ypapa in nepilhuatiliztli ticchihuaz, yn itla amo qualli in
amo chihualoni: ma ^an yehuatzin xicmotlatlauhtili in
totecuiyo DIOS, yxpatzinco ximonetolti ynic tichu chiuaz in
piltzintli, intla mitzmotlaoculiliz, ynic quimotlayecultiliz
totecuiyo DIOS. Ca yuh oquimochihuili in sancta Anna, auh
niman yc otlaoculiloc. (Jatepan omomiquili otlamelauh yn
ianimantzin in ompa ylhuicac.
3. Fr^ Juan Bautista with Agustm de la Fuente,
Sermonario en lengua mexicana, 1606.
This erudite and elegant book is the longest of several surviv¬
ing works by the Mexican-born Franciscan Juan Bautista
Viseo and his educated Nahua collaborators, alumni of the
Colegio de Santa Cruz, which the Franciscans founded in
Tlatelolco, the northern sector of Mexico City, in 1536. Among
them he gives particular credit to the Tlatelolcan teacher and
scholar Agustm de la Fuente, who had previously worked
with friars Bernardino de Sahagun and Pedro Oroz.'^ The fa¬
mous Nahua Latinist and governor, Antonio Valeriano,
supplied parenthetical Spanish glosses for various obscure
Nahuatl words and phrases (Sell 1993:155-156). In addition
to these glosses within the text, voluminous marginalia
merited that she became the mother of the noblewoman. Saint
Mary. She did not waste a single day, a single night. She was
always serving our lord God. Nor was she greedy, nor was she
avaricious. She used to be very compassionate toward the
poor. She would give them food and clothing. All her posses¬
sions, her goods, she used to divide in three parts. One part
she would give to those who lived in the temple, and another
she would give to the afflicted, and the other was needed for
the people of her household, those who lived with her. And
never did any mortal sin appear attached to her life. And it
happened that Joachim, Saint Anne’s spouse, was going about
weeping in the forest, was going about praying to our lord
God that he grant him favor, so that he could become a parent.
Then an angel appeared to him by order of our lord God. He
said to him, “Oh Joachim, may you not worry! Your spouse
will bear a child, she will give birth to a maiden. You will
name her Mary. She will be the mother of our lord Jesus Christ.”
Notice that Saint Anne did not call those who confuse people,
the healers, the ones who place children for people. Just to our
lord God she would pray. She would say to him, “Oh our lord,
may your heart concede, by your will'^ may you grant me a favor,
one little child. If you will give her to me I vow to you that 1 will
lay her as an offering to you. She will be my offering. She will
serve you in your home every day and every night." And our lord
God approved of her prayer. He wanted her to give birth to Saint
Mary. Therefore, whoever you are, you woman, you sterile one,
you who are not a parent, may you take Saint Anne as your
example, and Saint Joachim. May you not [171 v] call the cur-
ers, those who confuse people, those who deceive people, the
ones who place children for people. Nor for the sake of parent¬
hood will you do something that is not good, that should not
be done. May you just pray to our lord God. Make a vow before
him that you will make an offering of the little child if he will
have compassion for you, that he or she will serve our lord God.
This is how Saint Anne did it, and thereupon she received
compassion. After she died, her soul went directly to heaven.
provide running commentary in Latin and Spanish on the
content of the Nahuatl, with copious citations from the Bible
and Church Fathers. Despite being over 700 pages long, the
book covers only the four Sundays of Advent and the festi¬
vals of Saint Andrew and the Conception of Mary. Bautista
states (1606:525) that he is placing other sermons on the Con¬
ception in the Marial, but this work, perhaps never completed,
is unknown. Bautista’s sermons are divided into sections, such
that the preacher could select which parts he wished to use
when preparing an actual homily (Sell 1993:171-172). From
the 66 pages of text for the Conception, I include two ex¬
cerpts; a third appears as text 8.5. The differences between the

highly formalized, esoteric style of this work and the simpler
narrative style of the previous two works are apparent.
The Conception texts begin with a description of terres¬
trial paradise, or the Garden of Eden, telling how God pre¬
served it from the waters of the primordial flood. In the first
excerpt below, this becomes a type for Mary’s preservation
from original sin. In medieval hermeneutics, a “type” (from
Greek t\pos, Latin ty’pus or figura) is a historical pretigura-
tion, located in the Old Testament, for some aspect of Chris¬
tian teachings (Auerbach 1984; Blenkinsopp 1967; Chydenius
1965), The relationship is not metaphorical or allegorical, as
both elements are “real” and exist in history; the type signi¬
fies itself but also signifies, predicts, and is fulfilled or en¬
compassed by its Christian counterpart (Auerbach 1984:53).
This same association between Eden and Mary is used in
the Psalmodia Christiana's opening songs for this festival
(Sahagun 1993b:354-355), but the figure is developed more
elaborately here. The Song of Songs image of the hortus
conclusus, or garden enclosed (4; 12), is one of the Old Testa¬
ment figures that came to be interpreted as references to Mary;
by 1140 it was “the standard symbol for Mary’s womb” (Win¬
ston-Allen 1997:92). Already in the ninth century it was taken
as proof of Mary’s perpetual virginity, violated not even by
En la Fiesta de la Concepcion de la madre de Dios
Nuestra Senora
[461] [La Sacratissima Virgen Parayso de deleytes de Dios]
Auh in axcan ma xicmomachitican notla^opilhuane, ca in
xuchimilli, in xuchitepancalli in ineyollaliayantzinco, in
inecehuiayantzinco in toTecuiyo Dios, ca huel yehuatzin in
tla^ocihuapilli Sancta Maria, in huel axcan tictolhuiquix-
tililia, in huel totepantlahtocatzin, in huel totetlayolce-
huilicatzin, ca nelli yehuatzin ixuchimiltzin toTecuiyo Dios:
ca in quenin in ixuchimilpantzinco in Dios oncan cenquiztoc
miectlamantli xuchitl in cenca qualli, in cenca mahuiztic, ca
(jan no yuhcatzintli in cihuapilli Sancta Maria, ca miectlaman¬
tli qualtihuani yectihuani ittetzinco cenquiztoc, yhuan in
itetlauhtiltzin, itenemactzin Spiritu sancto: auh in teotzo-
peliliztli, in teuahuiyayaliztli. q.n. in qualli nemilizmachiotl
ittetzinco cenquiztoc, yhuan ittetzinco quimotlalili in Dios,
in [462] ittetzinco omuchiuh: inic ittetzinco netezcahuiloz,
neoctacatiloz. [Aora mirad sus grades virtudes. marauillaos
de verlas: y procurad imitarlos], Tla ittetzinco xicmottilican,
yhuan xicmahui90can, yequene ittetzinco ximixcuitican in
cenca huei inecnomatilitzin, in ceca huei itetlacamatilitzin,
in cenca huei inepialitzin, in cenca huey in itetlaocolilitzin,
in cenca huey in iteotlatla^otlalitzin, inic niman ayac huel
ittetzinco monenehuiliz.
[Christo R. N. Es arbol de vida, y fuete perene de mla: que
siempre llama al pecador, y le comunica elfructo de su pas¬
sion, y redepcion, en el vso, y recepcion de los Sacramentos.]
THE CONCEPTION 15
parturition; the contrast between the garden of Eden, locus of
the fall, and Mary as hortus conclusus. locus of the redemp¬
tion, was drawn as early as the twelfth century (Matter
1990:162; Winston-Allen 1997:92). In plate 1, the hortus
conclusus is depicted at the lower right of the central panel.
Eor Nahuas. the image of Christ as a tree in the middle of
a sacred garden could bear echoes of ancient cosmological
trees, such as those into which Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl
transformed themselves in order to raise up the heavens, or
the Tamoanchan tree associated with the highest heaven and
the underworld (Lopez Austin 1997:16, 112). In a broader
sense, Mary’s association with the earth and fertility, seen
also in Spanish traditions of Marian images discovered un¬
derground or worshipped in caves, could accommodate the
concerns of agriculturalists, a point made by Alfonso X
of Castile (or his theologians) when he wrote that people who
worshipped the earth really intended to worship Mary
who, like the earth bearing its fruit, bore Jesus (Christian
1981a:21). The Hail Mary’s identification of Jesus as the
“fruit” of Mary’s womb made this association ubiquitous
(see texts 8.1 and 8.2).
The Latin and Spanish marginalia are included below in
brackets preceding the text that they accompany.
On the Feast of the Conception of the mother of God,
Our Lady
[461] [The most holy Virgin, God's paradise of delights] And
now may you know, oh my precious children, that the flower
garden, the flowery enclosure, our lord God’s place of conso¬
lation, his place of repose, is really she, the precious
noblewoman. Saint Mary, whose festival we celebrate this
very day. She is really our advocate, really our appeaser. It is
true that it is she who is our lord God’s flower garden. The way
that in God’s flower garden there lie gathered together many
flowers that are very good, very wondrous, just like that is the
noblewoman. Saint Mary. Many things that make one good,
that make one proper''’ lie gathered together with her, and the
boons, the gifts, of the Holy Spirit. And sacred sweetness,
sacred fragrance—which means, the signs of good living-
lie gathered together with her. And God placed them with her.
they grew with her, so that people would take her as a mirror,
take her as a measuring stick. [Now look at her great virtues,
marvel at seeing them, and endeavor to imitate them.] Do
benefit from her, and marvel at her. Moreover, take as an ex¬
ample her very great humility, her very great obedience, her
very great chastity, her very great compassion, her very great
sacred love, which none soever can equal.
[Christ our redeemer is the tree of life, and everlasting foun¬
tain of mercy, who always calls to the sinner, and imparts to
him the fruit of his Passion and redemption, in the use and
reception of the Sacraments.]
16 BEFORE GUADALUPE
I In yolilizquahuiti in nepantla ihcac vmpa Parayso terrenal,
in ccnca huel miec in itlaaquillo, in ixuchiquallo in
cecennnetztica muchihua, inic ahmo polihuiz, ahmo tiamiz in
ixuchiquallo: ca yehuatl inezca imachio in toTecuiyo lESV
CHRISTO, in huel ittetzinco omonacayotitzino in cemihcac
ichpuchtli Sancta Maria, yhuan ittetzinco omotlacatili: in
muchipa cemihcac techmotlaocolilia, yhuan techmotzatzililia
inic titonemilizcuepazque: ca aye cahui,“' aye polihui in
itetlaocolilitzin, in iteycnoittalitzin: yehica in ixuchiquallo
in itiaihiyohuilitzi, in itonehuilitzin, in ichichinaquilitzin,
yhuan itemaquixtilitzin techmomaquilia in ipan izquitetl. 7.
Sacramentos iceliloca. Ca yehuatl yc pahti, yhua yc yoli,
yequene yc mana teoyotica, yc mozcaltia in tanima. [Ruptiq;
suntfontes abyssi magnp. Etfactu est diluuium peccati super
oem terra. Area vero deifera eleuata est in sublime, etferebatur
super aquas, opertiq; sunt oes nidtes excelsi sanctoru. Ecclia
in Ojf. prop. Concep.] Auh in huey atl, in tequixquiatl, in
tlayelatl inic oapachiuh in tialticpactli, yhuan in huehueintin
tepeme: ca inezca imachio in tiahtlacolpeuhcayotl. q.n.
Peccado original, in itech tzintitica, neihuayotica, itech
tiaantica in itiahtlacol Adam, in iahtetlacamatiliz in
totlahtlacoitta Ada: auh ca inin tlahtlacolli, in tiahtla¬
colpeuhcayotl in oquichiuh, ca yuhquimma tequixquiatl ipan
pohui, inic oapachiuhque in ixquichtin Tlalticpac tlaca, yhuan
in ixquichtin Sanctome in ipa pohui tetepe in imanimashuan.
Ca yehuatl in Peccado original, ahno90 in tlacatiliztlahtlacolli
yc oihtlacauh, yc ococolizcuic in toyeliz, ca ahmo yuh catca
in tanima: auh in tonacayo ahmo yuh catca, in yuh oc
achitonca tiquihtozque, ticmelahuazque. Auh macihui in
huehueintin Sanctome ipan ohuetzque, ahno90 yc oapa¬
chiuhque in tequixquiatl, in tlayelatl. q.n. in tiahtlacolpeuh¬
cayotl, ahno90 tlacatiliztlahtlacolli: ca 9an iceltzin yehuatzin
in Cihuapilli Sancta Maria, in iteoxuchitepancaltzin Dios, in
iteoxuchitlaltzin ahquen muchiuhtzino, ahmo itte[463]tzinco
acic in tequixquiatl, in tlayelatl in Peccado original. Ca in
yuh quimopieli in Dios in ixuchimiltzin, in ixuchitepancaltzin
Parayso terrenal, in ahmo itech acic in tequixquiatl, 9an no
yuh quimopieli in toTecuiyo in itla9oanimantzin in yehuatzin
Cihuapilli Sancta Maria, inic ahmo itech oacic in tlacatiliztlah¬
tlacolli, ahno90 oquitla'^ centlamantli, in manel tepiton
tlahtlacolli, in motenehua Venial, in ahmo ohui yc polihui.
[Celebramos la limpia Concepcion de la SS. Virg en el vientre
de su madre, a diferencia de tlacatiliztli, que es nacimiento]
I Onotla9opilhuane, ca yehuatl in tictolhuiquixtililia in
cemihcac Ichpuchtli in ichipahuacatlacatililocatzin in oc
ihtictzTco inantzin Sancta Ana. Yc ipampa in axcan, ca huel
huey ilhuitl, yehica huel huey inpahpaquiliz, imahahui-
yaliz, yhuan ca huel huey in inneyollaliliz in ixquichtin
ipilhua, in itechcopa oquizque Adam, in huel nelli techoctique,
tetlaocoltique catca. Ca in quenin oyuh hualtonehua-
lotia, ohualchichinacotia, in nepapan cococ, teopouh-
qui ohualmihiyohuitia in impan nican Tlalticpac tlaca in
'll The tree of life that stands in the middle, there in terrestrial
paradise, has an abundance of produce, fruit. It grows each
month, such that its fruit will never disappear, will never end.
It is the symbol, the sign of our lord Jesus Christ, who indeed
took flesh from her who is forever a maiden. Saint Mary, and
from her he was born. Always and forever he has compassion
for us, and he cries out to us so that we will turn our lives
around. His compassion, his pity never ceases, never disap¬
pears. Therefore he gives us the fruit of his suffering, his
torment, his pain, and his rescuing of people in the receiving
of all seven sacraments. Thereby our soul heals, and thereby it
comes to life; moreover, thereby in a sacred way it grows,
thereby it is nurtured. [And all the fountains of the great deep
burst forth. And the flood of sin was made over all the lands.
The God-bearing'^ ark truly was raised on high, and was
borne over the waters. All the high mountains of the saints
were covered. The Church, in Proper Office for the Concep¬
tion.'*] And with the ocean, the nitrous water, the foul water
the earth was flooded, and the great mountains. It is the sym¬
bol, the sign, of the beginning of sin, which means "original
sin,” which is beginning and taking root from, which is
drawn from, the sin of Adam, the disobedience of our father
in sin, Adam. And this sin became the beginning of sin. It is
considered to be like nitrous water, with which all the people
of earth were flooded. And the souls of all the saints are
considered to be mountains. Through original sin. or the
birth-sin, our being was corrupted, was taken sick. Our soul
was not like this. And our body was not like this, as we will
say, we will explain, in a moment. And even though the
great saints fell into, or were flooded by, the nitrous water,
the foul water, which means the beginning of sin, or the
birth-sin, just her alone, the noblewoman. Saint Mary,
God’s sacred flowery enclosure, his sacred flowery land, noth¬
ing happened to her, [463] the nitrous water, the foul water,
original sin, did not reach her. The way that God guarded his
flower garden, his flowery enclosure, terrestrial paradise,
which the nitrous water did not reach. Just so did our lord
guard the precious soul of the noblewoman. Saint Mary, so
that the birth-sin did not reach it, nor any other, even little
sins, which are called venial, which are destroyed without
difficulty.
[We celebrate the clean Conception of the most holy Virgin in
the womb of her mother, in contrast to birth, which is birth.]
Oh my precious children, that which we are celebrating is the
pure engendering of her who is forever a maiden, when she was
still inside her mother. Saint Anne. Therefore today is a very great
festival, because very great is the joyfulness and delight, and
very great is the consolation, of all the children, the descendants,
of Adam, who, it is quite true, were lamentable and piteous. The
way in which people went along hurting, people went along
aching, various sufferings and afflictions were inflicted upon the
people here on earth, the children of Adam, which they went

ipilhuan Adam, in oquihualitztiaque, oquihualciauhtiaque
in ipampa achto tlacatl Adam; auh in ne axcan {agora por el
contrario) in ipan in huey ilhuitl, ahtle yuhqui, ahtle
quinenehuilia, inic oimpan tlanez, inic yuhqui yancuic
Cemanahuatl oimpan momanaco. Yehica ca axcan in ipan
ilhuitzin in Concepcion, q.n. In itlacatililocatzin, inic
yacuican ihtictzinco otlaliloc, otlacatililoc in itlaqonantzin
in Sancta Ana, in Cihuapilli in Sancta Maria, vmpehua,
ontzinti in Cemanahuac itzin, ipeuhca in totlaocoliloca, in
tomaquixtililoca. Auh ipampa in, huey papaquiliztica in ax¬
can quimocuicaehuilia in toNantzin Sancta Yglesia, in
quimihtalhuiya. Conceptio tua Dei genitrix Virgo, gaudium
annunciauit vniuerso mundo. q.n, Dios inantzine cemihcac
ichpuchtle, ca inic yancuican ihtictzinco otitlaliloc,
otitlacatililoc in motlaqonantzin, ca yc otentimoman in
pahpaquiliztli, ahahuiyaliztli in nohuiyan Cemanahuac.
# *
The second excerpt is from a later section of Bautista’s
Conception texts, which applies to Mary a series of plant
metaphors drawn from a passage in the Old Testament book of
Ecclesiasticus.“ In the biblical text the author, speaking in
the voice of wisdom, declares himself—or, when interpreted
as Mary, herself—to be like a cedar exalted on Lebanon, a
cypress on Mount Zion, a palm in Cades, a rose of Jericho,
and an olive tree in the fields (Ecclesiasticus 24:17-19). The
woodcut that illustrates Bautista’s Conception sermons is
framed with this passage in Latin (plate 3); the olive, the rose,
and possibly the palm and cedar (the inscriptions are illeg¬
ible) are depicted in the Huejotzingo mural (plate 1). The
Mariological interpretation of these verses, which originally
linked them to the Assumption, dates to at least the twelfth
century (Matter 1990:155-156). Parts of the text were adapted
for an antiphon sung for the Assumption, the Nativity of Mary,
and other Marian festivals.^' In his 1477 Summa Theologica
Saint Antoninus, writing of the Assumption of Mary, explains
that the verse about the cedar, the tallest tree on Mount Leba¬
non, refers to Mary’s placement above all the angels and other
saints in heaven (1959:v.4:1231-1232). Pedro de la Vega
(1569:184v) says that Mary is compared to the cedar because
“just as the cedar kills all serpents with its great odor, so did
she kill in others all poisonous and carnal movements, with
the splendor of her preservation [from sin]”; that is, Mary’s
purity was so great that no one ever felt lustful toward her.
Before commenting on Mary as the cedar of Lebanon,
this excerpt tells the Nahua listeners that the Holy Spirit, speak¬
ing of Mary through the cryptic allusions of the Old Testa¬
ment, is like the ancient sages who used many figures of speech.
Although these wise ones are not specifically labeled “your”
ancient sages, the passage calls to mind the compilations of
traditional Nahuatl oratory, and indexes of figures of speech.
THE CONCEPTION 17
along seeing, with which they went along tiring themselves out,
because of the first person, Adam. But now, on the contrary (now
on the contrary), on the great festival, there is nothing like, noth¬
ing matches, how dawn has broken on them, how it is as if a new
world has come to spread itself over them. Therefore, today on
the festival of the Conception, which means the engendering of
the noblewoman. Saint Mary—how she was newly placed
and engendered inside her precious mother. Saint Anne—be¬
gins and starts in the world the start, the beginning of our
receiving compassion, of our being rescued. And because of
this, with great rejoicing today our mother Holy Church in¬
tones to her, says to her. Your Conception, Virgin mother of
God, announced joy to all the world. This means, “Oh mother
of God, oh forever a maiden, the way you were newly placed
and engendered inside your precious mother, thus joyfulness
and delight spread throughout everywhere in the world.”
OO TO
made by the Franciscans Andres de Olmos (1985; Maxwell
and Hanson 1992) and Bernardino de Sahagun (1950-
82:bk.6), and later by the Augustinian Juan de Mijangos
(1624; Garibay K. 1966). The passage even uses one of these
stock figures, “the chest, the coffer,” to refer to this arcane
knowledge. Friars were fascinated by this elegant speaking
style, and Bautista had published an edition of the Olmos
speeches six years before this Sermonario (Bautista 1988).
Bautista and his Nahua collaborators, immersed in understand¬
ing the most esoteric intricacies of Nahuatl discourse and
applying them to Christian subject matter, may well have
seen their task as comparable to that of the medieval exegetes
who teased Christian meanings out of ancient Jewish texts.
Here the cedar (cedrus) tree’s resistance to decay becomes
a metaphor for Mary’s protection from original sin. Mary was
also identified with cedar wood in interpretations of Song of
Songs 1:16, “the beams of our bouse are of cedar” (Matter
1990:166). Moses’s Ark of the Covenant, said here to have
been fashioned from the wood of this tree (although in the
Bible it is made of acacia wood), is used here as a type for
Mary, another inviolable container for the divine; this typo¬
logical link between Mary and tbe Ark of the Covenant was
well established (Warner 1976:11-12; Vega 1569:184v).
The text equates the cedrus with the ahuehuetl or bald cy¬
press. This tree happens to be one of those figures of speech used
by the ancient sages, who invoked it and also the ceiba (pochotl)
as metaphors for parents and for wise and authoritative leaders
who shelter their children and subjects under their shade (Garibay
K. 1966:23; Maxwell and Hanson 1992:76-77; Sahagun 1950-
82:bk.6:252). In the Psalmodia Christiana Sahagun and his
Nahua coauthors designate as ahuehuetl, and other trees, Chris¬
tian Nahua men, who will blossom and grow new boughs after
death as a result of Christ’s Resurrection. They also apply the
18 BEFORE GUADALUPE
figure to Saint Francis, who shades all the children of the Church
(Sahagun 1993b: 108-109, 112-113, 154-157). Bautista’s text
takes the Christian appropriation of the trope a step further by
oo oo
[473] [Los sabios antiguos co varias cdparaciones de-
clararon grades secretos, y misterios: y assi vsa el Spu S.
deltas: y lo que es proprio de la sabiduria eterna se aplica a
la soberana Vir.]
•][ Ma xicmomachitican notla9opilhuane, ca in ye huecauh
tlamatinime, tlanenehuiliztica, machiotica, octacatica
quitecaquiztilique, quitemelahuilique in huey, in ohui, in
mahuiztic [474] tlahtolli in toptli, in petlaacalli, in huel
ilnamiconi, in neyollotiloni. Ihui in, in yehuatzin Spiritu
sancto, miectlamatli itech quimopohtilitzinohua, quimo-
nenehuililia in tlahtocaichpuchtli Sancta Maria, ca huel
itechpatzinco quimotlachieltilia, in huel itech pohui in
teotlamatiliztli, inic quimihtalhuiya. Quasi Cedrus exaltata
sum in Libano}^ q.n. In quenin yehuatl ahuehuetl in itoca
Cedro, in imuchiuhyan in vmpa huei tepepan in itocayocan
Libano, cenca hueiya, cenca mana, cenca mozcaltia, in ahmo
mach yuhqui in ixquich occequi muchi ahuehuetl in gago
campa imuchiuhyan in nohuiyan Cemanahuac: ca ^an no
yuhqui in nehuatl niquimpanahuiya, niquincemmiyahua-
yotia, niquincemihcahua in ixquichtin Dios itlachihual-
huan, yehica ca niman ayac nihuihui, ayac nopo, ayac huel
nechnenehuiliz, ayac huel nechaciz. Yhuan yequene in
quenin ahuehuetl in imuchiuhyan in vmpa Libano, niman
aye pajani, nima aye ocuilquaqualo, niman aye quitotopotza
in ocuilin: ca ^an no niuhqui, in tlahtlacolocuilin, in
Mictlanocuilin, in tlahtlacolpeuhcayotl niman ahmo
itech acic in nanima, ca niman ahmo quitotopotz, niman ahmo
yc oquipalanalti in nanima in iztlacyo, in itenqualacyo,
in quenin oquimiztlacti, oquintenqualacti in oceequintin
Adam ipilhuan: yehica 9an nocel, 9an niyo onechmach-
topapieli, onechmachtopacenquizcamaquixtili in notla-
90Conetzin Dios itla9opiltzin. In quappetlaacalli, in
neyolcehuilizquappetlaacalli, in oquimuchihuili Moysen,
in itencopatzinco Dios, inic oncan omopix in Manna, in
ilhuicac tlaqualli, yhuan in teotenahuatilli, yequene in
Aaron itopil, inic miectlamantli tlamahui9olli oquimuchi¬
huili in Moysen, ca ahuehuetl ihuapallo yc tlachiuhtli,
ipampa in aye palaniz, in aye ocuilquaqualoz. Auh inin
cuix ahmo cenca omonec in niman aye opalan tlahtlacoltica,
yhuan niman aye oocuilquaqualoc in tlahtocaichpuchtli
Sancta Maria, in huel ipan pohui in iquappetlaacaltzin
Dios, in huel ittetzinco omocehuitzino, yhuan ittetzinco
omotlacatili in Ilhuicac tlahtohuani, in moteotenahua-
tilmaquiliani, in huel yehuatzin Angelome intlaqualtzin, in
huel quimmotlaqualtilia?
relating it to a specific scriptural-liturgical passage and by add¬
ing to its still-salient connotations of stalwartness and
protectiveness an association with incorruptible moral purity.
rflp dib
oo oo
[473] [The ancient sages with various comparisons declared
great secrets and mysteries, and so the Holy Spirit makes use
of them. And that which pertains to eternal wisdom is applied
to the sovereign Virgin.]
'll May you know, oh my precious children, that the sages
of long ago with comparisons, with signs, with measuring
sticks expounded to people, explained to people great things,
difficult things, the wondrous [474] words, the chest, the
coffer, that which is quite memorable, that which is in¬
spiring. In this way, the Holy Spirit pairs and compares
many things with the royal maiden. Saint Mary. Through her
it demonstrates well that which really pertains to sacred
wisdom. Thus it says. Like a cedar / have been exalted in
Lebanon. This means, “The bald cypress, which is called
‘cedar,’ whose growing place is there on the great mountain,
the place called Lebanon, becomes very large, spreads very
wide, grows very well. It is not at all like all the others, all
the bald cypresses, wherever their growing places are, every¬
where in the world. It is just the same with me. I surpass,
I tower over, I leave behind all of God’s creations. Therefore
none soever is like me, no one is my equivalent, no one
can equal me, no one can reach me. And moreover, as the
bald cypress whose growing place is there in Lebanon never
at all decays, never at all is eaten by worms, never at all
does the worm gnaw it, I am just the same. The worm of sin,
the worm of the place of the dead, the beginning of sin did
not reach my soul at all. In no way did it gnaw it, in no way
did it cause my soul to decay with its saliva, its drool,in
the way that it salivated on, it drooled on the other children
of Adam. Therefore it was just me alone, only me, that
my precious child, God’s precious child, guarded from
the first, completely rescued from the first.” The wooden
coffer, the wooden coffer of appeasement that Moses made
by order of God, so that there would be kept the manna,
the food from heaven, and the sacred commands, and also
the staff of Aaron, with which Moses performed many mar¬
vels, was fashioned from boards of the bald cypress,
because it will never decay, it will never be eaten by worms.
And this:^"* perhaps it was not essential that she never at all
decay with sin, and that she never at all be eaten by worms,
the royal maiden. Saint Mary, who God’s wooden coffer
is really considered to be, with whom really rested and from
whom was born the ruler of heaven, the giver of the sacred
commands, he who is really the food of the angels, who
really feeds them?

4. Santoral en mexicano, Oradones de Nuestra Senora, early seventeenth century
Biblioteca Nacionai de Mexico MS 1476
This undated Jesuit manuscript is divided between the Na¬
tional Library of Mexico and the Bancroft Library, where the
second part of it is catalogued as Sermones y santoral en
mexicano. M-M 464. The distinctive hand of its principal
redactor, probably a Jesuit priest, also appears in two other
manuscripts housed in Mexico’s National Library. Some of
the other, probably native, hands in the santoral are also strik¬
ingly similar to writing that appears in those other manuscripts.
One of these manuscripts contains the corpus of Nahuatl po¬
etry known as the Cantares mexicanos, as well as a copy of a
1585 work by fray Bernardino de Sahagun (Cantares de los
mejicanos n.d.). As the latest date found in that manuscript is
1597, Bierhorst (1985a:8) dates the text to the late 1590s.
The Cantares manuscript and this Santoral both contain
nearly identical Nahuatl redactions of Aesop’s fables. The
other manuscript (Sermones y ejemplos en mexicano n.d.) con¬
tains a Passion narrative with the date 1617 on its opening
page. It also bears the name Padre Oracio, presumably the
famed Jesuit scholar of Nahuatl Horacio Carochi, who came
to Mexico in 1605 and whose definitive grammar of Nahuatl
was published in 1645 (Carochi 1983). All three manuscripts
are indexed by Moreno (1966). Based on its relationship to
these other texts, 1 tentatively date the Santoral between 1600
and 1620.
The Jesuits began their mission to New Spain in 1572.
They brought to it the avid Marianism that had already proved
a useful remedy for the ills wreaked on the Church by the
Protestant Reformation (Graef 1963-65;v.2:18-26). They also
brought to it an intense interest in indigenous languages. All
new arrivals from Europe studied Nahuatl, and all candidates
for ordination were required to be fluent in at least one native
language (Jacobsen 1938:222). In 1584 the Jesuits opened a
college for indigenous men at their famous training school
for missionaries in Tepotzotlan, in Otomi territory just north¬
west of the capital. In 1586 they opened a second colegio de
indios at their church of San Gregorio in Mexico City, where
they ministered in Nahuatl to the local people (Jacobsen
1938:127, 222). A 1596 list of Nahua-literate Jesuits names
11 for Mexico City, headed by the well-known Juan de Tovar
(Alegre 1956-60:v. 1:575). Slightly less averse than the men¬
dicants to the ordination of indigenous and mestizo men, the
Jesuits ordained one of the graduates of the Tepotzotlan school
(don Geronimo), as well as the Nahuatl grammarian Antonio
del Rincon, a descendant of the Texcocan nobility (Jacobsen
1938:87; Perez de Ribas 1645:733, 736).
Another alumnus of Tepotzotlan was don Lorenzo.
Jacobsen (1938:225) states that he was a descendant of the
Mexica nobility who went on to further theological studies in
Mexico City. He was accepted into the Jesuit order on his
THE CONCEPTION 19
deathbed at age seventy, after more than 40 years of teaching
and service at the two schools. According to the Jesuit
chronicler Perez de Ribas (1645:741-744), Lorenzo spoke
very elegant and reverential Nahuatl, which he put to use in
assisting the priests with their sermons and composing dra¬
mas for the students to perform. These included a dance of the
Emperor Motecuhzoma in which the Aztec ruler accepts God
and rejects the ancient sacrifices. Lorenzo helped the stu¬
dents pray the rosary; he also kept the churches decorated
with flowers he grew himself or had imported from the low¬
lands. He spoke Spanish well and dressed in simple Spanish-
style clothes while living the lifestyle of a Jesuit novice.
Celibate and partial to penitential exercises (flagellation, hair
shirts), he prayed constantly and took communion at least
once a week.
The Santoral en mexicano begins with a cycle of poetic
orations to Mary written in a flowing native hand, several of
which I include in this anthology. The prayers relate the events
of Mary’s life to the spiritual state of the supplicant. The anony¬
mous author (or authors) favors reverential forms of address,
long compound terms sometimes over twenty syllables in
length, flowery language, arcane allusions, and consistent
use of the parallel constructions characteristic of Nahuatl oral-
poetic style. The orations are the work of a very pious native
speaker—one can imagine don Lorenzo or someone like him
producing such a text as this^^—or a priest working in col¬
laboration with a native speaker.
Prayer, or “asking for something” (tlatlatlauhtiliztli), was
a well-established genre of Nahuatl rhetoric (see chap. 8). In
these Jesuit orations, the reverence shown to Mary, the self-
deprecation of the supplicant, and the rhetorical skill with
which he“ plays on her sympathies bear echoes of more tradi¬
tional Nahuatl entreaties. But the prayers are suffused with a
Christian sensibility, for the sacred personage receiving the
entreaty can be relied on to be compassionate, unlike the pre-
Christian deities (or even the judgmental God), and is the
object of affection as well as awe. The orator seeks interces¬
sion with Christ in order to facilitate his moral reform. Fur¬
thermore, the prayers reflect the intensely personal and
emotional contemplative devotion to Mary, and to Christ in
his human aspect, that developed in the twelfth century and
remained strong through the period under study here (Fulton
1996:87-89). Devotees meditated on events in the life of
Mary or Christ, chronicled in text and art, in an effort to
achieve so profound an empathy with their experiences as
to be transported into a state of spiritual ecstasy and one¬
ness with the divine (Marrow 1979). Contemplation of the
beauties of nature was another path to this end, particularly in
the Franciscan tradition (Armstrong 1973; Bonaventure 1549).
20 BEFORE GUADALUPE
Like the Bautista text above, this prayer for the Concep¬
tion applies Old Testament imagery to Mary: she was longed
for by the prophets and patriarchs; the throne of Solomon is
a type for her.-’ Both New and Old World flora are invoked in
an allusion to Isaiah 11:1-2, “There shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.” Saints
Jerome and Ambrose, followed by other writers, identified
this rod, or virga, as the Virgo Mary, thus establishing her
(and Christ’s) descent from the lineage of David, son of
Jesse (Antoninus 1959:bk.4:939; Villegas Selvago 1760:23).
The iconographic tradition of the “Jesse tree” showed Mary
and Christ’s lineage as a tree growing from Jesse’s body.
Mary as a flower blossoming from Jesse is here identified as
a lily, Spanish azucena, a flower that, along with the rose,
appears frequently as a symbol of her purity and beauty.
But she is also identified with the yolloxochitl ‘heart-flower,’
or Talauma mexicana Don, a white flower with numerous
medicinal and ritual uses (Burkhart 1992b: Sahagun 1950-
82:bk.l 1:201).
/7r/ Ora cion De la conception deNoestra Senora
Ma ximopaquiltihtie S.‘“ m.^”^ celticachipahuacateoyo-
ticaxochitzintle, Ca in tot." Dios omitzmopehpenili, omitz-
mixquechili ynic tiynantzin timochiuhtzinoz, yn ayamo iuh
tzinti, pehua cemanahuatl, ypampa y cenca omitzmocen-
quizcayecpehpenili, omitzmocenquizcayecchihuili yn
niman ihquac teihtic monetlalilitzin moconceptiontzin,
omitzmocuilili, omitzmihquanilili, in tlatlacolpeuhcayotl, in
tlahtlacoltzintiliztli, Ca tehuatzin Cihuapiltzintle 8.'“ m.""" in
mocatzinco, mopampatzinco otlailhuicaahuiaxtimoman in
tlalticpac, in tlalticpac tlaca ilhuicac oCalaque; auh in ilhuicac
chaneque, ohualmotemohuique tohuan omonemitico,
otechmotititzinoqtre. Ca tehuatzin, Cihuapille, cemicac
ichpotzintle, yn omitzmelcicihuitico in tzoniztaque, in
quaiztaque, [Iv] in mocoltzitzinhuan in Patriarcas
in profetasme, Ca tehuatzin in tiyyeyantzin in huel
nelli yehuatzin teotlamatiliztlahtlacatzintli Salomon
in totemaquixticatzin, Jesu x," tehuatzin Cihuapille, in
tiyyecyolloxochiquahuitzmolinaltzin, in huel tipiaz-
ticatzintli tiymelauhcaa§ucenaxochitzin in Jesse,
ma xicmonequilti, tlahtocacihuapille, ynic no nitehua.
tinechmoconetitzinoz, in iuh tiquimmoconetitzinoa in
mochipahuacaichpochelpantzinco otiquinmihcuilhui
yn ica motepantlahtolitzin, tiquinmomachtilia, inma-
titech tiquinmanilia yn iquac huetziznequi. ^a ce nohui-
ampa tiquinmopalehuilia, tiquinmomacaltilia, ynic ahtle
impan mochihuaz, ahtle quicxinamiquizque, Auh ynin
ma cuel ehuatl tla^oichpotzintle, totepantlatocatzine
macamo nipa xinechmotlaxili, macamo xicmonequilti
Cihuapille in tinechmotelchihuiliz, macamo xicmihquanili
I motetlaocolilizixtelolotzin [2r] I nohuicpa, ma 9a ye
The frequent association of Mary with flowers and gar¬
dens—seen also in the Bautista texts above—brought her into
a realm of Nahuatl sacred discourse with deep linguistic roots.
Hill (1992) has delineated a “flower world” running through¬
out the Uto-Aztecan language family. Flowers represent the
spirit world and are especially associated with solar heat, fire,
souls, and the heart. This spirit world is typically invoked and
ritually manifested through song, but is sometimes referred to
in oratory. The flower-filled invocations of Nahuatl ritual song
are a part of this complex; Nahuas also literally created the
flower-world on earth by using copius quantities of lloral
ornaments and offerings in their rituals, a custom that contin¬
ued under Christianity (Burkhart 1992b; Hill 1992). Flower
imagery is applied to Mary more than to any other Christian
figure in the Nahuatl literature, and these orations use quite a
bit of it. If the author sought to infuse the Christian contem¬
plative tradition with aspects of indigenous spirituality, to
link Christian mysticism with Nahua views of contact with
the sacred, the lavishing of floral symbolism onto Mary may
have been as good a method as any.
/7ry Oration of the Conception of Our Lady
Oh, may you be joyful, oh Saint Mary, oh fresh and pure one
who is in a sacred way a flower! Our lord God chose you,
he appointed you so that you would become his mother,
when the world had not yet started or begun. Therefore he
chose you to be perfectly proper, he made you perfectly
proper. Then at the time of your being placed within someone,
your conception, he took from you, he removed from you the
beginning of sin, the origin of sin. You,’'^ oh noblewoman,
oh Saint Mary, by means of you, because of you heavenly
fragrance has spread about on earth. The people of earth have
entered heaven, and the residents of heaven have descended,
have come to dwell among us, have shown themselves to
us. You, oh noblewoman, oh forever a maiden, to you came
sighing the white-haired ones, the white-headed ones.
[Iv] your grandfathers, the patriarchs, the prophets. You are
the seat of him who, it is quite true, is the humane one of
sacred wisdom, Solomon, who is our rescuer, Jesus Christ.
You, oh noblewoman, you are the sprout of the fine heart-
flower tree, you are quite slender, you are the straight
lily-flower of Jesse. May you wish, oh royal noblewoman,
that I too be with the others, that you take me as your
child, the way that you take as your children those whom
you inscribed on your pure and maidenly bosom, whom
you teach with your advocacy, whom you take by the hand
when they are about to fall. You just help them in all direc¬
tions, you house them with your hands, so that nothing
happens to them, they do not stumble over anything. And
this; may it be, oh precious maiden, oh our advocate, may you
not cast me away, may you not wish, oh noblewoman, to
scorn me. May you not remove your compassionate eyes

nohuicpa xiqualmocuepili, xinechalmotili, ma moneolol-
titlantzlco xinechmocalaquili, ma xinechmopalehuili yn
ixpantzinco motla^oconetzin, ynic nicatzahuac chipa-
huacatlacatl nechmochihuiliz, ynic nitlatlacoani, cemahci-
caqualli tlacatl nechmocuepiliz ynic nitlaxiccauhqui
nitlatziuhqui nechmihciuhcatlacacuepiliz yn ipan teoyotica
tlaayliztli, tlatlatlauhliliztli, ynic huel nimotlateomatcatzin
niez, ma ^an ipampa in moteihticnetlalilitzin Conception,
nicnomacehui in motepalehuilitzin Ma immochihua^®
NOTES
1. For example, by Antoninus (1959: v.4;945); translation is from
Matter (1990;xxiii).
2. A Dominican theologian who actually opposed the doctrine
of the Immaculate Conception (Bprresen 1971).
3. A late-sixteenth-century oil painting from the Augustinian
convent at Actopan that closely resembles this mural is reproduced in
Fernandez (1992:18-19) and Tovar de Teresa (1992:70).
4. Fred R. Kline, a Santa Fe art historian and gallerist, acquired
the piece from a Mexican-American family’s estate sale. Its back¬
ground and authentication are documented in Kline (1998). Mary
Miller (personal communication, 1998) notes the relationship between
the rosettes and the Aztec maize figures. Jeanette Peterson (personal
communication, 2000) observed this similarity also, and connected
the tassel-like forms to the old fertility symbol. She also notes that
ornaments similar to the two rosettes appear on sixteenth-century
baptismal fonts and on the fa9ade of the church of San Miguel el Viejo
in Guanajuato. While accepting that the piece has sixteenth-century
elements and may date from the later sixteenth century, she cautions
that the style is also typical of “folk” sculpture from later periods, and
a date even as late as the nineteenth century cannot be ruled out.
5. This and two other Nahuatl adaptations of Spanish Golden Age
dramas done by this mestizo priest and scholar, a descendant of the
Texcocan nobility and brother of the chronicler don Fernando de Alva
Ixtlilxochitl, are held in the Bancroft Library. This Marian play falls
outside the temporal range of the texts in this volume, but it will be in¬
cluded, along with Alva’s other works and their Spanish models, in a
future volume being prepared by Barry Sell, Elizabeth Wright, and me.
6. Read ayac iuhqui.
I. Read mochi.
8. Read mochi.
9. Read in omotlacatili.
10. Read mohuapahua.
II. Gender is ambiguous; here and in the following texts I chose
female pronouns since the child will be female,
12. Mopaltzinco means “by you” or “through you” or “by means
of you,” with the sense that something is done through the agency of
the person thus invoked. “By your grace is one idiomatic English
translation, but I do not like to insert the religious term “grace” into the
texts where it does not really occur. In this volume 1 translate the
expression as “by your will.”
13. For a study of this volume see Sell (1993:142-186); on
Bautista and his assistants see also Burkhart (1996:68-71).
14. Read cehui (or, alternatively, cahua).
15. Read oci7/a.
16. This is a conventional Nahuatl diphrase used to translate
THE CONCEPTION 21
[2r] from me. Rather, may you turn them toward me and look
toward me. May you bring me in among the folds of your
garment. May you help me before your precious child, so that
he will make dirty me a pure person, so that he will turn sinful
me into a completely good person, so that he will turn lazy
me, negligent me, into a person who is diligent in that which
in a sacred way is work, prayer, so that I can be your devotee.
May it be just because of your being placed within someone,
“conception,” that I merit your help. May it so be done.
“virtues” (virtudes).
17. Tentative translation for deifera, as suggested by Stafford
Poole (personal communication, 1998).
18. Liturgical text adaptedfrom Genesis (7:11,17-19), on Noah’s
ark, with references to sin, God, and saints added to biblical text.
19. Antiphon for the Feast of the Conception (Psalterium
1584:160r).
20. Now called Sirach; this book is not included in the standard
English translations of the Bible.
21. The antiphon is: Sicut cedrus exaltata sum in Libano. el
sicut cypressus in monte Sion: quasi myrrha electa, dedi suavitatem
odoris. Et sicut cinnamomum et balsamum aromatizans ‘Like a cedar
on Lebanon I am raised aloft, like a cypress on Mount Sion; like
precious myrrh, I gave forth an odor of sweetness. And like cinna¬
mon, or fragrant balm’ (Breviarium Romanum 1961 :v,2:829-30;
Hours of the Divine Office 1963:v.l :958; CANTUS: A Database for
Gregorian Chant). The full text in Nahuatl is used as a reading for the
Assumption in Doctrina n.d.:70r.
22. I have omitted a lengthy Spanish marginal note that begins
here and extends beyond the length of this excerpt. It cites Ecclesiasticus
chapter 24 and then explains that through these tree metaphors the
Holy Spirit shows the Virgin’s superiority to all other saints in para¬
dise. Various of her attributes are listed, including lack of corruption
from sin, which she shares with the most celebrated of these trees.
Each plant grows better in the place named than elsewhere on earth;
this symbolizes Mary in paradise.
23. A metaphor for lies and deceit.
24. This phrase marks a break in discourse. Karttunen and
Lockhart (1987:33) observe its use to indicate that a speaker is about
to finish or summarize his or her statement.
25. The name Lorenzo appears twice later in the manuscnpt, as
marginal notations associated with miracles of Saint Ignatius. It also
appears in association with several entries in the Sermones y ejemplos
manuscript, including the 1617 Passion text. These are tantalizing,
though inconclusive, hints that this man participated in the redaction
of these manuscripts.
26. The voice is male, as indicated by the use of the vocative
suffix, but the texts could easily be adapted to female voice.
27. Villegas Selvago (1760:18-21) uses a similar figure, equat¬
ing various attributes of Solomon’s temple with attributes of Mary,
the throne being Mary’s soul, where Christ sat and rested.
28. Read ma iuh mochihua.
29. An addition here in the manuscript editor’s hand reads in
tiyectlaltzintli in huel otimotlaaquillotzino ‘you are the good land, you
really bore fruit.’
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2
Nativity, Childhood, and Marriage
T he September 8 festival of Mary’s nativity has been cel¬
ebrated since the seventh century (Warner 1976:66).
In the thirteenth century Pope Innocent IV mandated its
observance throughout the Church and introduced the anti¬
phon Nativitas tua, included in Latin and Nahuatl in the first
text below, to its liturgy (Villegas Selvago 1760:22). This
antiphon, as chanted in Mexico in the late sixteenth century,
is depicted in plate 4, from a Jesuit Psalterium of 1584.'
Mary and John the Baptist—sanctified while still in his
mother’s womb—are the only saints whose birthdays the
Church celebrates.
This festival fell during harvest season. The Dominican
chronicler Diego Duran places the old festivals of the female
agricultural divinity Chicomecoatl (“Seven Serpent”) on Sep¬
tember 15 and of Tocih (“Our Grandmother”) on September
16. Though he warns of possible continuities with these cults,
he thinks that the maize, chile, and flowers Nahuas offered to
Mary on her birthday are sincerely dedicated to her rather
than to her predecessors (Duran 1967:v.l:136, 141).
The Protoevangelium and the Gospel of the Birth of Mary
tell how Anne and Joachim took three-year-old Mary to the
temple and turned her over to the priests, to be raised there
with other young girls. A festival commemorating Mary’s pre¬
sentation at the temple dates to the mid-seventh century, set
on November 21 (Warner 1976:66) It was formally instituted
by Pope Pius II in the 1460s but its celebration was never
mandatory (Villegas Selvago 1760:28).
In the temple Mary spent her time praying, studying
scripture, and producing textiles. She was visited daily by
angels, who fed her and taught her good things. When it
came time for her and the other girls her age to return to their
families and marry, she refused, declaring that her parents
had vowed her to the temple and she had resolved to remain a
virgin. In the Gospel of the Birth of Mary she is twelve at this
time; in the Protoevangelium and most other tellings she is
fourteen. Villegas Selvago (1760:33) comments that all
women at the time wished to have children in hopes of
bearing the Messiah or at least being related to him.
Tradition held that Mary, though not the first person to main¬
tain virginity, was the first person to make a vow to do so
(Rivadeneira 1669:58; Torquemada 1975—83:v.3.283—284,
Vega 1569:207r). The high priest, Zacharias, sought and re¬
ceived God’s advice on how to deal with this unprecedented
situation. All marriageable men of the house of David were
summoned to the temple and told to bring a rod; he whose rod
flowered would become Mary’s husband. This motif alludes
to the Isaiah prophecy of the “rod out of the stem of Jesse”;
it is also prefigured by the flowering of Aaron’s rod in Num¬
bers 17. In the Protoevangelium only widowers are called; in
both gospels Joseph is reluctant to come forth because of his
advanced age. Saint Jerome definitively rejected the notion
that Joseph could have been anything but a virgin, and the
tradition that Joseph was an elderly man^ (e.g., Voragine
1993:v.l: 153) was eventually abandoned in Western Chris¬
tianity in favor of a younger, virginal Joseph who, like Mary,
and in mutual consent with her, remains celibate because of a
vow rather than as a result of senectitude (Vega 1569:202r;
Villegas Selvago 1760:33; Warner 1976:23, 26-27).
That Mary was a virgin (parthenos in Greek) at the time
of the Annunciation is attested in the Gospels of Matthew
(1:23-25) and Luke (1:27). These Evangelists represented
Jesus’s birth as fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14:
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and call his
name Immanuel.” Matthew quotes this prophecy directly.
Isaiah actually spoke of an 'almah or marriageable girl, but
this word, usually translated into Greek as neanis ‘young
woman,’ had been rendered parthenos in the Greek transla¬
tion of the Hebrew Bible used by the Evangelists (Brown
1993:148; Pelikan 1995:29; Warner 1976:19). But even trans¬
lated with the term parthenos, Isaiah’s statement implies
only that the girl is a virgin at the time of the prophecy,
not that she will conceive as a virgin (Brown 1993:149).
Despite the Old Testament prefigurations claimed by
Christian exegetes, the story of Mary’s virginal impregnation
really has no precedent in Judaic tradition, in which miracu¬
lous conceptions overcome the obstacle of sterility or old
age, not virginity (Brown 1993:161). It may have stronger
roots in pagan traditions of divine births and virgin priest¬
esses (Warner 1976:34-35), but those links are also quite tenu¬
ous and provide no clear model of a virginal conception
(Brown 1993:421, 523). Brown (1993:143) indicates that the
emphasis on virginal conception could have arisen in response
to allegations, based on the timing of his birth in relation to
his parents’ marriage, that Jesus was illegitimate. To assert
virginal conception by means of the Holy Spirit would counter
such scandalous rumors; it also affirmed Christ’s status as the
24 BEFORE GUADALUPE
sinless son of God and at least partially followed the Old
Testament tradition by which divine births had to overcome
some obstacle (Brown'1993:161,527). However, Brown notes
that there is no known evidence that charges of illegitmacy
were made before the second century, when the relevant
Gospels had already been written (1993:534-542).
Neither Luke nor Matthew refers explicitly to the nature
of Mary and Joseph’s marital relations after Christ’s birth.^
However, the early Church would deny the couple any con¬
summation of their marriage. As Owens (1967:969) explains,
the asceticism of the early Church Fathers led to an amplifica¬
tion of Mary’s virgin status into a lifelong condition. By the
middle of the fourth century the phrase “ever virgin” had
become formulaic in the writings of Ambrose, Jerome, and
others. In 381 the first Council of Constantinople declared
Mary’s perpetual virginity to be Church dogma. Augustine
customarily referred to Mary as virgin “before, in, and after”
parturition and claimed that she had vowed her virginity to
God, her statement “I do not know a man” (Luke 1:34) being
absolute and referring to the future as well as the present.
In the face of Protestant opposition to the cult of Mary, in
1555 Pope Paul IV condemned the denial of her virginity;
Spaniards who denied it risked arrest by the Inquisition
(Christian 1981b:148; Owens 1967:692, 694; Vega 1569:207r;
Warner 1976:64).
The preconquest Nahuas sometimes pledged their babies,
of either sex, to future religious service. This temple service
by young people drew the attention of European chroniclers
because it resembled the cloistering of monks and nuns in
Europe; some Spaniards even referred to the girls as monjas
(e.g., Duran 1967:v.l:26, 153; Motolinia 1979:42-43).
Book Six of the Florentine Codex, the encyclopedia of Nahua
civilization compiled by the Franciscan Bernardino de
Sahagun, describes how loving parents, in order to ensure that
a baby would live, promised to take the child, when it was partly
grown, to either the elite calmecac school or to the telpochcalli
‘youth house’ (Sahagun 1950-82:bk.6:209-218).
The calmecac girls served the deity Quetzalcoatl, while
Tezcatlipoca was the patron of the telpochcalli. Girls raised
in the calmecac could become female priests, who remained
celibate, but most of the girls in temple service returned to
their families when they reached marriageable age. Both the
dedication of the baby and the later introduction to the school
were ceremonially observed. For example, the Florentine states
that when the parents brought the girl to the temple to which
she was promised, the high priests would carry her before the
image of Quetzalcoatl, petitioning the god to show favor to
the child (Sahagun 1950-82;bk.6:210).
The Florentine Codex's emphasis on the chastity of the
girls in the calmecac may be in part a response to Christian
discourses about saintly females. The parents’ vow, the pre¬
sentation at the temple, and this pure lifestyle are points of
correspondence with the story of Mary’s childhood—points
surely evident to Sahagun and his Nahua collaborators when
they redacted this part of the codex. The noble girls are
associated with Quetzalcoatl—a priestly deity reevaluated
during colonial times to become proto-Christian or even a
Christian apostle; Duran, in contrast, associates the monjas
with the temple of the warlike Huitzilopochtli, who, like
Tezcatlipoca, underwent a process of diabolization rather than
sanctification (Boone 1989:68-83; Cervantes 1994:15).
Motolinia, an early Franciscan observer, is probably correct
in associating the practice with “the principal temples” rather
than a specific deity (1979:42).
Mary’s young age at marriage would not have seemed
unusual to colonial Nahuas, whose priests, aiming to forestall
premarital sex, encouraged them to marry younger than they
had in preconquest times. Indeed, Mary’s story provided a
model for early marriage—for boys as well as girls. In Nahuatl,
just as female virginity was described by using forms of the
word ichpochtli ‘girl, maiden, young woman,’ a term closer in
meaning to Isaiah’s ‘almah than to parthenos or Latin virgo,
so was male virginity associated with the term telpochtli ‘boy,
youth, young man.’ Hence, from these texts Nahuas would be
likely to assume that Joseph, too, married, as they did, at a
young age, when he was still a telpochtli and not yet an
oquichtli ‘man.’
However, the completely celibate nature of their marriage
was even more of an anomaly to the Nahuas than to Old World
Christians, accustomed as the latter were to religious vows
of celibacy and to preaching about the evils of sex. Nahuas
valued heterosexual, non-adulterous sex and understood
sexual abstinence not as a virtue or an avoidance of sin but as
a state of ritual preparedness necessary for the successful
completion of sacred rites and offerings (Burkhart 1989:
150-152; Clendinnen 1987:237). Mary’s celibacy, thus,
would have made sense given her intimate and ongoing asso¬
ciation with an all-powerful divinity. Chosen by God as his
mother and companion, she had to remain in a state of
permanent ritual abstinence. But she also needed a husband
to help her raise her child and give her normal adult status in
her community.
Perhaps influenced by Christian teachings about sexual¬
ity, some indigenous women did choose a celibate lifestyle,
much to the delight of Catholic priests. The Franciscan
chronicler Geronimo de Mendieta, for example, reports that
even in Mexico City, which he calls a “Babylon,” there
were hundreds of indigenous women who had remained vir¬
gins into old age. He is also impressed by young women who,
even though they buy and sell in the marketplaces, guard
their virginity as zealously as “the very cloistered daughters
of Spanish ladies enclosed behind twenty walls” (1980:420).
Fray Antonio de Ciudad Real (1976:v. 1:106-107), another
Franciscan, wrote in 1585 that, although an early attempt
to create a Nahua nunnery at Tlalmanalco failed because
of the weak nature of the indigenous people (a common
attitude; see Burkhart 1998), many individual women
maintain virginity and there are many widows and maidens

who voluntarily cloister themselves in nunneries to live with
and serve the nuns. In addition, he finds it notable that “infi¬
nite” married women are chaste and will not betray their hus¬
bands for any reason (prohibitions on adultery were quite
strong in preconquest times). The Jesuit chronicler Alegre
offers several examples of women in Tepotzotlan who went to
great lengths to maintain their virginity; one was beaten to
death; another asserted she would rather die than submit to
the lascivious youth who threatened her, “having understood
that this would be a kind of martyrdom, agreeable to God”
(1956-60:v.l:337).
However, couples who planned to marry seem to have
felt little obligation to wait until their wedding night. In his
manual for confessors of native people, fray Juan Bautista
1. Santoral en mexkano, early seventeenth century
Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico MS 1476
This sermon on Mary’s birth comes from the same Jesuit manu¬
script that contains the cycle of orations to Mary. It is redacted
in the hand of the manuscript’s editor, and has lexical nota¬
tions apparently taken from Alonso de Molina’s 1571
dictionary. This does not necessarily indicate that the author
was not a native speaker, as the Nahua scholar Antonio
Valeriano also used Molina when preparing his glosses for
Bautista’s sermonario (Sell 1993:156).
The sermon speaks in a priestly voice and seeks to
explain why Mary’s birth should be celebrated. It opens
with an excerpt from the Song of Songs (6:9), used as a litur¬
gical antiphon for Mary but most often associated with the
feast of the Assumption.'^ The link between Mary and the
Song of Songs, a dramatic and sensuous love poem attributed
to Solomon, is explored by Fulton (1996) and Matter
(1990:151-177). The text was mined in the ninth century
as a source of liturgical antiphons for the feasts of the
Nativity of Mary and the Assumption. Because the Song of
Songs was part of the biblical canon, it had more authority
than the apocryphal gospels that told her story. However, the
dominant exegeses of the text read it as a dialogue of love
between Christ and the Church (the allegorical interpre¬
tation) or between Christ and the soul (the tropological
interpretation) (Fulton 1996:90-91). Over the course of the
twelfth century a historical, Mariological reading developed,
suggested by the centuries of liturgical use, which interpreted
the text as a prophecy of actual dialogue that would and later
did occur between Christ and Mary. Specific verses came to
be interpreted in reference to aspects of their relationship and
events in their lives (Fulton 1996:96-98).
The complete biblical verse cited here is: “Who is this
who comes forth like the rising dawn, beautiful as the moon,
chosen as the sun, terrible as the battle-lines drawn up? ^ The
twelfth-century commentators, following liturgical tradition.
NATIVITY, CHILDHOOD, AND MARRIAGE 25
(1600:7r-7v) apparently takes for granted that partners com¬
ing to their pre-marriage confession will have already had
sex. Not considering it a sin, they will not bother to confess it
unless explicitly asked by the priest. And when pressed to tell
how many times they did it. fiance and fiancee give different
numbers. Relatives rarely admit to having provided the young
couple a place for their liaisons, despite frequent admonish¬
ments and even public punishment. Summing up native
attitudes toward virginity, Bautista says, “they do not esteem
this jewel as much [as Spaniards], nor its loss, as appears clear
and evident from its treatment” (Bautista 1600:16v). Nahuas
may not have found it inconsistent to praise Mary for her
purity as a holy person without considering her sexual non¬
behavior a model to be emulated by ordinary people.
took this passage as referring to Mary’s Assumption (Fulton
1996:101). The author here, though, gives it a different,
figurative reading. He associates Mary’s birth with the dawn
that heralds the coming of the sun—that is, Christ, whose
figural identification with the sun was a liturgical standard
(Burkhart 1988). The text develops an allegory by which
the darkness and dawn of an ordinary day are compared to
the grand historical cycle of the creation and fall of Adam
and Eve, the dominance of the world by demons from
hell—called by the more neutral native term for the under¬
world—and the restoration of light and order with the coming
of Mary and her son. Indigenous myths of solar ages and their
intervening times of darkness and disorder give this imagery
a local parallel.
The same allegory, with some virtually identical passages,
also appears in texts for this festival in the 1583 Psalmodia
Christiana (Sahagun 1993b:274—277) and in fray Juan de la
Anunciacion’s Sermonario (1577:188r). Anunciacion may
have worked from a manuscript copy of the Psalmodia, which
was first written in 1558-60, or all three texts may share a
common source. Elsewhere, the Santoral explicitly cites the
Psalmodia (as “Sahagun’s cantaresT 61r), but it is likely that
the author of the present sermon also had reference to
Anunciacion, for there are other similar passages. This Jesuit
sermon has the longest and most elaborate version of this
material. Pedro de Rivadeneira speaks similarly of Mary’s
birth, commenting as follows on the Nativitas tua antiphon.
“All the whole world was clothed with the darknes of sin and
ignorance, and couered with a dark and obscure night, but
when the light of this diuin break of day began to appear, all
things were replenished with joy and gladnes, vnderstanding
that the day approached, and the sun was coming, which
was to enlighten them, and free them from all the euils and
miseries which they suffered” (1669:686).
26 BEFORE GUADALUPE
Allusions to native religious practice occur, first, in the
description of the night, where two types of native sorcerers
are mentioned: the shape-changing nanahualtin with their
animal alter-egos, and the tlahuipochtin, who walked about
at night spitting fire and causing madness, sickness, or death
in their victims (Bautista 1600:112r-l 12v). The sorcerers are
represented as if they are still active but only at night. They
are closely associated with their animal forms and seem not to
be included among the “people of earth,” whom they tor¬
ment. Further on, the malevolent beings that come into the
world upon the fall of Adam and Eve are designated
tlatlacatecoloh ‘human horned owls’; before this was appro¬
priated as a term for demons and devils, and for the native
divinities now identified as such, it referred to a kind of ma¬
levolent, shape-changing sorcerer (Burkhart 1989:40-41).
The text again references native religion when it describes
the idolatries of Adam and Eve’s descendants. Given the priests’
concern with the perpetuation of pre-Christian practices, state¬
ments about the idolatrous worship of statues and other ob¬
jects probably were not intended simply to describe a general
trait of postlapsarian cultures. Indeed, the text shifts to the
present tense here in an aside directed at Nahuas who may
still carry on such activities. Deer, rabbits, torrents, and preci¬
pices are metaphors for immoral, disorderly behavior that
CQ
dib
Co
[56r] In natiuitate B. V. M“
Que est ista que progreditur quasi aurora consurgens.
Cant. 6.
Aquin ye valmoquixtia aquin ye mouicatz, cenca tlanextitiuitz
cenca pepetlacatiuitz, vel mauizneztiuitz, yuhquimma
teotlaztallotl ynic neztiuitz, ynin teotlatolli yn axca mitoa,
vel yeuantin yn angelome oquitenquixtiqwe yncamacpa
oquiz. ynic cenca vel oquimauigoqMe yn itlacatilitzin in
tlatocaciuapilli yn s.” m.“ yc cenca vel oquimomauiz-
tililiqwe oquimoyecteneuiliqMe. Auh yeuatzin s.’” iglesia
techmixpantililia tixpan quimotlalilia ynyn teotlatolli.
ynic techmoiolleuiliz ynic teoyotica tipapaquizqwe. etc.
tictolhuiquixtililizqwe yuan tictomauiztililizqwe tictoyec-
teneuilizqire in s.” m.“ quimitalhuia yn s.“ iglesia ynic
techmocoanochilia Cum jucunditate natiuitate B.”’ M.“’
celebremus vt ipsa pro nobis intercedat ad dominu J. Xi”. q.n.
ma ticpaccailhuiquixtilican yn yn imauiztlacatilitzin yn
itla§otlacatilitzin in S^ m“. ynic topan motlatoltitzinoz
yn ixpantzinco yn imauiztla^oconetzin Jesu X". etc. Ca nelli
cenca moyollalia motlamachtia yn s” iglejia. yuan quimo-
nequiltia ynic moyollalizqMe yn ixquichtin yn ipilhuan. etc.
Auh ynic vel teoiotica ammoyollalizqMe yuan ynic uel
anquimocnelilmachitizqMe anquimotla90camachitizqMe [56v]
anquimoueicamachitilizqMe yn tf’d. ynic otechmocnoittili
otechmomaquili otechmotlaocolili in totepantlatocatzin S“.
m“ monequi vel anquimatizqwe anquilnamiquizqwe. ca yn
priests borrowed from Nahuatl oratory (Burkhart 1986,
1989:59, 61-62). Almost cliches, these phrases function here
as metonyms for native discourse, implying that it is the Nahuas
who are/were the idolaters. Idolatry is being placed in the
past, yet spoken of in the present tense; it is relegated to the
night, but is this the night of the pre-Christian past or is it the
night of the daily cycle, ongoing in the present time? The text
is intentionally ambiguous; preaching in New Spain, the au¬
thor is unwilling to relegate idolatry to the past.
The coming of Mary and Christ is linked not to Roman-
occupied Judea or the evangelization of Mexico, but rather to
natural astronomical phenomena. This shifting of Christian
narratives from historical time into a cyclical frame permitted
Christianity to be treated not as a recent introduction brought
by foreign invaders but as something natural and universal,
part of a grand cosmic scheme. The historical fiction that the
people of earth immediately recognized Mary’s significance
and celebrated her birth adds to this impression.
The Latin passages at the end are from the hymns Ave
marls Stella and O gloriosa domina, both standards of the
Marian liturgy. The last phrase refers to the liturgy for the
Assumption; a sermon for that festival, which includes ex¬
cerpts from these hymns, is the next entry in the manuscript
(see text 7.2).
[56r] On the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary-
Who is this who comes forth like the rising dawn? Song of
Songs 6[:9].
“Who is it who now comes forth, who is it who now comes,
who comes shining brightly, who comes shimmering brightly,
who comes appearing quite wondrously, as if she were the
sacred splendor of dawn, the way she comes appearing ?” These
sacred words that are said today, the angels themselves pro¬
nounced them, they came from their mouths as they marveled
greatly at the birth of the royal noblewoman. Saint Mary.
Thus they greatly honored and praised her. And the Holy
Church shows us, places before us these sacred words, so that
they will inspire us, so that we will rejoice in a sacred way. We
will celebrate a festival for her and we will honor and praise
Saint Mary. The Holy Church says, in this way she invites us.
Joyfully let us celebrate the birth of blessed Mary so that she
may intercede for us with the lord Jesus Christ J This means,
“Let us joyfully celebrate the festival of the honored birth,
the precious birth of Saint Mary, so that she will speak for us
before her honored and precious child, Jesus Christ.” It is true
that the Holy Church is very contented and happy, and she
wants all her children to be contented. And so that in a sacred
way you can be contented, and so that you will be quite grate¬
ful to, you will be thankful to, [56v] you will esteem our lord
God for the way he took pity on us, he gave us our advocate.
Saint Mary, he had compassion for us,"’ it is necessary that

ayamo motlacatilia in S“. m“. yuhquima tlayoayan nenca.
yuhquimma mixtecomac nemia in tlalticpac tlaca. Yc cenca
motequipachoaya tlaocoxticatca. etc.
Yeica ca yn youalli cenca temamauhti tetlaocolti tetequi-
pacho. amo uel netlapalolo yn quiauac nemoaz quixoaz,
9an mochi tlacatl motlatia mocaltzaqua, gan icalitic 9an
yxomolco motlalia auel tlatequipanolo auel netlayecoltilo
9an yuhquimma tlalli mictoc cactimani Auh yn ixquichtin
in tototzitzintin muchtin quauhtitech ano90 tepancamac
motlatia vncan calaqui aocac nauati aocac cuica aocac
papatlani 9an cactimani. auh yn ixquichtin yolque yn
manenenque mochtin moteteca cochi. aocmo tlaqua-
qua ^an ye yoque yn youaltequanime yn ocelome, yn
mimitztin, yn cuecuetlachtin yn cocoyo youaltica qui9a
nouian nenentinemi nouian cenmantinemi quitemoa yn
aquin quitolozqwe yn aquin quitzatzayanazqwe quitlan-
tilinizqwe quiquazqMC quimictizqMe. No yuan yn youal-
totome yn chichiquatin yn tetecolo, yn tzinacame yuan
occequintin yn tetzauhtotome, youaltica qui9a papatlan-
tinemi tzatzitinemi moizticacalatztinemi yc temamauh-
titinemi yc tetlapololtitinemi, yc teix[57r]cueptinemi
etc. yuan yn occequintin yn nanaualti yn tlauipochti
yn coyonaualeqwe youaltica qui9a mochichicuepa moco-
yocuepa motequanicuepa momizcuepa mocuetlach-
cuepa mocelocuepa. ynic quintolinia yn tlalticpac tlaca
yuan in occequintin yn tlaueliloqwe in tetlapololtianime
yn teichtacamictianime in tetlaxinque yn ichteque
youaltica qui9a nouian nenentinemi tetolinitinemi. etc.
Auh in iquac ye peuaznequi in cemilhuitl, yn ye ualneci
yn tlaztallotl yuhquimma icueponca ytlanex yn cemilhuitl.
yn iquac ye tlachipauatiuitz, niman yea moquetza in tlal¬
ticpac tlaca. vel moyollalia niman quipeualtia yn intlatequi-
panoliz. yn ynnetlayecoltiliz. auh yn ixquichtin in
tototzitzintin mochtin qui9a yn campa omotlatica,
mochtin papaqui cuica mamatlapal969oa. niman ye peua
in patlanizqwe. auh in manenenque, niman moquetza
quitemoa yn yntlaqual etc. Auh yn ixquichtin in tequanime
yn youalt tome mochtin motlatia oztoc calaqui momauh-
tia, auh in occequintin tlaueliloquc niman quicaua yn
yntlauelilocayo. Etc.
O. tla xiquittacan. n.^ ca 9an no yuhqui inpan omochiuh
in tlalticpac tlaca. ca 9an tlayouayan mixtecomac in onenca
yn ayamo motlacatilia in S“. m^. ca nelli yn maciui yn
iquac oquimmopeualtili oquimmotzintili oquimmochiuili
oquimmoiocolili yn achto tota achto tonan Adam
yuan Eua, tlanezcan in oquimochiuili, yuhquimma ilhuicac
tlanextli immitic [57v] oquimotlalili yeuatl yn igraciatzin,
ynic quimiximachiliaya. in tt". yuan ica muchi ynyollo
quimotla90tiliaya. yuan oceequi miectlamantli oquim-
momaquili yn cenca tla90tli yn cenca mauiztic in cenca
tecuiltono tetlamachti, ynic cenca oquimmocnelili oquim-
motlauhtili oquimmomaui90tili. Etc.
NATIVITY, CHILDHOOD, AND MARRIAGE 27
you know well, you remember, that before Saint Mary was
bom, it was as if the people of earth lived in darkness, as if they
lived in gloom. Thus they were very anxious and sad.
Because the night is very frightening, saddening, anxiety-
provoking, one does not dare to go about outdoors, to go out.
Everybody just hides and is shut in. Just inside the house, just in
the comer one sits. People cannot do their work, cannot provide
for themselves. It is just as if the land lies dead, is deserted.
And all the little birds, they all hide themselves in trees, or in
holes in the walls, where they go in. No longer does any speak
aloud, no longer does any sing, no longer does any fly. It is just
deserted. And all the animals, the four-footed ones," they all lie
down, they sleep. No longer do they feed. Just they alone, the
wild beasts'^ of the night, the jaguars, the pumas, the wolves, the
coyotes, at night they go out. They wander about everywhere,
they stray about everywhere. They look for someone whom they
will gobble down, someone whom they will break apart, they
will chew, they will eat, they will kill. And also the birds of the
night, the bam owls, the homed owls, the bats, and the other
ominous birds, at night they go out. They go flying about, they go
about shrieking, they go about clicking their talons. Thus they
go about frightening people, thus they go about confusing people,
thus [57r] they go about deceiving people. And the others, the
shape-changing sorcerers, the fire-spitting witches, those who
have the coyote as their animal form, at night they go out. They
change into dogs, they change into coyotes, they change into
wild beasts, they change into pumas, they change into wolves,
they change into jaguars. Thus they afflict the people of earth.
And the other wicked ones, those who confuse people, those
who kill people in secret, the adulterers, the thieves, at night they
go out. They wander about everywhere, they go about afflicting
people. But when a day is about to begin, the splendor of dawn is
about to appear forth, it is like the blossoming of the light of the
day. When it is about to come and purify things, thereupon the
people of earth arise. They are quite contented. Then they begin
their work, their efforts to provide for themselves. And all the
little birds, they all come out from wherever they had hidden
themselves. They all rejoice, they sing, they spread their wings.
Then they begin to fly. And the four-footed ones then arise, they
look for their food. And all the wild beasts, the night birds,
they all hide themselves, they enter caves, they are afraid.
And the other wicked ones then cease their wickedness.
Oh do see, oh my precious children, that in just this way
it happened to the people of earth. Just in darkness, in
gloom they had lived before Saint Mary was born. It is true,
even though when he began, he originated, he made, he
created our first father, our first mother, Adam and Eve, he
did it in a place of light. It was as if he placed heavenly light
inside them, [57v] which was his grace, by which they knew
our lord, and with all their hearts they were loving him.
And he gave them many other things that are very precious,
very wondrous, very comforting and pleasing, with which
he greatly favored them, he bestowed boons on them, he
honored them.
28 BEFORE GUADALUPE
Yece in iquac otlatlacoqMe yn oquipanauiqwe yn itenauatiltzin
dios, niman yc oquimocuilili in tt”. yn ixquich in mauiztic yn
yectli oquimomaquilica oquimotlauhtilica nima yc oqui-
poloqne in iihuicac tlanextli yn immitic quimotlalica niman
impan oualla inpan omogouh in tlatlacollayoualli, niman
tlayouayan mixtecomac onenque auh amo 9an ye yoque
tlayouayan ocalaque in achto tota yn tonan. ca 9an no yuhqui
impan omochiuh in ixquichtin tlalticpac tlaca ca nel inpilhuan
ca nel intechcopa oquizqne. Etc.
Auh niman oualquizqwe in mictlan tequanime in tla-
tlacatecolo, oquimiztlacauiqne oquimtlapololtiqwe oquin-
yoleuhqwe oquincuitlauiltiqne in tlalticpac tlaca inic
tlateotocazqwe ynic quimoteotizqMC quinteotocazque in
tequacuilli in tlacacolotli yuan occequi itlachiualhuan
dios. yc oquipoloque in iximachocatzin dios. niman yc
motlapololtitinemi ynic nemi ynic momati yuhquim-
macayac^ dios. ^an ynoma motochtilia momagatilia
9an mama9a totochtin ymoui in quitoca ynoma mato-
yauia motepexiuia. amo 9an quezquintin mictlan vi mictlan
calaque mictlan motla9a. Etc.
[58r] Auh in iquac oquimonequilti otlacauhqui in iyollo-
tzin in tt" ynic otechualmiualili, otechualmotitlanilili
in itla9opiltzin, ynic yuhquimma tonatiuh mochiuaz
techmotlanextililiz, achtopa oquimochiuili. in S“. m“.
yuhquimma tlaztallotl omochiuhtzino, ynic techmoca-
quiztililiz techmomachiotlaliliz yn quenin yc mouicatz yn
itlanex yn itonatiuh in tanima yeuatzin in tt". J.x" ca ye
anquitta yn iquac ye peuaz in cemilhuitl, achtopa ualmo-
quetza in tlaztallotl. niman ye uallachipauatiuh, auh 9atepan
ualqui9a ualmomana quiualtepoztoca in tonatiuh.
auh in tlalticpac tlaca yn iquac quitta yc ualmoquetza in
tlaztallotl, ye uallachipaua cenca papaqui. Etc. ca nel qui-
mati ye ualqui9az ye ualmomanaz in tonatiuh O. tlaxi-
quittacan. n ca cenca op paque in tlalticpac tlaca in iquac
omotlacatilitzino. in s“ m“. yuhquimma tlaztallotl ipan
oquimotiliqMC oquimomachitiqwe, yc oquimatque ca ye
ualmouicaz in tt“. J. x. ynic yuhquimma tonatiuh mo¬
chiuaz ynic quimotlanextililiz in tanima. yc cenca omoyol-
lalique opapaque. mauizcuicatica ynic oquimotlapalhuiqwe
yn S“. m.‘‘ oquimolhuiliqwe.
natiuitas tua S.‘“ dei genitrix gaudiu anunciauit vniuerso
mundo ex te enim ortus cst sol iustitie X deus no^fer qui solues
maladictione dedit benedictione et confundes morte donauit
nobis vita sempiterna. q.n. dios ynantzine yn motlacatilitzin
cenca yc opapacoac yc onetlamachtiloc oauialoc yn nouian
cemanauac [58v] yeicacaoticmotlacatilili motechcopatzinco,
moxillantzinco motozcatlantzinco omoquixtitzino in itlanex
in itonatiuh in tanima. ca uel yeuatzin in tt". J. ca nelli ca 9an
uel iceltzin otechmotlanextilili, otechmopopolhuili in
totlatlacol. otechmomaquili in igratiatzin. oquimopolhui in
miquiztli otechmomaquili in cemicac nemiliztli.
But when they sinned, they transgressed the command of God,
thereupon our lord took from them all the wondrous and fine
things that he had given them, that he had bestowed on them.
Thereupon they lost the heavenly light that he had placed
inside them. Then upon them came, upon them spread the dark¬
ness of sin. Then they lived in darkness, in gloom. And it was not
just they alone, our first father and mother, who entered the dark¬
ness. In the same way it happened to all the people of earth, since
they are their children, since they descended from them.
And then the wild beasts of the place of the dead, the demons
came out. They deceived, they confused, they inspired, they
provoked the people of earth so that they would follow things as
gods, so that they would take as gods, they would follow as gods
statues, frameworks with human form, and other creations of
God. Thus they lost the knowing of God. Thereupon they are’’
going about confused. The way they live, the way they think, it
is as if there is no God. They just make themselves into rabbits,
they make themselves into deer. They just follow the road of the
deer and the rabbits. They are throwing themselves in the torrent,
throwing themselves from the precipice. Not just a few go to the
place of the dead, enter the place of the dead, throw themselves
into the place of the dead.
[58r] But when our lord desired, his heart conceded, that he would
send to us, he would send as a messenger to us his precious child,
such that it was as if he would become the sun, he would shine on
us, first he made Saint Mary. It was as if she became the splendor
of dawn, in order to inform us, to establish a sign for us of how the
light and sun of our souls, which is our lord Jesus Christ, was
about to come. Now you see that when a day is about to begin,
first the splendor of dawn comes rising, straightaway it comes
forth purifying things. And afterwards the sun comes forth, spreads
itself forth, comes following behind it.
And the people of earth, when they see that the splendor of dawn
comes rising, comes purifying things, they are very joyful, since
they know that the sun is about to come forth, is about to spread
itself forth. Oh do see, oh my precious children, that the people of
earth were very joyful when Saint Mary was bom. It was as if they
saw her as, they knew her as the splendor of dawn. Thus they
knew that our lord Jesus Christ was about to come, so that he
would become like the sun, so that he would shine on our souls.
Thus they were very contented, they rejoiced, with marvelous
songs they greeted Saint Mary. They said to her.
Your birth, oh holy mother of God, proclaimed joy to all
the world. For from you has risen the sun of righteousness,
Christ our god, who, undoing the curse, gave blessing, and
confounding death, gave us eternal life.''^ This means, “Oh
mother of God, at your birth there was great rejoicing, there
was happiness, there was delight everywhere in the world.
[58v] It is because you gave birth to him, from you, your
womb, your gullet, emerged the light and sun of our souls,
which is our lord Jesus. It is true that he alone shone on us.
pardoned us for our sins, gave us his grace, destroyed death,
gave us eternal life.”

Nican neci n. in quenin cenca vel opapacoac nouian
cemanauac in iquac omotlacatilitzino in. S“. m“. ca nelli
ynic cenca otechmocnelili otechmocnoittili in tt.® inic cenca
amo 9an tlapoalli yn iteicnoittalitzin itetlauhtiltzin
itenemactzin yn otechalmiualili otechalmotitlanilili. yn
iquac omotlacatilitzino in S^ m“. yuhquimma neuhctica
oauachquiauh nouian cemanauac yuhquimma omoneuh-
ticacuep omotzopelicacuep in ilhuicatl. Ca nelli cenca
opapaque otlamauiqoqwe in Ualticpac tlaca yuan yn ilhuicac
chaneqwe. nepanotl motlatlaniqMe Oue est ista que etc
quitoque aquin yc ualmoquixtilia. Etc. aquin in ciuapil-
tzintli in axcan omotlacatili, aquin uel quimoyecteneuiliz
aquin vel quimomauiztililiz: ca niman ayac. cenca tlacempa-
nauia ynic mauiztic ynic qualli, tlacempanauia inic vei. vel
mocemacitica, mocenmotquitica ynic qualli ynic yectli ynic
cenquizcachipauacatzintli moteneuhtzinoa nemilizame-
yalli, ca nel itetzinco oquiz in inemiliz in tanima. atle uel
quimoneneuilili in Ualticpac yuan yn ilhuicac vel motla-
cempanauilia [59r] ca nelli atle itetzinco onez in tlatlacol-
peucayotl, ono90* tepiton tlatlacolli. yuh quimolhuilia
in S S^“ tota pulcra es arnica mea et macula no cst in te./.
nocniutzine cenca tichipauacatzintli. atle motech ca atle
motetzinco neci in catzauac in tliltic in tlailli. yeica ca yeua-
tzin in tC vel momatca oquimopepenili ynic itla^onantzin
mochiuhtzinoz, yc cenca oquimocencauili oquimoyectili.
Ca ye anquitta in iquac a^o aca tlatoani cana moceuiznequi
achtopa tlacencaualo tlachpanalo tlachichiualo monequi
cenca qualcan yez tepapaquiltican teellelquixtican teuel-
lamachtican yez, ynic oncan moyollaliz mouellamachtiz. Etc.
Ca 9an no yuhqui oquimochiuili in tC. achtopa oquimocen¬
cauili oquimoyectilili in S“. m'* ynic icaltzin mochiuaz. ynic
itectzinco mocalaquitzinoz ca nelli yuhquimma icaltzin
oquimochiuili yuhquimma ichantzinco. ixochitlantzinco
ipan oquimomachititzino ynic chiucnaui meztli omoetzticat-
catca. yc cenca achtopa oquimocencauili. yuh quimitalhuiatia
yn Sp S'" Sanctificauit tabernaculu suu altissimus. q.n. cenca
oquimocencauili oquimoyectilili in icaltzin in tt“. Auh ynic
cenquizcachipauacatzintli in S'*, m^ ayac uel quitoz aiac vel
quiteneuaz. ca ynic cenca tlanextia ynic cenca pepetlaca amo
9an yc ye quimoneneuilia in tonatiuh in metztli ca uel quimo-
cempanauilia yn ixquichtin angelosme yuh quimitalhuitia in
itla90tzin dios S. Anselmo. oportuit mariam ea puritate nitere
qua major sub celo nequit intelligi. cenca omonec inic tlanex-
tiz inic pepetlacaz in S** m“. yn aiac occe vel quineneuiliz. ca
uel quimocenpanauilia in ixquichtin in Santosme. yuh quimo-
tecpanilitia in itla^otzin dios. S. Elieronimo [59v] Ceteris per
partes prestat*", marie autem tota se infudit plenitudo gratiae.
q.n. yn occequintin santosme ca 9^^' quexquich9an tama-
chiuhqui yn omacoque in gratitzin yn itetlauhtiltzin yn itene¬
mactzin in tt". d. auh yeuatzin S^ m** amo 9an tamachiuhqui
yn omacoc cenca yc otemitiloc yn igratiatzin in tt". d. cenca
oquimotemitili in tt" yn igratiatzin in itetlauhtiltzin in itene¬
mactzin. Auh ipampa oquimolhuilico in angel in iquac oquimo-
tlapalhuico, Santa mariae ma ximopaquiltitie timotemiltitica
NATIVITY, CHILDHOOD, AND MARRIAGE 29
Here is apparent, oh my precious children, the way in which
there was very great rejoicing everywhere in the world when
Saint Mary was born. It is true that thus our lord greatly
favored us and had pity on us, such that innumerable are his
mercies, his boons, his gifts, which he sent to us, he dispatched
to us. When Saint Mary was born, it was as if it drizzled with
honey everywhere in the world. It was as if the sky turned into
honey, turned into sweetness. It is true that the people of earth
and the residents of heaven were very joyful, they marveled.
They asked one another, "Who is she that, etc.?” They said,
“Who is she who is coming forth?” Who is the little noble¬
woman'^ who was born today? Who will be able to praise her?
Who will be able to honor her? None soever. She is supremely
wondrous and good, surpassingly great. She is perfect, she is
complete, the way she is good, the way she is proper, the way
she is utterly pure. She is called the fountain of life, since from
her emerged the life of our souls. Nothing could equal her on
earth and in heaven. She is supreme. [59r] It is true that noth¬
ing appeared on her of the beginning of sin, or small sins. As
the Holy Spirit says, "You are all fair, my friend, and there is
no spot in you” [Song of Songs 4:7].'^ “Oh my friend, you are
very pure. Nothing is on you, nothing appears on you that is
dirty, black, repulsive.” Therefore it is she whom our lord
thoughtfully chose so that she would become his precious
mother. Thus he prepared her and fixed her up very well.
Now you see that when, perhaps, some ruler somewhere is
about to be received, first things are prepared, things are swept,
things are adorned. It is necessary that it be a very good place,
that it be a joyous place, a restful place, a gladdening place,
so that he will be contented, he will be happy there. In just the
same way our lord did it. First he prepared, he fixed up Saint
Mary so that she would become his house, so that he would
enter inside her. It is true that it is as if she became his house.
He considered her his home, his garden, as she was for nine
months. Thus, first he prepared her very well. As the Holy
Spirit says, "The Most High sanctified his dwelling" [Psalm
45:4]. This means, “Our lord prepared and fixed up his house
very well.” And how utterly pure Saint Mary is, no one can
say it, no one can utter it. The way she shines brightly, the way
she shimmers brightly, not even the sun or the moon is equal
to her. She quite surpasses all the angels. As God’s precious
one. Saint Anselm, says, "Mary had to shine with a purity
greater than what can be understood under heaven."'^ “It
was essential that Saint Mary shine, that she shimmer, that no
one else be equal to her. She quite surpasses all the saints.” As
God’s precious one. Saint Jerome delineates, [59vl "It was
granted to others partially, but the total fullness of grace was
infused into Mary.’"'* This means, “The other saints were given
just some, just a portion of the grace, the boons, the gifts of
our lord God. But as for Saint Mary, not just a portion was
she given. She was very much filled up with the grace of
our lord God. Our lord filled her up very much with his grace,
his boons, his gifts.” And therefore the angel came to say to
her, when he came to greet her, “Oh Saint Mary, oh may you
30 BEFORE GUADALUPE
in gratia, motlantzinco moetztica in tlatoani dios. ynic cenca
tiyecteneualoni tiquinmopanauilia in ixquichtin ciua.
Auh ipampa y yn santa iglesia miecpa cecexiuhtica tech-
mixpantilia techmocaquitililia yn inemilitzin in S^ m". tixpan
quimotlalia in inepialitzin yn ichipaoacanemilitzin, yuan yn
iteicnoittalitzin. ynic tonexcuitil mochiuhtzinoz. ynic uel
itetzinco titixcuitizqwe titoctacatizqwe titomachiocuizque,
ynic vel tictonemiliztoquilizqMe ynic uel itetzinco titochi-
cauazqwe titotemachizqwe titlaquauhtlamatizqwe. ynic vel
yuictzinco. titonetoltizqwe Ca nelli cenca totech monequi
muchipa tictotzatzililizqMe tictotlatlauhtilizqMe ceyoal
cemilhuitl. ynic techmopaleuiliz ynic topan motlatoltiz
ixpantzinco in itla90conetzin, ca nelli ca yeuatzin totepantla-
locatzin, cenca moteicnoittili [60r] amo techmolcauiliz yntla
ica muchi toiollo tictotlatlauhtilizqMe, ca oquimochiuili in
tt", d. ynic totepantlatocatzin mochiuhtzinoz. Etc.
Auh yn axcan ca ye omotlacatili in ciuapiltzintli ma
tictotlapalhuican ma ixpantzinco titopechtecacan titotlan-
quaquetzacan ma tictolhuilican. Aue maris Stella. Etc. Vt
intrent astra flebiles celi fenestra facta es. Etc. monstra te
esse matrem. Etc. ut in assumptione V. marie.
2. Santoral en mexicano, Oradones de Nuestra Senora,
early seventeenth century
Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico MS 1476
Like text 1.4, this prayer adopts a personal tone, lavishing
flowery praises upon Mary and requesting her help. In this
case, the purity of her cloistered life is the attribute to which
the supplicant aspires. The verb mopiya ‘to keep or guard
oneself,’ and terms derived from it, were used to express the
notions of celibacy and chastity. The terms used here to de¬
scribe Mary’s parents taking her to the temple and offering
her before God are also used in the Florentine Codex text
about the girl being presented to Quetzalcoatl. Christ’s iden¬
tification as the fruit of Mary’s womb is from the Hail Mary,
but here Mary too is characterized as a fruit, offered, like the
first fruit of the harvest, at the temple. Melchisedec, a king
and priest of the Old Testament, was considered a type for
Christ and for priests generally (based on Hebrews 7).^^ Here,
* #
[3v] 3.“ Oracion, De La presentacion DE nuestra al
templo,
Ma ximopaquiltitie, tlapaltic celticarosasxochitzintle
8.'“ mariae. Ca tehuatzin in motla90tatzitzin[4r]huan,
omitzmohuiquilique in teopan; auh omitzmohuen-
chihuilique, omitzmiyahuilique yn ixpantzinco tot.“
totlahtocatzin in ihquac huel oc ticocotzin, ticihuapiltzintli
ynic ticmotlayecoltiliz; yn huel oc moconetiantzinco,
oticmocemmacatzino, otimohuenchiuhtzino, ynic gan
iceltzin ticmotlahuenmanililiz in motatzin Dios, Ca iuhquin
rejoice, you are full of grace, the ruler, God, is with you. Thus
you are very praiseworthy. You surpass all women.”^"
And therefore the Holy Church many times each year shows us,
causes us to hear the life of Saint Mary. Before us she^' places her
chastity, her pure life, and her pity for people, so that they will
become our example, so that we will be able to take her as our
example, to use her as our measuring stick, to take her as our sign,
so that we will be able to follow her life, so that through her we
will be able to strengthen ourselves, to teach ourselves, to be firm
in knowledge, so that we will be able to vow ourselves to her. It
is true that it is essential for us that we always cry out to her, that
we pray to her night and day, so that she will help us, so that she
will speak for us before her precious child. It is true that it is she
who is our advocate. She is very pitying. [60r] She will not forget
us if we pray to her with all our hearts. Our lord God made her so
that she would become our advocate.
And today, now the little noblewoman has been born. Let us
greet her, let us bow and kneel before her, let us say, “Hail star
of the sea, ” “That the pitiful ones may enter the stars, you
have become a window to heaven, ” “Show yourself to be a
mother," as in the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
Melchisedec in his temple becomes a figure for Christ in
Mary’s womb.
The phrase I translate throughout this work as “spirit,
soul” is a pairing of the Nahuatl -yolia, referring to a personal¬
ized animating force housed in and closely identified with
the heart (Burst 1995:17-22; Lopez Austin 1980:v.l:252-
257), and the Latin/Spanish anima. The consistent juxta¬
posing of these terms may result from the early friars’ sense
that -yolia did not adequately convey the meaning of the
Christian soul plus their reluctance to introduce foreign terms
without Nahuatl counterparts. The two terms were paired so
frequently that they became a formulaic diphrase, under cover
of which indigenous notions of the soul were carried into
Christian discourse.
[3v] Third Oration, Of the presentation of Our Lady at the
temple
Oh, may you rejoice, oh fresh red rose-flower, oh Saint Mary!
Your precious parents [4r] took you to the temple. And they
made an offering of you, they presented you before our
lord, our ruler, when you were still just a little dove,^^ a little
noblewoman, so that you would serve him. It was still quite in
your childhood that you gave yourself over to him, you
made an offering of yourself, such that you would lay yourself
as an offering solely to your father, God. It was if you were
 NATIVITY, CHILDHOOD, AND MARRIAGE 31

tiyancuic, timoyacatiltitiuh xochiqualtzintli, ynic otimohue- new, you were going ahead like a little fruit, the way

mantzino yn ixpantzino ycemixquich yhueli, ycentlachi- you laid yourself as an offering before the all-powerful one,
hualecatzintli tot.” ca huel oticmohuelamachtili y, 9a ye no the lord of all creation, our lord. You really delighted the
yehuatzin ytlaaquillo mochiuhtzinoz mochpochxillantzin Ca one who would himself become the fruit of your maidenly

tehuatzin in tiyolcateocaltzintli yn aiac oncan calaqui in womb. You are the living temple where no one enters

tlacamo 9an ice! huey teopixqui, in huel yehuatzin motla90CO- except solely the great priest, your precious child himself,

netzin teotl, oquitzintli Jesus, yn iuhqui quinezca yttotecpan- the divinity, the man, Jesus, like the great priest Melchisedec

tialitia in huei teopixqui Melchisedec. auh in tlamachihual- sets it up to be seen as a symbol. And the carefully made

teocaili, ca oncan timoyetzticatca qualmachiotemaquiliztica, temple, there you were. Through giving people good signs,

cemahticaqualnemiliztica timoteyzcalili, tiquinmixtlamach- through perfectly good living you instructed people, you

tili yn ix[4v]quichti ichpopochti mohuantzinco tzaucticatca, taught [4v] all the maidens who were cloistered with you.

yhua in monemilizqualticaahuiacayotzin intlan tiquinmo- And you caused the fragrance of your good life to flow among

molonaltili, ynic quihneucque in mochipahuacanemi- them. Thus they smelled the fragrance of your pure life. Thus

lizahuiacayotzin, ynic ixquichti ichpopochti omochpoch- all the maidens lived as maidens. Thus you are called the

nemitique, ynic ichpopochti tiynantzin timotocayotitzinoa, mother of maidens, because you alone, the first time, first

ypampa ca 9a moceltzin in yancuican. in achto timoneh- vowed that you would live always as a maiden. Oh you

toltitzino ynic cemihcac timochpochnemitiz. Titzopelica- sweet maiden, you are quite finely adorned, you are pure.

ichpotzintle in huel titlayeccencahualtzintli, tichipahuaca- You used to transfix their spirits, their souls with your
pure fragrance, those who would look at you, so that then
tzintli Ca tehuatzin in tiquinmonalquixtililiaya yn iyolia
ymanima, yn ica in mochipahualizahuiacayotzin yn aquihque they would be inspired with purity, pure chastity would es¬

mitzmottiliaya ynic niman mochipahualizyollotiaya, ymihtic tablish itself within them. Let it be, may you want it,
oh noblewoman, oh Saint Mary, may it be that from
motlaliaya in chipahualiznepializtli, ma cuele xicmo-
deep within me I understand your good and pure admonition,
nequilti Cihuapille 5.^“ ma nohticopa noconmati in
moqualticachipahualiztenonotzaliizin. ynic in quexquich so that I do not afflict or cause anguish for anyone with any
of my deeds. And your pure eyes, with which you used to
notlachihual ayac ic nictoliniz. nictequipachoz. auh in
mochipahualizixtelolotzin ic tiquinmottiliaya in tlalticpac look at the people of earth, may you now look toward me
with them. [5r] Turn them toward me, so that I will be a
tlaca ma axcan ic xinechalmotili no[5r]huicpa xiqualmo-
chaste one, I will have a pure life, nothing dirty and foul
cuepili, ynic ninopixcatlatl, nichipahuacanemilice niez,
will dirty me, so that I will not enjoy remembering or
ahtle catzahuac, tlahellotl, nechcatzahuaz, ynic ahtle tlael-
enjoy looking upon any foul delights. Oh my royal lady,
paquiliztli, nicpaccailnamiquiz, nicpaccaittaz, notlahtoca-
oh my hope, oh my consolation, when you were in the
cihuatecuiyotzine, nonetemachilitzine, noneyolalilitzine, Ca
temple you would just devote yourself entirely to arraying
yn iquac timoyetzticatca teopan. Ca 9a huel ticmixcahuiliaya,
yourself in a sacred way with prayers, with which you were
in timocencauhtzinoaya in teoyotica tlatlatlauhliztica, ynic
uniting yourself with our lord God. And he often used to
ytlantzinco timocetilitzinoaya tot.“ dios yhuan huel
quite delight and pamper you, he used to send his little
mitzmahauililiaya mitzmoxohxocoyomachiltiaya in quin-
angels. They used to greet you. Your spirit, your soul was still
hualmihualiaya, yn iangelotzitzinhuan in mitzalmotlahpal-
a little bit in heaven, it was not yet here on earth. May you
huiaya, ca oc achi ye ilhuicac moyetzticatca in moyolia
have pity on me, oh noblewoman, oh Saint Mary, so that 1
manimantzin, yn ahmo ye nican tlalticpac, ma xinech-
will think of no other thing, 1 will just devote myself entirely
mocnoytili Cihuapille 5.”“ mariae, ynic ahtle occentlamantli
to praying in a sacred way, like you concentrated on doing.
noconmantiz, Qa huel niquixcahuiz in teoyotica tlatla-
llauhtiliztli, yn iuh oticmocenmachilti. ma y mochihua May it so be done.

3. Fray Bernardino de Sahagun

Sermones de dominicasyde sanctos en lengua mexicana, 1563
Ayer MS 1485, The Newberry Library.

his work, the friar relied on the assistance of trilingual

Bernardino de Sahagun grew up and took the Franciscan
scholars trained at the Colegio de Santa Cruz. Sahagun wrote
habit in Sahagun, near Leon, and came to New Spam m 1529.
on the cover page that the sermons were “not translated from
He learned Nahuatl, became active in Nahua education,
any sermonary but newly composed to the measure of the
and also became the most important ethnographer of Nahua
Indians’ capacity: brief in material and in language congru¬
civilization, devoting four decades to the documentation of
ent, graceful, and plain, easy to understand for all those who
local culture and history. Sahagun’s unpublished sermonario
hear them, high and low, nobles and vassals, men and women.”
was written in the 1540s and revised in 1563. As with all of
32 BEFORE GUADALUPE
The manuscript ends with a fragmentary santoral, from which
some pages were deliberately excised. The final text is a set of
sermons for the festival of Saint Joseph, the beginning and
end of which are missing. The following excerpt, the com¬
plete middle section, tells the story of Mary’s marriage to
Joseph. The Gospel text refers to the Annunciation.
Joseph’s staff, called a topilli in Nahuatl, would likely
have been identified with the staffs of office used by members
[98r] Missus est gabriel etc. Jn iquac ye ima mona-
mictiz civapilli. s. m.“ [98v] yn inenamictiliz tlamavi9ol-
tica yn omochiuh. vel yevatzin y t" dios ytencopatzinco
omochiuh: ca amo yuh catca in iyollotzin ichpuchtly, ca
omonetolti ynic mochipa quimopializ ichpucho in aic
monamictiz. Auh inic omonamicti ca 9an ytencopatzinco
y t", 9a ic oqui-motlacamachity: auh in inamic vel yevatzin
y t” dios quimotemolili, ca tlamavi9oltica yn opepenaloc,
9a tlamaui9oltica yn onez. Ca yevatl in San Joseph oqui-
mopepenili t“, inic ynamic omochiuh ynatzin dios, ca
vel ipanpa oquimochivuli y t° inic ynamic mochivaz
inatzin dios: achi neneuhqui in lyollo yva in Inacayo.
Neneuhqui in itlacamecayo: ca ym omextin ytlacamecayo
in dauid ytech oq’zque: ym omextin yuh catca in lyollo
inic mochipa mopiazqwe in aic monamictizque, ym omextin
omonamictique ytencopatzinco y t°, ichpuchtli ceca
chipavac in civapilli. Santa m^: telpuchtli ceca chipavac in
San Joseph. Jnic omomanepanoque; ytencopatzinco y t°,
mocetlalique y telpopuchtin ye namictiloni in itechpa
quizqwe ytlacamecayo david, ceceyaca ytopil quitqui-
tiaque, in aquin ytopil itzmoliniz xochiyouaz, yeuatl
quimonamictiz in civapilli. Auh in San Joseph yeuatl
itzmolin yn itopil, ocuepo oxochiyouac tlamaui9oltica:
ic onez ca yevatl oquimopepenili y t“, inic ynamic yez
inatzin dios. yva ic onez ca ceca vey in teyo in imaui90
San Joseph: ca tlamavi9oltica oquimopepenili in dios:
inic yeuatl quimonamictiz ytla9oichputzi, yeica ca qui-
momachitia in ayac yuhqui noviya cemanavac, ipampa
oquimochivilitzino ynic quimonamictiz, quimopieliz qui-
moyollaliliz, mochipa quimoviquilitinemiz yn inatzl
dios: auh inic yeuatzin quimopieliz quimonapalhuiz
quimocuitlaviz yn ipiltzin dios ynic oquichtli. Cenca vei
in iteyo ymavi90 ca ceca vey in itequitzin omochiuh,
vey in itech quimocavili t°: auh ceca vel oquichiuh yn
itequitzin.
4. Doctrina, evangelios y epfstolas en nahuatl, late sixteenth century
Codex Indianorum 7, The John Carter Brown Library, Brown University
This manuscript is a compilation of assorted devotional ma-
terials including prayers, expositions of rites and doctrines,
of the indigenous cabildos and sometimes by native
Church officials. Such men, particularly but not exclusively
those who held the office of constable (Spanish alguacil),
were known as topilehqueh ‘possessors of staffs’ (Lockhart
1993:43). The stick’s sudden bursting into bloom
would make sense as a manifestation of a sacred presence,
of divinity acting in the world by bringing forth flowers
(Burkhart 1992b).
* *
[98r] Gabriel was sent [Luke 1:26], When it was time for the
noblewoman. Saint Mary, to get married, [98v] her marriage oc¬
curred in a wondrous way. It took place by order of our lord. God
himself, for the maiden’s heart was not so inclined. She vowed
that she would always keep her maidenhood, she would never
get married. And the way she got married, it was just by order
of our lord, she just obeyed him in this way. And our lord God him¬
self sought her spouse. It was in a wondrous way that he was
chosen. It was just in a wondrous way that he appeared. It was
Saint Joseph that our lord chose; thus he became the spouse of
the mother of God. Our lord really made him for this reason, so
that he would become the spouse of the mother of God. Their
hearts and their bodies were almost equal. Their lineages were
equal. Both came from the lineage of David. Both their hearts
were inclined such that they would always be chaste, they
would never get married. Both married by order of our lord. A
very pure maiden was the noblewoman. Saint Mary; a very pure
youth was Saint Joseph. The way their hands were joined was
that by order of our lord the marriageable youths who came
from the lineage of David gathered together. Each went along
carrying his staff. He whose staff would sprout, would flower,
he would marry the noblewoman. And it was Saint Joseph’s
staff that sprouted. It blossomed, it flowered in a wondrous way.
Thus it appeared that it was he whom our lord chose, so that
he would be the spouse of the mother of God. And thus it was
evident that very great is the fame, the honor of Saint Joseph,
for in a wondrous way God chose him so that he would marry
his precious daughter. It was because he knows that there is no
one like him anywhere in the world. He made him for this reason,
so that he would marry, he would guard, he would console, he
would always go about accompanying the mother of God,
and so that he would guard, he would carry in his arms, he would
take care of God’s child as a man.^'* Very great is his fame, his
honor, for very great did his work become, great was that with
which our lord encharged him, and he did his work very well.
hagiography, biblical texts, miracle narratives, and a copy
of an otherwise unknown 1572 Nahuatl text enumerating

the indulgences granted to members of the confraternity of
the rosary. Several entries are cognate with the Franciscan
Pedro de Gante’s 1553 Doctrina Christiana en lengua
mexicana (Gante 1981). The manuscript is probably from
Mexico City, as the words nican tlatolli mexico ‘the words
here in Mexico’ appear in it (see text 7.1). The document is
written entirely in native scribal hands, with garbled spell¬
ings of Latin texts and no discernible overall organization of
the contents. It may well be a largely or entirely indigenous
product, assembled by literate Nahuas—possibly members of
the rosary confraternity—out of a variety of sources made
available to them by priests.
The following excerpt is from one of the manuscript’s
many Marian texts. This brief biography of Mary (it continues
in text 3.3) begins when she reaches marriageable age in the
temple. The ancient Hebrew priests are called by the loanword
padres, as if they were friars. They are also called priests
[104v] fYn Sancta ma.Tzin yn inemilliztzl inic moyetzticatca
yn dios ychantzinco yn oacic caxtolxihuitl q’molhuillique
yn pa.'"*’ ychpuchtle Ca ye caxtolxihuitl ma ximonamicti
quinmonaquilli quinmolhuilli yn teopixque yn tlamatinime
Ca oninonetolti yhuicpatzinco yn dios. aye ninonamictiz
niepiaz yn nochpuochyo yc ceca tlamahui^oque yn
tlamatinime quitoque yn ye ixq’ch cahuitl y mochiuh yn
tlal.Tli yn cemanahuac Aye yuh ticcaq’ hi Ano ye ac yuh
quitohua yn. A90 yehuatl yn quitotiaque yn bropetasme Ce
tlacatl ychpuchtli quitlacatilliz yn ipiltzin dios. A90 yehuatl
in yn ichpochtli Auh ynic moyetzticatca yn teopa. Atle yuhqui
ynic tlamahui9olli ynic motlatlatlauhtilliaya Auh ynic
motlatoltiaya yehuatl huel quimonextili yn tlatolli yn
quimitalhuiaya deo gracias. yn axca yn iuh titlatohua Ayatle
catca yyn tlatolli huel mochi mahuiztic ynic motlatoltiaya
atle macamo mahuiztic yn itlatoltzin catca ynic tlal."^
moyeticatca. [105r] Auh yn axcan queni ceca mahuiztic yn
ilhuicatl ytic Occeppa quimolhuillique Auh ca yn ixquichtin
yn mochpuchpia. ca mochintin monamictia Auh quin-
monaquilHli quimitalhui yn. S.ta ma.Tzin ma nopapa
xicmotlatlauhtillican yn dios. tlei nopa q’monequiltiz Auh
yn padre.*’ nima mochintin quimotlatlauhtillique yn dios nima
hualla Ce agel q’molhuillico yn tlamatinime quimitalhuia yn
dios. yn ixquichtin yn itlacamecayohua yn davit huallazque
Auh nima huallaque yn ixquichtin yn ihuayolque yn davit,
ynic ceca tlamahui9olli yn omochiuh yn iuh oquito yn agel
yn aqui xochiyohuaz yn cueponiz yn itopil. yehuatl
quimonamictiz yn ichpochtli Auh niman onez ce tlacatl Cenca
tlamahui9oltica xochiyohuac cuepo yn itopil nima yehuatl
quimonamicti yn. S.ta ma*tzl ytoca Juseph Auh amo
nacayontican yn quimonamicti. Ca 9211 tlamahui9olli yn
quimopialliaya yn ichpochtli Ca nima aye ytechtzinco acic
yn a90 nacayontica Auh y ye yuh ynamietzin
NATIVITY, CHILDHOOD, AND MARRIAGE 33
{teopixqueh ‘god-keepers’), a term used for preconquest as
well as Catholic priests, and sages {tlamatinimeh ‘they who
know things’), a term that was applied to the preconquest
native priests. Mary’s most striking attribute in this text, aside
from her vow of virginity, is her skill in speaking, something
of particular value to what was still a predominantly oral cul¬
ture. The difference in narrative style between this text and,
for example, the work of the accomplished trilingual scholars
from the Colegio de Santa Cruz who wrote for fray Juan
Bautista (text 1.3) is readily evident. Yet even in comparison
with Sahagun’s intentionally “plain” sermons and fray Juan
de la Anunciacion’s unadorned prose (text 1.2), this text flows
less smoothly, dwelling on one point and then skipping over
others. The author, although his literacy marks him as a mem¬
ber of the nobility, is a master neither of elite Nahuatl oratory
nor of European-style narrative. Hence, his text may more closely
reflect the way ordinary Nahuas told Christian stories orally.-'
* *
[ 104v] 1 The life of Saint Mary. When she was in the home of
God fifteen years passed. The padres said to her, “Oh maiden,
it is now fifteen years. May you get married.” She answered
them. She said to the priests, the sages, “I have vowed myself
to God. I will never get married. I will keep my maidenhood.”
At this the sages marveled greatly. They said, “Ever since
the earth, the world was made, we have never heard anything
like this, nor has anyone ever spoken like this. Perhaps she is
the one of whom the prophets went along saying, ‘a certain
maiden will give birth to the child of God.’ Perhaps it is
this maiden.” And so she stayed in the temple. There is noth¬
ing that is such a marvel as the way she would pray. And
the way she would speak, she made the words quite clear.
She would say, "Thanks be to GodT''^ as we speak today.
There was not yet anything like these words. It was all quite
wonderful, how she would speak. There is nothing as
wonderful as her words were when she was on the earth.
[105r] And now how very wonderful they are in heaven.
Again they said to her, “But all who keep their maiden¬
hood, they all get married.” And Saint Mary answered
them. She said, “May you pray to God for my sake. What
will he want for me?” And the padres then all prayed to
God. Then an angel came. It came to say to the sages, “God
says that all the descendants of David will come.” And
then all the relatives of David came. The way a great marvel
occurred, it was as the angel said: “He whose staff flowers,
blossoms, he will marry the maiden. And then a certain
person appeared. In a very wondrous way his staff flowered,
it blossomed. Then he married Saint Mary. His name is
Joseph. But he did not marry her in a bodily way. It is just a
marvel. She kept herself a maiden. Never did he have rela¬
tions with her, perhaps in a bodily way. And this is how
he was her spouse.
34 BEFORE GUADALUPE
5. Sermones en mexicano, late sixteenth century
Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico MS 1487
The following selection, a continuation of text 1.1, has
nonstandard content suggesting native authorship, al¬
though it is written in a more homiletic style than the
biographical excerpt above. Gabriel is named as the source
of the priest’s inspiration; the misidentification of Mary’s
mother as Susana continues. More strikingly, there is only
one rod, the high priest’s, which all the young men grasp in
turn. European versions have the men bring their own staffs,
and the staff that flowers is Joseph’s own. In medieval ico¬
nography the disappointed suitors are sometimes shown
breaking their rods, or the rods are left on the ground; these
motifs, however, drop out of use in the course of the six¬
teenth century (Klapisch-Zuber 1985:199, 204, 206; Warner
1976:26-27). The variant in this Nahuatl text appears to
be a local invention.” A possible explanation is that the
author considered it incorrect for unwed youths to bear
topilli, as these were markers of community offices held by
mature, married men. The motif of Joseph’s reluctance is as
old as the apocryphal gospels, but a Joseph who does not
even show up and has to be summoned from afar may be
another innovation by this reteller of old tales.
This author does follow the old story, though, when he
tells of the white dove (representing the Holy Spirit) hovering
over Joseph’s staff. This motif, common in medieval narra¬
tive and iconography, was yet another allusion to the Isaiah
prophecy, in which the “Spirit of the Lord” rests upon the
branch. It fits well with Nahua flower-world symbolism, as
birds—although usually these are brightly-colored tropical
# *
[129] Auh yn iquac yn teopan. Amo tlalp.*^ huetztineca. in
iyollotzin. topampa quimonochiliaya. quimotlatlauhtiliaya
in dios ynic monemitin yn teopa amo tlalp.*^ huetztineca yn
iyollotzin ^an ilhuicac hohuetztin ca yn iyollotzin yn sancta.
m^ mochipan cahahuiltiaya. Quinhualpampaquiltiaya
quinhualmacaya. yn ilhuicac tlaqualli. yn quimoqualtiaya.
Yn tonatzin in sancta maria, yn ixquich cahuitl yn teopa
monemitiaya. matlacxihuitl. ocen. ca yhui yn intla monemitin
yn innatzin yn intatzin ye xihuitl yc matlacxihuitl onavi.
onca yn monamictin. ca yuhcan. yn intlatoltzin in dios in
cequiti yn monemitia yn telpopochtin yn ichpopochti in ye
caxtolxihuitia yn monamictizque yehica ayac quichivaz in
tlatlacolli ayac tetlaximaz yn aqui tetlaximaz yn tiaquiz-
nepatlan. quitetepachozque mochi tlacatl quittazque in
macehualtin yc momauhtizque ynic ayacmo quichihuazque.
in tlatlacolli. auh in yehuantzin in sancta maria yntech tiquit-
tazque yn iuh quimochihuilli yn iquac yn omatlacxiutzin.
onahui. in yehuantzin in sancta maria quilhui in teopixqui
cihuanpille Ma^o ximonamictitzino yn oyuh quilhui yn
birds—were frequently invoked as denizens of the sacred
garden (see Burkhart 1992b).
Those who feed and entertain Mary may be understood
to be angels, even though the author does not explain this.
Stoning as a punishment for adultery is both biblical and
Aztec, but not colonial. Still, the switch into future tense when
the age for marriage and the consequences of adultery are
discussed indicates that this is intended as a lesson for the
listeners.
The home of IWtary’s parents is described as a garden. This
surely derives from an old association of Nazareth with flow¬
ers. The name Nazareth was thought to mean “flower”^**; Saint
Bernard, followed by other commentators, found significance
in Christ’s incarnation—flowering, as it were, from his glori¬
ous mother and from the seed of the divine prophecies—hav¬
ing taken,place in a city of that name, and in the springtime
(Antoninus 1959:v.4:971-972; Bernard of Clairvaux and
Amadeus of Lausanne 1979:7; Vega 1569:205v; Villegas
Selvago 1760:42; Voragine 1993:v,l: 197). ForNahuas, it is a
further example of Mary’s association with the flower world
and sacred paradises.
The phrases “I will see no man” and “I will see no woman”
may be more idiomatic Nahuatl euphemisms than Mary’s “I
do not know a man” in Luke 1:34 (see text 4.2). In the
Florentine Codex exhortation to chastity, the father tells his son
about an elderly man still sexually potent in old age because
as a youth he abstained from sex and acan oqujttac cioatl
‘nowhere did he see a woman’ (Sahagun 1950-82:bk.6:l 18).
[129] And when she was in the temple, her heart was not
attracted toward the earth. For our sake she was calling to,
she was praying to God. The way she lived in the temple, her
heart was not attracted toward the earth. Only toward heaven
was Saint Mary’s heart attracted. Always they were delighting
her, they were making her joyful, they were giving her heav¬
enly food, they were feeding it to her. Our mother. Saint Mary,
the whole time she was living in the temple was eleven
years. Likewise she lived with her mother and father for
three years. Thus she was fourteen years old when she got
married. Such are the words of God: some who are living, the
youths and maidens, when they are fourteen they will get
married. Therefore no one will do a sin, no one will commit
adultery. Whoever commits adultery, they will stone him
or her in the middle of the market. Everyone will see it. Thus
the commoners will be so frightened that they will never
again do sins. And Saint Mary, we will benefit from what she
did when she was fourteen. The priest said to Saint Mary,
“Oh noblewoman, may you get married.” When he had said

oquicac in sancta maria quilhui amo ni9ia ca yuh quintolhuili
notl.'" ca oyuh nicnotlatlauhtili yn dios amo niquittaz yn
oquichtli 9a mochipa nichpochtli niez yn oquicac in teopixqui
Quito queyni mochihuaz nima ye quimotlatlauhtilia in dios
quilhui diose tloquehe nahuanquehe. yn iuh motlatoltzin
yn iuh ticmitalhuia yn cenquitin in teopa nemi yn iquac in
ye caxtolxiuhtia monamictizque auh in axca yn iuh mochiuh
in cen tlacatl momacehual. in motlachihual. in yehuatl yn
maria camo^'* cia yn monamictiz Quenin nicchihuaz
mopaltzico [130] xinechyollotin. in yehuantzin in tt." in dios
yn oquimocaquitin nima cenquihualmihualli yn Agel. intoca
sane gabriel quilhuico in teopixqui xiccaqui. xiematin ynic
ticnamictiz yn maria tiquinechicoz yn ixquichtin yn
ivayolque in telpopochtin yn otiquinechico ticcuiz motopil
tlanepatla timotlaliz ceceyacan quitzizquizque yn motopil
yn aq’n ymac cueponiz yn xochitl yehuatl ynemactiz yn ipial
mochihuaz yn maria auh in yehuatl in teopixqui yuh quichiuh
yn iuh quilhuico yn agel. quinechico yn ihuayolque yn sancta
maria in telpopochti yn oquinechico auh in yehuatl in
teopixqui Concuic yn itopil. tlan patla motlalli. nima
quimilhui yn telpopochtin ce’ceyaca xictzizquica. y notopil
yn aquin. yn imac cueponiz yn xochitl yevatl. ynemactiz^° yn
maria auh in yevanti yn telpopochtin. cencayaca Quitziz-
quique yn itopil in teopixq’. ayac ymac cuepo quito in
teopixqui ca oyuh nicchiuh yn iuh nicac in tlatolli amo yuh
omochiuh ye no ceppa quimotlatlauhtili in dios in quilhui yn
tt." yncel teotle diose yn axca oyuh nicchiuh yn iuh ticmitalhui
yn axca ayac ynmac hocuepo yn xochitl. in yehuatl in
teopixqui quiyollotin. yn dios Quinnamiq’to Quimilhui in
telpopochtin cuix aca hoccen tlacatl. yn ivayolque yn maria
in telpopochtin. Quilhuique ca quemaca ca hoccen tlacatl.
hueca monemitia yntoca Joseph. Quimilhui Ma y^iuhea
cantihuetzinti Nima yn9iuhca catihuetzito yn Joseph, yn
ocatihuetzito yn oquihualhuicaqMe quilhui in teopixqui
telpochtle xihualmohuica yn axca xictzizqui y notopil. yntla
momac Cueponiz yn xochitl tevatl monemactiz mopialtiz yn
maria in yevatl. in Joseph, nima quitzizqui yn itopil in
teopixqui nima ymac cuepo. yn xochitl in cenca qualli in
cenca yectli Niman ipa hualtemoc yn iztac huilotl cenca qualli
cenca yectli cen[131]can chipahuac yn innezea mochiuh in
Joseph, in qualli yn iyollo yectli yn inemiliz Mochiuh in
tlalficpac. auh yn omonamictique yn otepialtic in sancta maria
ye yuhqui nima ompa mohuicaque yn ce altepetl ipan
yntocayoca Nazaret. in xochitla yn xochitepaco yn opa
monemitiaya yn inatzin yn itatzin in sancta maria in yevatl in
Joanchin. yn Sus.ana. yn opa quitzitique in qualli yectli y ne-
miliztli auh yye yuhqui yn omohuicaque in sancta maria
Quilhui yn Joseph yn axca ye qualli ye yectli yn otitonamic-
tique otechmocnelili in tt.“ in dios yn axca nimiznahuatia aye
notech tatziz yuh yxpatzinco niquito in tt.° dios yn aca
niquittaz yn oquichtli 5a mochipa nichpochtli niez in yehuatl
in Joseph. 9a no yuh quito quilhui in sancta maria Quilhui
9ihuapille yn iuh ticmitalhuia yn iuh motlatoltzin 9a no yuh
niquito yn ixpatzinco in tt.“ in dios in aca niquittaz in cihuatl
9a mochipa nitelpochtli niezneq’ yn oyuh quilhui yn sancta
NATIVITY, CHILDHOOD, AND MARRIAGE 35
this, when Saint Mary heard it, she said, “I do not consent,
for as my lord said, for as I prayed to God, I will not see a
man. I will always be a maiden.” When the priest heard it he
said, “How will this be done?” Thereupon he prayed to
God. He said, “Oh our lord, oh God, oh lord of the near,
oh lord of the nigh, such are your words, such do you say,
that those who live in the temple, when they are fourteen they
will marry. But now it has so happened that a certain one
of your vassals, your creations, she who is Mary, does not
agree to get married. What shall 1 do? By your will, [130]
inspire me.” Our lord God heard him. Then he sent an angel
whose name is Saint Gabriel. He came to say to the priest,
“Listen. Be informed of how you will get Mary married.
You will assemble all of her relatives who are youths. When
you have assembled them you will take your staff. You will
sit in the middle. Each one will grasp your staff. He in whose
hand a flower blossoms is the one whose wife, whose ward
Mary will become.” And the priest did as the angel came
to tell him. He assembled the relatives of Saint Mary, he
assembled the youths. And the priest took his staff. He sal
in the middle. Then he said to the youths, “Each one grasp
my staff. He in whose hand a flower blossoms, Mary will
be his wife.” And the youths each grasped the priest’s staff.
In no one’s hand did it blossom. The priest said, “I have
done it, like I heard the words, but it did not happen that
way.” Once again he prayed to God. He said, “Oh our lord, oh
sole divinity, oh God, today I did as you said. Today in no
one’s hand did a flower blossom.” God inspired the priest. He
went to find them. He said to the youths, “Is there, perhaps,
another person, of Mary’s relatives who are youths?” They
said to him, “Yes, there is another person. He lives far
away. His name is Joseph.” He said to them, “May they
quickly rush off to get him.” Then they quickly rushed off
to get Joseph. They rushed off to get him, they brought him.
The priest said to him, “Oh youth, come, now grasp my staff
If a flower blossoms in your hand, Mary will be your wife,
will be your ward.” Joseph then grasped the priest’s staff.
Then in his hand a flower blossomed. It was very good, very
fine. Then a white mourning dove descended upon it. It
was very good, very fine, very [131] pure. It became the sym¬
bol of Joseph, that his heart was good, that his life became
proper on earth. And they got married. Saint Mary became
someone’s ward. So then they went to a certain city called
Nazareth, to a garden, a walled garden where Saint Mary’s
mother and father, Joachim and Susana, were living. There
they led good and proper lives. And so as they were going
along Saint Mary said to Joseph, “Today, now it is good, now
it is proper, that we have married. Our lord God has favored us.
Today I command you that you will never have relations with
me, as before our lord God I said that I will see no man, I will
always be a maiden.” Joseph spoke in just the same way. He
said to Saint Mary, he said to her, “Oh noblewoman, as you
speak, as your words are, I said just the same thing before our
lord God. I will see no woman, I want always to be a youth.”
When he had spoken in this way. Saint Mary said to him.
36 BEFORE GUADALUPE
maria quilhui yn axca yn iuh tiquitova Ma 5iuh^' ticchihuanca.
Ma tomextin tictonochilica in tote." yn icel teotl dios Ma
tictocepatlaecoltilica. in yehuatl in Joseph Quito Ma y9iuhca
ticchihuaca Ma tictocepatlaecoltilica cihuanpille
NOTES
1. On this book and its Jesuit affiliation see Duncan (1975).
2. Joseph as an elderly widower conveniently accounted for the
Gospel references to Christ’s siblings, who could be attributed to his
earlier marriage. In the West, the siblings came to be explained, from
the fourth century on, as cousins of Jesus, to whom sibling terminol¬
ogy was extended (Brown 1993:606). In the sixteenth century, many
artists were still representing Joseph as an old man, but younger
Josephs also appear (personal observation, based on collection of the
Gemaldegalerie, Berlin).
3. Matthew (1:25) states that Joseph did not “know” Mary until
she had borne her son, which might seem to suggest that they had
sexual relations afterwards. However, the original wording, accord¬
ing to Brown (1993:132), referred only to Mary’s condition at the
time of Christ’s conception and bore no necessary implications about
the future. Nothing in the New Testament refers to Mary’s marital
relations after Christ’s birth (Brown 1993:305-306).
4. When used as an antiphon, it generally has the word ascendit
rather than the Vulgate’s progreditur {Breviarium Romanum 1553;
Breviarium Romanum 1961 :v.2:839; Hours of the Divine Office
1963:v.3:1445; CANTUS: A Database for Gregorian Chant).
5. Quae est ista quae progreditur [or ascendit] sicut aurora consur-
gens, pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata',
translation from Matter 1990:xxix. The text is used by Surius in associa¬
tion with Mary’s nativity (1875-80:v.9:196). The pulchra ut luna and
electa ut sol phrases, under images of the moon and sun, are on the
Huejotzingo Immaculate Conception mural (plate 1).
6. Here and later in the text, this is an abbreviation for notlago-
pilhuane ‘oh my precious children’ or nopilhuane ‘oh my children.’
7. Read ca ayac.
8. Read anogo.
9. Liturgical chant for the Feast of the Nativity of Mary
{Breviarium Romanum 1961 :v.2:874; Psalterium 1584:257r;
CANTUS: A Database for Gregorian Chant).
10. The three verbs appear in sequence; I have rearranged the
passage slightly as Mary is the obvious object of the verb “to give” but
not of “to have compassion.”
11. Literally, “they who go about with their hands.”
12. Literally, “people-eaters.”
13. Present-tense verbs often appear with past-tense meanings
after the phrase niman ic. However, here the present tense is main¬
tained through several following statements, indicating, it would appear,
a deliberate shift in temporal placement.
14. Liturgical chant for the Feast of the Nativity of Mary
(Breviarium Romanum 1961:v.2;874-875; I1584;258r; CANTUS: A
Database for Gregorian Chant).
15. As cihuapilli nearly always is used in reference to Mary
without the -tzintli suffix, I have here interpreted it as a diminutive,
relating to the infant girl, rather than a reverential.
16. This passage, which appears in the Huejotzingo mural (plate
1), was used as an antiphon for the Nativity of Mary, the Assumption,
“Today, as you say, may we do it quickly. Let the two of us
call to our lord, the sole divinity, God. Let us serve him to¬
gether.” Joseph said, “Let us do it quickly. Let us serve him
together, oh noblewoman.”
and the Common of Virgins (CANTUS: A Database for Gregorian
Chant). Translation here is from Matter (1990:xxiii).
17. In the reformed breviary, this is used as an antiphon for the
Feast of the Assumption (Breviarium Romanum 1961 :v.2:831,832).
18. Pedro de la Vega (1569:142v) quotes this passage in Span¬
ish, citing Anselm but giving no source. I have not identified the
original source.
19. This statement by Jerome is repeated, for example, by Saint
Antoninus (1959:v.4:941,1001, Ceteris sanctis per partes collata est
gratia: Marice vero plenitudo gratice se infudit).
20. This refers to the Annunciation and the Hail Mary prayer
(see chapter 3; texts 8.1 and 8.2).
21. The Church, that is, which was treated as female.
22. He is first mentioned in Genesis 14:17-20. Stafford Poole
(personal communication, 1998) describes him as “a very obscure
figure who was given heavy symbolic meaning in the Letter to the
Hebrews and early Christian literature.”
23. The cocohtli or Inca dove, or Scardefella inca (Lesson), as
identified in Dibble and Anderson’s notes to Sahagiin (1950-82:bk. 11:48).
This was a Nahuatl term of endearment, used also in orations to children.
24. That is, Christ in his human aspect.
25. I conducted a workshop on this “life of Mary” at the Nahuatl
Summer Language Institute at Yale University, July 23, 1998. The
instructor, Jonathan Amith, and the students, especially Camilla
Townsend and Jennifer Ottman, had several useful corrections and
suggestions that have been incorporated into my translations, here and
in text 3.3.
26. The author mixes Latin and Spanish in this phrase.
27. I have not come across this variant in any other Mexican or
European text; it is also unknown to Renaissance scholars Samuel Y.
Edgerton and Richard C. Trexler (personal communication, 1998).
Klapisch-Zuber’s review of the textual basis and Italian iconography
of the scene includes no such variation (1985:197-206). 1 thank Rich¬
ard C. Trexler for referring me to this source.
28. A link between the word Nazareth and the Hebrew root
(netzer)—‘shoot’ or ‘branch’—probably lies behind this associa¬
tion with flowers (Daniel Grossberg and Walter Zenner, personal
communication, 1998). However, this may be a strictly Christian in¬
terpretation, stemming from the identification of Jesus as a “shoot”
of the family of Jesse in the Isaiah 11:1 prophecy. The actual etymol¬
ogy in Hebrew is uncertain (Howard Marblestone, personal
communication, 1999).
29. Read ca amo.
30. This term, like monemactiz, mopialtiz, and otepialtic later on
in the excerpt, ungrammatically conflates a possessed noun with a
verb. I am uncertain whether this represents a non-standard but indig¬
enous usage or a non-native-speaker’s linguistic error. However, I am
inclined to view the document as the work of one or more Nahuas who
lacked a high degree of formal education.
31. Read (c(tt/jca.
3
The Annunciation and the Visitation
W ith the Annunciation, or Incarnation, Mary makes her
f irst appearance in the canonical gospels, for the story
is told in Luke 1:26-38 as well as the Protoevangelium and
the Gospel of the Birth of Mary. God dispatches the archangel
Gabriel to Mary; he greets her with words that became the
beginning of the Hail Mary prayer and informs her of God’s
plan to make his son incarnate in her womb through the ac¬
tion of the Holy Spirit. After some hesitation she assents,
proclaiming herself the maidservant or handmaiden (Latin
uncillu. Greek doule) of the lord, and Christ is conceived.
Plate 5 IS a full page from the 1584 Psalterium showing a
typical woodcut image of the Annunciation plus antiphonal
chants based on Luke 1:26-28; these would have been sung
by Nahua choirs on this festival.
The Feast of the Annunciation is celebrated on March 25,
nine months before Christmas and near the vernal equinox;
Vega (1569:205r) notes that it was appropriate for Christ to be
conceived "with the growth of the corporal light." Luke sets
the story in Nazareth, but exegetes differ over whether Mary
was at her parents’ home or at Joseph’s family home, as well as
over whether they were actually married at this time or only
betrothed (Rivadeneira 1669:58; Villegas Selvago 1760:52;
Voragine 1993:v.l:197). Since in Aztec mythology both
Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl were conceived by excep¬
tional means (the former via a tuft of feathers, the latter via a
precious greenstone), for Mary to conceive her divine son
without sexual intercourse would not have seemed so ex¬
traordinary. Indeed, her story influenced theirs, as both their
mothers came to be described as “virgins in some sources
(Burkhart 1989:154).
Annunciation scenes abound in Marian iconography
(Pelikan 1996:81; plates), and the scene was well known
in New Spain. The resplendent male angel, bearing a lily,
intrudes upon the ingenuous girl, who is alone, most often
kneeling in prayer or contemplation before a book.' Since
literacy was unknown among early colonial Nahua women,
the act of reading marked Mary as exceptionally learned. In
most representations, the Holy Spirit descends upon Mary in
the form of a dove; a vase of lilies, representing her purity, is
often in the picture. Exegetical tradition held that Mary’s
decision was informed by the knowledge of the ancient proph¬
ecies she acquired during her childhood at the temple,
and even that she was, at the moment the angel arrived.
contemplating the Isaiah prophecy about a virgin bearing a
child and praying that she might get to meet this lucky girl
(Villegas Selvago 1760:42). Both Antoninus (1959:v.4:963)
and Vega (1569:206r) project devotional modes of their own
time back to Mary’s and imagine the Incarnation occurring
with Mary in a state of contemplation-induced ecstasy.
The Incarnation is a pivotal event not just in Mary’s life
but for Christianity itself: it is the moment that God actually
takes on human flesh. “On this day," writes Vega (1569:208v).
“were completed all the figures and all the teachings of the
Scriptures, and all the desires of the prophets, for which
reason the coming of the son of God is called the completion
of time.” Mary’s role in this event is vital, for she is more than
a mere vessel. She is the Theotokos, “the one who gave birth
to the one who is God” (Pelikan 1996:55). She is the source
and guarantor of Christ’s humanity and his biological link to
the lineage of David. And she has the opportunity to refuse
this role, but she chooses to submit and shoulder a tremen¬
dous responsibility. Her choice has fed debates on the rela¬
tionship between free will and divine authority; being the
“handmaid of the Lord” does not necessarily imply an atti¬
tude of passivity (Pelikan 1996:83-84). The motif of the
young girl considering her choice, while the fate of humanity
hangs in the balance, was explored by Saint Bernard in the
twelfth century in his influential fourth homily on the Virgin
(Bernard of Clairvaux and Amadeus of Lausanne 1979:
53-54; Vega 1569:208r). The story was a popular theme for
medieval religious drama.
Mary then leaves Nazareth, in Galilee, and heads off into
the hill country for a three-month visit with her kinswoman
Elizabeth in the neighboring kingdom of Judea. The location
of Elizabeth and Zacharias’s home is not stated in Luke or the
apocryphal gospels, but a tradition going back to the sixth
century places it about six miles west of Jerusalem (Mclver
1967:721). When Mary arrives, Elizabeth, who is six months
pregnant with John the Baptist, becomes filled with the Holy
Spirit (this was assumed to have purified little John of origi¬
nal sin) and greets Mary with another line for the Hail Mary,
“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of
your womb” (Luke 1:39-45). Mary then sings the triumphal
song that, incorporated into the Latin liturgy, is known as the
Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). Tradition held that Mary assisted
at John the Baptist’s birth on June 24 and returned home to
 38 BEFORE GUADALUPE
Nazareth on July 2, the day after the baby’s circumcision and
naming ceremony. Plate 6, from the texts for the Nativity of
John the Baptist in Sahagiln’s Psalmodia Christiana, shows
Mary holding the newborn John while Elizabeth rests and
Zacharias watches.* Franciscans initiated a festival commemo¬
rating the Visitation, which Pope Urban VI solemnized in 1389;
in 1441 the Council of Basel fixed its date at July 2 (Mclver
1967:692).
Elizabeth’s pregnancy, miraculous in light of her ad¬
vanced age, had also been heralded by Gabriel. According
to Luke 1:41, Elizabeth’s child leaped in her womb when
Mary greeted his mother. John the Baptist’s intrauterine
movement was interpreted as his greeting to Christ. Emphasis
on this interaction between the two fetuses rather detracts
attention from the eloquent dialogue between their mothers;
Rivadeneira states that fetal John gained the use of reason at
this time (Christ having had it from conception) and that
Elizabeth’s words were actually John’s, spoken by his mother’s
mouth (1669:451-452). The Psalmodia Christiana's songs
for the festival of John the Baptist describe this event: “And
Saint John looked, he roused himself in a wondrous way, while
still inside his mother. Then he greeted our lord Jesus Christ,
who was inside his mother. Saint Mary. It was quite a marvel,
oh our friends!” (Sahagun 1993b: 184-185).
The apocryphal gospels tell of Joseph’s alarm upon re¬
turning from a six-month work stint and finding Mary well
along in pregnancy. He is reassured by an angel who tells him
1. Fray Martin de Leon, Camino del cielo en lengua mexicana, 1611
Catechismo en lengua mexicana
Fray Martin de Leon is the only significant Dominican scholar
of Nahuatl from the early seventeenth century. As Sell
(1993:207) notes, Leon states in the introduction to his 1614
sermonary that his books owe much to the work of his prede¬
cessors in all three mendicant orders. He claims to have written
them himself, without indigenous assistants, and displays a
low opinion of the writing abilities of literate Nahuas. How¬
ever, Sell argues that he may simply have lacked access to the
most highly trained native scholars, and be taking on himself
full responsibility for the content of his work (1993:208). His
Camino del cielo is a devotional handbook containing the
basic catechism, a refutation of idolatry, a precolumbian cal¬
endar (taken from Sahagun), two confession manuals,
instructions on writing wills, a treatise on dying, and other
prayers and instructions.
This account of the Annunciation is part of the friar’s
exegesis of the first of the seven articles of faith pertaining to
Christ, regarding Christ’s taking of human flesh. In this
that what she bears is the work of the Holy Spirit. Joseph’s
dream is also attested by Matthew (1:19-21). This part of the
story received relatively little attention in New Spain, but the
Jesuit oration cycle does contain a prayer “On the revelation
of the purity of Our Lady made to Saint Joseph” (Santoral en
mexicano n.d.: lOv-11 v) and Joseph’s dream is portrayed in a
native mural painting at Tlayacapan, Morelos, sandwiched
between scenes of the Visitation and Purification.
The Annunciation and Visitation were among the first
Christian themes to be dramatized by and for Nahuas. Beristain
de Souza (1947:v.2:309) credits fray Luis de Fuensalida, one
of the first Franciscans to come from Spain, with a now-lost
Annunciation play, which Horcasitas (1974:79, 237-238)
dates to between 1532 and 1535. In Tlaxcala on the festival
of John the Baptist in 1538, the Nahuas put on enactments of
the Annunciation of the Nativity of John the Baptist, the An¬
nunciation to Mary, the Visitation, and the Nativity of John
the Baptist, at which an eight-day-old boy was actually bap¬
tized. The performances featured many actors and musicians,
elaborate staging, and polyphonic singing of the Hail Mary
and the Magnificat (Las Casas 1967:v.l :332-334; Motolinia
1979:63). What was likely one of the first confraternities
founded among the Nahuas was a Tlaxcalan one dedicated to
Our Lady of the Incarnation; by 1539 it was well enough
established to sponsor a charity fund drive and stage an elabo¬
rate representation of the fall of Adam and Eve’’ (Motolinia
1979:65-67).
context, it is not surprising that Leon focuses on the chal¬
lenge of explaining the nature of the fetal Christ rather than
commenting more extensively on Mary. Villegas Selvago
(1760:46-47) explains the process of incarnation as follows:
at the moment Mary gave her consent, the three Persons of the
Trinity fashioned from her blood a “small body” {pequeho
cuerpo) and created a rational soul, which they infused in the
body. The second Person of the Trinity (Christ) united him¬
self with this “human nature” (naturaleza humana).
The Gospel’s ancilla is here rendered by the diphrase
nitetlaecolticatzin, niitlacauhtzin T am his servant, I am
his offering.’ Tlacauhtli, from the verb cahua, refers to some¬
thing that is left, such as an offering."' The term is used also
in text 3.3 below, an earlier work, where it appears without
any paired term meaning servant or vassal. It alludes to
Mary’s having been offered to the temple as a child: she
pertained to God not just as a vassal but as something dedi¬
cated or sacralized to him.

[31 r] “Jl Auh inic cenca pani neztoz in imelahualoca inin tlatolli,
ma xicmahuizyeccaquican. Ca in icuac oquimotzontequili-
tzino in Dios, in oquimocemittalhui, inic oquichtli
mochiuhtzinoz, inic quimocuilia in itla9omahiiznacayotzin,’
itechpatzinco in tla^omahuiztlatocaichpochtli Sata Maria,
niman ompa in Ilhuicac oquihualmihualitzino ce ititlantzin,
cenca huel huey pilli in Ilhuicac, cenca mahuiztililoni itocatzin
Angel San Gabriel, huel cenquizcachipahuac, yuhqui in Tona-
tiuh ic pepetlaca, inic motetlanextilia, niman ohualmohuicac
in ihuicopatzinco, in tla^oCihuapilli Santa Maria, inic
quimonochiliquiuh, niman ohualmotemohui in tlalticpac,
huel miequintin Angelome quihualmotoquilitihuia, inic
quimahui^ozque in inCihuapillatocatzin, niman ye ic omo-
calaquitzino, in itlatlauhtilizcaltzlco, in capa mocaltzacui-
titicatca moteochiuhtzinoticatca auh ixpantzinco omopech-
tecatzino, oquimotlapalhuitzino oquimoyectenehuilitzino,
oquimittalhui. Ma ximopaquiltitie timotemiltiticatqui in
gracia, motlantzinco moetztica in tohueytlatocatzin Dios, ma
ximoyollalitzino Ilhuicac TlMocaCihuapille, ca in yehuatzin
in omitzmochihuilitzino, yhuan in otechmochihuili,
ticmoconetitzinoz, mitictzinco mocalaquiz, ticmotlacatililiz,
ticmochichililitzinoz, auh in yehuatzin ca quinmozcaltilia,
qMinmotlacualtilia [31v] in nepapan tlachihualli, tla^o-
Cihuapille, ticmohuapahuiliz, ticmotlacualtiliz, ticmochi-
chitiliz, huel motlagoconetzin moetzinotiez, auh tocayotiloz
lESVS, quittoznequi Temaquixtiani, ca yehuatzin quinmoma-
quixtiliz, in cemanahuac, tlalticpac tlaca. Auh in icuac
oquimotzonquixtili in Angel itlatoltzin, huey necnomachi-
liztica nepechteqMilizlica oquimonaquilili, in Angel, in
TlMocaCihuapilli. Ca iz nicatqui, nica nonoc, in nitetlaecolti-
catzin, niitlacauhtzin, in nohueytlatocatzin Dios, ma nopan
mochihua in itlanequilihtzin, in quimonequiltia, auh niman
icuac in oyuh quimocelili in itla96tlatoltzin Dios, tlamahui-
9oltica ittictzinco omocalaquitzino in Dios tePiltzin,
omonacayotitzino, in oncan ica itla90chipahuacaez90tzin,
tla96Cihuapilli, oquimochihuilitzino in Dios in itlactzT, auh
onca oquimotlalilitzino ce tla96mahuiztlanqui anima, inic
omocetitzinoque in iteoyoizin,^ yhuan in icenquizcapepetla-
quiliznacayotzin ica in itla9oanimatzin, ic ocetic inic ce
Persona toTecuiyo lesu Christo, in iteoyelitzin, ic oquimotla-
quentitzino in itla9onacayotzin, ic ominax, omotlapacho, inic
cenquizqui tlacatzintli omochiuhtzino, inic omocetique, auh
macihui in yhuiantzin mozcaltiaya, mohuapahuaya, in
itla9onacayotzin, in itictzinco itla9omahuiznatzin, ca oncan
quimocenpachilhuiaya, in Ilhuicame, yhuan in tlalticpactli,
ca nel Dios Teotl, mochi oncan quimomachiltiaya in yaxcatzin
in itlMocayeyantzinco quimomachiltia ca in itlamatilihtzin
Dios amo motepitonoa, no90 mohueylia, ca 9^ cemiccac
yuhqui, macihui in itla9onacayotzin teitic mozcaltia, yhuan
in icuac omotlacatilitzino, in yuhqui cequintin pipiltzitzintin
yhuian mozcaltia, mohuapahua, 9^*1 no yuhcatzintli, auh ca
huel ipan chiuhcnahui Metztli in omotlacatilico, in yuhqui
timochintin ti,lalticpac^ tlaca Ic titlacati, itictzinco omoquixti
in tla9oCihuapilli in itla9omahuiznantzin Santa Maria, ca
THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE VISITATION 39
[31r] 'I And so that the explanation of these words will be
very evident and clear, may you listen well and with wonder.
When God pronounced and determined that he would be¬
come a man, that he would take his precious and honored
flesh from the precious and honored royal maiden. Saint
Mary, then from there in heaven he sent forth a certain mes¬
senger of his, who is a very great noble in heaven, a very
honorable one whose name is Angel Saint Gabriel. He is
utterly pure. He is like the sun, the way he shimmers, the way
he shines on people. Then he came toward the precious
noblewoman. Saint Mary, so that he would come to call to
her. Then he descended to earth. A great many angels came
following him, in order to marvel at their noble queen.
Straightaway he entered her oratory, where she was
cloistered, she was worshipping. And he bowed before her.
He greeted her, he praised her. He said to her, “May you be
joyful! You are full of grace. Our great ruler, God, is with
you. May you be contented, oh heavenly royal noble¬
woman. He who made you, and made us, you will take him
as your child, he will enter inside you, you will give birth
to him, you will nurse him. And he who nurtures, who
feeds [31v] the various creations, oh precious noblewoman,
you will bring him up, you will feed him, you will nurse
him. He will really be your precious child. And he will
be named Jesus, which means ‘rescuer of people,’ for he will
rescue the people of the world, of the earth.” And when the
angel finished his speech, with great humility and reverence
the royal noblewoman answered the angel. “Here I am, here
I lie, I am the servant, I am the offering of my great ruler,
God. May his will, that which he wants, be done to me.”
And then, when she had thus received the precious words of
God, in a wondrous way God the child entered inside her
and became flesh. There with the precious noblewoman’s
precious and pure blood God made his body. And there he
placed a precious and wondrously fashioned soul, such that
his divinity and utterly shimmering flesh became one with
his precious soul. Thus he was united as one person, our
lord Jesus Christ. His sacred being clothed Itself with his
precious body. Thus he hid himself, he covered himself, so
he became a complete human being, so they'' became one.
And even though his precious body was being nurtured
and was growing in a gradual way inside his precious and
honored mother, there he was fully in charge of the heavens
and the earth. Since he was God, the divinity, he was aware
of everything there. He was aware of his possessions, his
royal seat. The wisdom of God does not become small,
nor does it increase. It is just always so, even though his
precious body is being nurtured inside someone. And when
he was born, it was as other little children are nurtured and
grow in a gradual way; he was just like that. And right in
the ninth month he came to be born, as all of us people of
earth are born. He emerged from inside the precious noble¬
woman, his precious and honored mother. Saint Mary. He
was truly her beloved child, as he was a little male person,
40 BEFORE GUADALUPE
nel huel inetla90tlalconetzin, inic oquichtlacatzintli, yehica
ca itictzinco omochiuhtzino, in itla^omahuiztlactzin, in [32r]
tlagomahuizichpochtli, ica in itla9oez90tzin, yehica ca mittoa
ca in yehuatzin toTecuiyo lesu Christo, in Dios ytla9oPiltzin,
mochipa Dios, mochipa Teotl moyetzticatqMi, auh inic
oquichtli oncan oquimopehualtili, in icuac omonacayo-
titzinoco oquimonantitzino in Ilhuicac tlatocaCihuapilli
cayamo* yeppa iconetzin, in icuac momatticatca in iteoyotzin,
auh in axcan ca itla90chalchiuhconetzin, iteoxiuhconetzin,
in tla9oCihuapilli, auh ca yehuatzin neltiliztica ytla9oma-
huiznantzin Dios, in yuh cemiccac mittoa.
2. Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, Psalmodia Christiana, 1583
This book, first composed around 1558-1560 by Sahagun
and Nahua scholars from the Colegio de Santa Cruz (prob¬
ably Martin Jacobita, Antonio Valeriano, Alonso Vegerano,
and Pedro de San Buenavantura), is the only Nahuatl chant-
book published in colonial Mexico. It was revised in 1564
and finally published in 1583, becoming the only work that
the indefatigable Franciscan ethnographer and teacher saw
printed during his lifetime. A hybrid synthesis of liturgical
chants, hymns, biblical readings, hagiography, and Nahuatl
poetry, it provided Nahuatl-speaking celebrants with chants
to use for 54 Church festivals, as well as a basic catechism and
abundant woodcuts (see discussions in Burkhart 1992a,
1992b). The texts are divided into psalmos, “psalms” or can¬
tos, reflecting the book’s basic purpose: to parallel the Book
of Psalms in providing materials for a Nahuatl liturgy.
In the eighteenth century the book was denounced by
the Mexican Inquisition because of the long-standing “anti-
Lutheran” policies forbidding translation of the Bible into
vernacular languages (Garcia Icazbalceta 1954:326-327).
Indeed, it is surprising that the book was published at all:
contemporary reviewers may not have been particularly sen¬
sitive to its subtle reworkings of Christian teachings, but it
does contain translations from Scripture—as in the first ex¬
cerpt below. Manuscript collections of Gospel readings that
IN DIEANNUNCIATIONIS BEAT/E MARI/E VIRGIN IS.
[56r] TERCERO Psalmo.
[Mese sexto.]
In ie iuh chiquacentetl metztli otztitica sancta Isabel, in ie
quitquitica Sant loan Baptista, in iteteiximachticatzi in
totecuio lesu Christo.
[Missus est agelus Gabriel a deo (in civitatem Galiliaeas, cui
nomen Nazareth).]
In iehoatzi in totecuio Dios, oquioalmioali in ititlatzi
iehoatl in sant Gabriel: vmpa oalla, vmpa oaltemuc in Galilea,
ce altepetl ipan, itocaioca Nazareth.
because his precious and honored body was made inside of
[32r] the precious and honored maiden, with her precious
blood. Therefore it is said that our lord Jesus Christ,
God’s precious child, is always God, he is always a divinity.
But as a man he began then, when he came to become flesh,
when he took as his mother the heavenly royal noble¬
woman. Before, when he was not yet her child, then his
sacredness was known."’ But now he is the precious
noblewoman’s precious jade" child, her turquoise child.
And she is truly the precious and honored mother of God, as is
said forever.
priests used for masses {epistolas y evangelios) circulated in
Nahuatl, but friars had repeatedly to justify their existence
and could not publish them.
The Psalmodia’s songs for the Annunciation begin
with two psalmos that translate the so-called “O” anti¬
phons from the liturgy for Advent and the December 18
Feast of the Expectation (of Mary’s childbirth; see text 4.1).
These antiphons call upon God to come to humanity’s aid;
the Psalmodia’s authors apparently deemed them appro¬
priate for the March Annunciation as well. With the third
psalmo begins the narrative account below, derived from
Luke 1:26-38. Although several of these verses were also
the basis for antiphonal chants (see plate 5), this account
was adapted from the biblical text, probably in the form of a
breviary reading. Ironically, it is its closeness to the bibli¬
cal account, rather than any native re-working of it, that
makes this text controversial, since Nahuas were not sup¬
posed to have direct access to such materials. Latin passages
from Luke that are quoted in the margins of the book are
included below in brackets, preceding the Nahuatl text that
they accompany. Additional text from the Vulgate Bible
not directly quoted but used as basis for the Nahuatl text is
presented in parentheses in both the transcription and the
translation.
ON THE DAY OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.
[56r] Third Psalm
[In the sixth month (Luke 1:26).]
It was when for six months Saint Elizabeth had been preg¬
nant, had been carrying Saint John the Baptist, the one who
made our lord Jesus Christ known to people.
[The angel Gabriel was sent from God (to a city of Galilee,
named Nazareth. Luke 1:26).]
Our lord God sent his messenger, Saint Gabriel. He came
there, he descended there in Galilee, in a certain city, a place
called Nazareth.

[Ad virgine desponsata viro (cui nomen erat loseph, de domo
David, et nomen virginis Maria)].
luictzinco oalmotitla in ichpuchtli, in iciuatia, in ie
inemac, in ie inamic, in ceca qualli iyollo, itoca loseph, itech
quizqui in Dauid: auh inin ichpuchtli, itoca Maria.
[56v] [Et ingressus angelus ad ea dixit Aue Maria, gratia plena,
dominus tecum.]
Auh inin angel, in iquac ipantzinco calac in ichpuchtli,
quimopouiliticatca in teutlatolli, auh niman quimotlapalhui,
quimolhuili. Aue Maria gratia plena: dominus tecum.
[Benedicta tu I mulieribus.]
Cihuapille, cenca titla90tlaloni, cenca tijecteneoaloni in
ispantzinco Dios: inic titlacnopilhuiani, tiquimmopanauilia
in isquichti cioa.
Ceca omitzmocnelili i totecuio dios: miectlamantli in
nemoaloni inic quimapanili in manimantzi, ic nouia
tijecteneoaloz in cemanaoac.
QVARTO Psalmo.
[Quae cu audisset, turbata est (in sermone eius).]
AVh in oquimocaquiti, in cenquizcaichpuchtli sancta Maria,
in itlapaloloca, omotlapololtitzino, amo quimomactocatzino
in itetlapaloliz angel: ipampa ca cenca mocnomattzinoani.
[Et cogitabat, quails esset ista salutatio.]
Niman quilnamictimotlalitzino, ipan moiolnonotzino
in itetlapaloliz angel, quimitalhui: tlein in tetlapaloliztli,
tlei[57r]ca, tleipampa in iuh nitolo y, in iuh niteneoalo y?
[(Et ait angelus ei:) Ne timeas Maria (invenisti enim gratiam
apud Deum).]
Auh in iehoatl angel quimolhuili. Qihuapille, Mariae, ma-
camo ximomauhtitzino, ca titla90tlaloni in ispantzinco dios.
[Ecce concipies in vtero (et paries filium, et vocabis nomen
ems lesum).]
Auh ca izcatqui, xicmocaquiti vei tlamaui9olli
nimitznolhuilico: ca nelli ticequizcaichpuchtli, auh ca
mitictzico motlaliz piltzintli, titlacachiuaz: auh in piltzintli
ticmotocaiotiliz lesus.
[Hie erit magnus (et Eilius Altissimi vocabitur, et dabit illi
Dominus Deus sedem David patris eius: et regnabit in domo
lacob in aeternum, et regni eius non erit finis).]
Inin motelpuchtzi in lesus, cenca vei iez: Dios ipiltzi
motocaiotiz, quimocuiliz in itlatocaio Dauid: quimopachil-
huiz in sancta Iglesia, aic tzonqui9az in itlatocaiotzi.
[(Dixit autem Maria ad angelum:) Quomodo fiet istud
(quoniam virum non cognosco?)]
In oiuh quimocaquiti I ciuapilli in itlatol angel, quimo-
nanquilili, quimolhuili. Auh quenin muchiuaz y? ca amo
niquiximati in oquichtli.
QVINTO Psalmo.
[(Et respondens angelus dixit ei:) Spiritus sanctus super-
ueniet in te (et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi).]
THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE VISITATION 41
[To a virgin betrothed to a man (whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David, and the name of the virgin was Mary. Luke 1:27).]
He was sent to a maiden who was the betrothed, already
the wife, already the spouse of a very good-hearted one whose
name was Joseph, a descendant of David. And this maiden’s
name was Mary.
[56v] [And the angel having entered upon her said. "Hail.
Mary, full of grace, the lord is with you" (Luke 1:28).]
And this angel, when he entered upon the maiden, she
was reading the sacred words. And then he greeted her. He said
to her, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with you."
[“Blessed are you.among women. ” (Luke 1:28)[
“Oh noblewoman, you are very worthy of love, you are
very praiseworthy before God! You are the most fortunate of
all women!
“Greatly has our lord God favored you. Many are the life-
giving things with which he has dressed your soul, for which
you will be praised everywhere in the world!”
Fourth Psalm
[When she heard this, she was disturbed (at his speech. Luke 1:29). j
And when the perfect maiden. Saint Mary, had heard her greet¬
ing, she was confused. She did not consider herself worthy of
the angel’s greeting, because she was very humble.
[And she wondered what sort of greeting this was (Luke 1:29). j
Then she contemplated, she conferred with herself in her
heart upon the angel’s greeting. She said, “What is this greet¬
ing? Why, [57r] for what reason, am I spoken of in this way, am
I mentioned in this way?”
[(And the angel said to her,) “Do not be afraid. Mary (for you
have found favor with God. ” Luke 1:30).]
And the angel said to her: “Oh noblewoman, oh Mary,
may you not be afraid, for you are worthy of love before God.
[“Behold, you will conceive in your womb (and you will give
birth to a child, and you will call his name Jesus. ” Luke 1:31).]
“And behold! Hear the great marvel of which I have come
to tell you. It is true that you are a perfect maiden. But a little
child will be placed inside you. You will give birth. And you
will name the little child Jesus.
[“He will be great (and he will be called Son of the Most
High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father,
David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and
of his kingdom there will be no end. ” Luke 1:32-33).]
“This son of yours, Jesus, will be very great. He will be
called the child of God. He will take the kingdom of David.
He will govern the Holy Church. His kingdom will never end!”
[(Then Mary said to the angel,) “How will this be (seeing that
I do not know a man?" Luke 1:34).]
When the noblewoman had thus heard the angel’s words,
she answered him. She said to him, “But how will this hap¬
pen? For I do not know a man.”
Fifth Psalm
[(And the angel, responding, said to her,) "The Holy Spirit will
come over you (and the power of the Highest will overshadow
42 BEFORE GUADALUPE
QVimolhuili in angel: Ciuapille, mopantzinco oalmote-
mouiz in Spiritu [57v] sancto, in itechicaoaliz in Dios, mitz-
motlapachilhuiz.
[Ideoque, quod nascetur ex te (sanctum, vocabitur Filius
Dei).]
Ic ipampa y, in motechtzinco motlacatiliz, cenquiz-
caqualli iez; auh iequene motocaiotiz Dios ipiltzi.
[Ecce Elisabeth (cognata tua, et ipsa concepit filium
in senectute sua: et his mensis sextus est illi, quae vocatur
sterilis: quia non erit impossibile apud Deum omne
verbum).]
Auh tla xicmocaquiti, izca vei tlamaui9olIi nimitzilhuia:
ca in iehoatl Isabel in moaniulcatzi, ie uel ilamatzi in outztic,
ca ie tlatquitica.
Auh in ilamatzi ca tetzacatl, ca ie chiquacentetl metztli
in ie tlatquitica, in ie utztitica: ca atle in maca vel
quimuchiuilia in iehoatzi totecuio Dios.
[(Dixit autem Maria:) Ecce ancilla domini, fiat mihi, secun¬
dum verbu tuu.J
Quimitalhui in ciuapilli sancta Maria. Ca nican nica in ni-
maceoaltzi tlatoani: ma iuh nopan muchiua inin ticmitalhuia.
In iehoatzi in totecuio, in Dios tepiltzi, niman vel iquac
yitictzinco oquichtli omuchiuhtzino in ciuapilli sancta Maria,
cenquizcaichpuchtli: nima vel iquac teutl Dios inantzi
muchiuhtzino, in ciuapilli sancta Maria.
^ *
The Psalmodia also recounts the Annunciation in its songs
for the festival of Saint Gabriel. After telling of the archangel’s
other important missions to earth—to the prophet Daniel, to
Zacharias (to announce the conception of his son, John the
Baptist), to the shepherds at Christ’s birth, to Christ in the
Garden of Gethsemane, and at Christ’s resurrection—the ac¬
count ends with the following version of Gabriel’s embassy to
IN DIE SANCTI GABRIELIS ARCHANGEL!.
[49r] Auh in axcan, ma ticmaui90ca in occeca vei in inetitlaniz mu-
chiuh in sant Gabriel, ca iuictzinco valmotitla in ciuapilli sancta
Maria, in iuh ipan catqui sancto Euangelio, in axcan mitoa.
In sant Gabriel, ca quimononochilico in iehoatzi ciuapilli
in sancta Maria, quimolhuili, ca iehoatzi yitictzinco oquichtli
muchiuhtzinoz I totecuio dios, [49v] iehoatzi inantzi iez, auh
ie muchipa ichpuchtli moietztiez.
QVINTO Psalmo.
[Missus est agelus Gabriel a deo.]
IN iehoatzi in totecuio Dios oquioalmioali in itla90 in sant
Gabriel, iuictzinco oquioalmioali in ciuapilli sancta Maria,
in vmpa monemitiaia, in itocaioca Nazareth.
[Aue Maria, gratia plena, dominus tecum.]
you. ” Luke 1:35}.]
The angel said to her, “Oh noblewoman, the Holy Spirit will
descend upon you. [57v] God’s fortifying power will cover you.
[“And therefore, (the holy thing that) will be born from you
(will be called the Son of God. ” Luke 1:35).]
“Because of this, he who will be bom from you will be com¬
pletely good. And moreover, he will be called the child of God.”
[“BeholdElizabeth (your kinswoman, she has also conceived
a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her, who
was called sterile. For with God nothing shall be impossible."
Luke 1:36-37).]
“And do listen! Behold the great marvel that I tell you!
Elizabeth, your relative, who is already quite an old woman,
is pregnant! She is now carrying something.
“And this old woman, who is sterile, for six months al¬
ready she has been carrying something, she has been preg¬
nant. For there is nothing that our lord God cannot do!”
[(And Mary said,) “Behold the maidservant of the Lord. May
it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).]
The noblewoman. Saint Mary, said, “Here I am, I am the
vassal of the ruler. May this happen to me as you say.”
Our lord, God the child, right then became a man in¬
side the noblewoman. Saint Mary, the perfect maiden. Right
then the noblewoman. Saint Mary, became the mother of the
divinity, God.
* ^
Mary. Although they quote from the same Gospel passages as
in the previous account, here the authors depart slightly from
the canonical story in order to cast the archangel as a green
and shimmering quetzal bird. In this way they create a more
vivid invocation of the “flower world,” in which, in contrast
to the pure white more often emphasized in European texts,
bright colors were vectors of the sacred.
ON THE DAY OF SAINT GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL.
[49r] And now let us marvel at what became an even greater
mission of Saint Gabriel’s. He was sent to the noblewoman,
Saint Mary, as it is in the Holy Gospel that is said today.
Saint Gabriel came to advise the noblewoman. Saint Mary.
He said to her that our lord God would become a man inside
her. [49v] She would be his mother, but she would always be a
maiden.
Fifth Psalm
[The angel Gabriel was sent from God (Luke 1:26).]
Our lord God sent his precious one. Saint Gabriel. He sent him
to the noblewoman. Saint Mary, who was living there in the
place called Nazareth.
[Hail, Mary, full of grace, the lord is with you (Luke 1:28).]

In iquac ispantzinco acico, in iehoatzi ciuapilli: niman
quimotlapalhui, quito in angel. Mariae, ma ximopaquiltitie,
timotemiltitica in gracia, motlantzinco moietztica in tlatoani.
Ilhuicac quetzaltototl oalmotitla in iuictzinco Dios
inantzi, quimolhuilico: Aue Maria, gratia plena.
Inic valpepetlacatia in ixaiac, iuhquin tonatiuh ic
oallanestitia.
In iatlapal, amo gan iuhqui inic patlaoac quetzalli, in vel
iaque, in vel xopaleoac, ceca valpepetlacatia, vel oalpepetz-
catia.
[50r] Auh in muchipa ichpuchtli in ciuapilli sancta Maria,
aquen oquimuchiuili in iiollotzi, inic oquimottili, in
quimonochiliaia sant Gabriel, ca miecpa quinmottiliaia in
angelome.
3. Doctrina, evangelios y epistolas en nahuatl, late sixteenth century
Codex Indianorum 7, The John Carter Brown Library, Brown University
The narrative of Mary’s life presented in 2.4 continues with
the following Annunciation account. It suggests that Mary is
expecting a message from God, as she is waiting for his word.
The redactor has probably substituted the verb chiya ‘to wait’
for the verb tlachiya ‘to look (at),’ as Mary in this scene is
typically represented looking at the Scriptures, often called
“God’s word(s)” in Nahuatl.'^ Thus, here she is prescient rather
than literate. Like Mary’s use of the term “offering” rather
than “servant” or “vassal,” this implies a more intimate con¬
nection between girl and god.
The initial encounter with the angel is somewhat trun¬
cated, as Gabriel’s explanation of his mission is subsumed
within an etcetera. Following one established tradition
(Villegas Selvago 1760:42, 44), the author has Gabriel arrive
at the time of the ringing of the evening hell and Mary give
her consent at midnight.'^ The sunset bell-ringing was called
the Hail Mary or the Angelas after the custom, initiated by
early Franciscans but popular throughout the Catholic Church,
’Sb ^ ^
[105v] Yn S.ta ma.Tzin nima omohuicac yn ichatzinco yn
na9aret. opa quimochialtiyaya. yn itlatoltzin yn dios. niman
hualtemoc yn agel. S. gabriel. yh iquac yn tzillini Aue maria
yn tlapoyahua yn he'"* yohuac quimolhuillico Aue ma.“ gracia
brena. ec. Auh yn oquimocaquiti hin yn. S.ta ma.'tzin Qan
hualmotollolti moyolnonotztzinoticatca Cenca motlapollolti
quimolhuilliticatca tleyn iny tlatolli Ca mochipa hualhui yn
agellome aye yuhqui oniccac yn tlatolli achi amo ceca
q’momactocac yn tlatolli nima quimolhuilli nima quimol-
huilli ^iuapille macamo ximotequipacho Auh yn. S.ta
ma.^tzin. mochi molnamiquilliaya yn queni tlacachiuaz
quimolhuilli y agel. S. gabriel yn ticmitalhuia queni mochiuaz
Ca amo nicnequi. yn oquichtli Ca 9a huel niepiaz y nochpochyo
THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE VISITATION 43
When he had come to arrive before the noblewoman, then
he greeted her. The angel said, “Oh Mary! May you be joyful!
You are full of grace. The ruler is with you.”
A heavenly quetzal bird was sent to God’s mother. It came
to say to her, “Hail Mary, full of grace.”
The way its face came shimmering, it was like the sun, the
way it came shining.
Its wings, quetzal feathers are not so wide! They were
quite pointed, quite green. They came shimmering brightly,
they came glimmering brightly.
[50r] And she who is forever a maiden, the noble¬
woman, Saint Mary, was not at all disturbed when she saw that
Saint Gabriel was calling to her, for she often used to see
angels.
of reciting the Hail Mary at this time (Graef 1963-65:v. 1:308;
Pelikan 1996:99). The custom was imported to New Spain; in
Mexico City it replaced the sunset beating of a great drum at
the temple of Quetzalcoatl (Duran 1967:v.l:65; Mendieta
1980:500; Sahagun 1563:94v).
Mary is troubled not by the angel’s presence but by his
words. As Rivadeneira (1669:259) explains, “it is to be be¬
lieved that Angells did often visit her”; however, “she esteemed
herself unworthy of such praises.” Gabriel here advises Mary
chicuace ora ‘for six hours’ ; this would extend from nightfall
(Vespers in the canonical hours) to Matins, the first canonical
hour, or midnight—precisely nine months prior to Christ’s
midnight birth. Villegas Selvago (1760:44) notes that, in or¬
der to fill up this time, Gabriel must have had more to say than
what is attested in Luke. Mary’s familiarity with religious
teachings, if not written texts, is suggested here by her con¬
templation of the fall of the devils, a story the friars used to
explain the origin of the Nahuas’ ancestral deities.
*
[105v] Saint Mary then went to her home in Nazareth. There
she was waiting for the word of God. Then the angel Saint
Gabriel descended. It was when the Hail Mary rings, when it
is getting dark, it is already night. He came to say, “Hail
Mary, full of grace, etc.” And when Saint Mary heard this
she just lowered her head, she was conferring with herself
in her heart. She was very confused. She was saying, “What
are these words? Angels come all the time; I have never
heard such words.” She considered herself very little worthy
of the words. Then he said to her, then he said to her, “Oh
noblewoman, may you not be anxious.” And Saint Mary
was contemplating everything, how she would give birth.
She said to the angel Saint Gabriel, “That which you say.
44 BEFORE GUADALUPE
Occeppa quimolhuilli yn .S. gabriel Ca amo oquichtica yn
mochihuaz yn dios ypiltzin Ca ^an Spu Santotica yn mochiuaz
chiquace ora yn quinonotzticatca y. S.tama.“tzi [106r] Mochi
yc motlatlani yn queni hualhuetzque yn diabrome yn quez-
quica xelliuhque Auh yn quenin mochiuh yn tlal.'tli. Auh yn
hSpachiuh yn iyollotzin y. S.ta ma^tzl nima huelliquac'^ yn
tzillini maytines y yohualnepatla quimitalhui yn tlein quimo-
nequiltia ma nopa quimonequilti yn dios. Ca nitlacauhtzin
nima hualmotemohuitihuetz yn esbrito. S.to ^a nima huel
yehuatl yn ianimatzin yn hualmotemoui Auh yn inacayontzin
ynic mochiuh ca yehuatl yn ie90tzin yn. S.ta ma.Hzi amo
tiuhque ynic techmochihuillia yn dios. ca yn toquichti ynic
titotlallia y teitic ca opohualtica yn techmomaquillia yn dios.
yn ianimatzin Auh yn ^iua ca nauhpohualtica yn quinmoma-
quillia. yn imaniman Auh yn to.° dios. Amo yuh mochiuh-
tzino Auh yn iquac motlacatilli 9an no yohualnepatla atle
necocolliliztli ytechtzinco mochiuh yn. S.ta ma.^tzin yn iquac
y he** motlacachihuilliznequi huellacopa^ Onmotlachialti
nima hualmotlacatilli y piltzitli [106v] yn cdmottilli y. S.ta
ma.“tzl Ca omotlacatilli yn dios ypiltzin. Auh yn. S.ta ma.*‘tzin ca
9a nima aque omochiuhtzino Ca huel cequizcaychpochtli.
ynnaxcan*** yn onpa yn ilhuicatl itic ca huel mochipa ychpochtli.
4. Sermones en mexicano, late sixteenth century
Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico MS 1487
After describing how Mary and Joseph marry and agree to
remain celibate (text 2.5), this sermon (see also 1.1) discusses
Mary’s significance in reversing Eve’s sin and in serving as
mother and intercessor for the people of earth. Heaven having
lain closed for 4,800 years, God decides to have mercy on
humanity and sends Gabriel to Mary. Nazareth is again asso¬
ciated with flowers, but here it is called Xochitepec, “on the
flowery mountain.” An actual town of that name lies south of
Cuernavaca near the ruins of Xochicalco.
Gabriel must “take his body” before appearing to Mary
because, although Nahuatl texts do not generally explain this,
angels have no material form in heaven. Pedro de la Vega
(1569:206r) explains that, in order to appear to Mary in hu¬
man form, Gabriel formed “a very resplendent body from the
air, in which he could be seen.”
Mary is reading when the angel arrives; here it is evident
* *
[134] auh nima conmochiti^' yn inpillo yn itlatocayon. intoca
sant gabriel. angel Quimolhuili ca tinotlachihual auh yn
axca ximohuica ximotemohui in tlalpf yn opa cemaltepetl
ipa yn itocayoca Nazaret yn ompa yn xochitepec. honpa
nemi centlacatl ychpochtli. cenca qualli ceca yectli. cenca
nechnotza cenca nechtlatlauhtia ynic nechnotza ynic
how will it be done? I do not want a man. 1 shall just keep
my maidenhood.” Again Saint Gabriel said to her, “Not with
a man will God’s child be made. Just with the Holy Spirit
will he be made.” For six hours he was advising Saint Mary.
[106r] She questioned herself all about how the devils'*' fell,
how they were scattered in so many places. And how the
earth was made. And Saint Mary was satisfied. Then right
when Matins rings, at midnight, she said, “That which he
wants, may it happen to me, that which God wants. I am
his offering.” Then the Holy Spirit suddenly descended.
Right then his soul descended. And his body was made
from the blood of Saint Mary. It was not like us, the way
,God makes us. We men, the way we are placed within
someone, at forty [days] God gives us his soul.And women,
at eighty [days] he gives them their souls. But our lord
God was not made like this. And when he was born, it was
also at midnight. No sickness befell Saint Mary when she
was about to give birth. She looked way up high, then the
little child was born. [106v] Saint Mary saw him. God’s child
was born. And Saint Mary, nothing at all happened to her. She
is really a perfect maiden. Now she is there within heaven. She
is forever a maiden.
that she is contemplating Isaiah 7:14. The multiple references
to “we commoners” may again be interpreted as an attempt to
relate the story directly to the Nahua listeners. In infusing the
narrative with a Nahua voice, the author goes so far as to
replace the angel’s greeting to Mary—perhaps the most oft-
uttered phrase in the Catholic world—with a more traditional
and polite Nahuatl salutation. The extensive use of dialogue
may also be an accommodation to Nahua oral practice and
would facilitate the text’s dramatization. Indeed, in narrating
Mary’s meeting with the angel the text shifts back and forth
between present and past tenses. This switching suggests a
tension between narration of past events and their reenact¬
ment in the present; the author may be describing or drafting
an Annunciation play. At the end the author attempts, some¬
what awkwardly, to describe the union of divinity, soul, and
body in Mary’s womb.
* *
[134] And then he called to his noble, his rulership, whose
name is Saint Gabriel the angel. He said to him, “You are my
creation. And today, go, descend to earth. There in a certain
city, a place called Nazareth, there in Xochitepec, there lives
a certain maiden. She is very good, very proper. She calls to
me very much, she prays to me very much. As she calls to me

nechtlatlauhtia yn axca niquitlaocolia oa^inco ye omca in ye
huecauh niquimilhui yn adam in Euan. Niquitlaocoliz ni-
temoz in tlalp". cen tlacatl ychpochtli yntic ninochihuantiuh.
ynic huel niquinmaquixtiz y nohuia in cemanahuac. y
nomacehualhuan. yn inmacpa niquimanatiuh yn tlatlaca-
tecolo auh ynic huel niquintlapolhuiz y nochatzinco yn
ilhuicac ynic huel huallazque yn oyuh quimolhuilli in sant
gabriel angel cenca papac motlamachti ye no ceppa
quimolhuili ximotemohui yn tlalp'". xiquinyollali y noma¬
cehualhuan auh in yehuatl in maria xiquilhui qan icel. ^an
iyo. yn huel nechnotza in huel nechtlatlauhtia qa huel icel.
auh yn amagelosti. ayac ceme amiuhque auh in tlalp". nemi.
ayac ceme yuhque yn macehualtin qan icel qan io yn huel
nechnotza in huel nechtlatlauhtia in ^an icel yn huel
nechahuieltia yn huel nechhuelamachtia yn huel itech ca y
noyollo auh yn axca yuh quilhui yn oq’monahuantilli yn tt."
in dios auh in yehuatl in sant gabriel angel, cecan papac
motlamachti yehica yn mochitin yn agelosme quineq’ yn ma
timochitin tihuia yn ilhuicac yn ichatzico in tt.° in dios auh
yn icquac hualhuezque yn tlatlacatecolo yn ixquichti
hualhuezqwe q’hualcauhtiaque yn pepetlacan [135] yn icpalli
yehica in quinequi yn agelosme Ma timochitin ynpa tito-
tlaliti yn timacehualtin. yn agelosme in ye yuhqui. yn
oquimonahuatili in tt." in dios in yehuatl in sant gabriel an¬
gel. nima hualtemoc yn tlalp". yn opa cenm altepetl ipa yn
itocayoca Nazaret. yn oatzito yn ilhuitzinnipa^^ in sancta
maria onca quicuic ynacayon. in sant gabriel angel, cenca
qualli cenca tlanextia yn oquicuic yn inacayo nima hual-
motemohui ynpan ocallac. in sancta maria motlaquaquezticac
yn oca yn quimochilia^^ yn quimotlatlauhtilia yn icel teotl in
dios yn topampa in timacehualtin. auh in yehuantzin in sancta
maria. Nima ye quitta yn amatl yn itech valtemoz yn ipiltzin
dios yn tlalp". yn oquichtli mochihuaq’uh yn ihitic yn ce
tlacatl ychpochtli. ynic techmomaquixtiliquiuh yn timace-
hualtin auh in yehuatzin in sancta maria yn iuh quittac yn
amostlipa ynic quimonochilia ynic quimotlatlauhtilia in tt.“
in dios Quimolhuilia Notecuiyo dios tloque Nahuanque ma
tlacava yn moyollotzin yn iuh niquitta yn itech yn mamatzin
yn tihualmotemohuitzinoz yn tlalp"^. yn centlacatl ychpochtli
in cenca qualli in cenca yectli. yn ihitic Oquichtli
timochiuhtzinoquiuh ma hoc nixpa yez Ma oc mquittaz Ma
oquixco nitlachiaz yn quenami yn ac yehuatl yn ichpochtli
yn iuh quimitalhui yn sancta maria amo quimomachitia in
yehuantzin in ye yuhqui yn sant gabriel yn agel ynpa
mocallaqui yn sancta maria motlaquezticac Quimochilia
quimotlatlauhtilia in tt.° in dios yn oquittac yni tlanextiaya
yn agel. cenca qualli cenca yectli Quihualmottili in sancta
maria hualmocuep auh in yevatl yn agel niman ixpa
Motlaquaquez in sancta maria yehica [136] yn huel quimatin
yn innatzin yez in tt." in dios nima ye quimolhuilia
^ihuanpille xicmihiyohuiltin xicmoqiahuilti Nititla in dios
nimiznotlapalhuia motlacatiliz yn tlatovani yn iqualtica yn
iyectica yn ica yn gi^a. yehica yn 9a mocel. yn 9a tiyo m huel
motechcan. yn iyollo yn cenca ticpapaquiltia yn cenca
THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE VISITATION 45
and prays to me, today I feel compassion for her. It has come to
arrive, it is now the time of which, long ago, I spoke to Adam
and Eve. I will have compassion for them. I will descend to
earth. Inside a certain maiden I am going to make myself so
that I will be able to rescue my vassals everywhere in the
world. I am going to seize them from the hands of the demons.
And thus I will be able to open my home in heaven for them,
so they will be able to come.” When he had spoken thus to
Saint Gabriel the angel, he was very joyful and happy. Once
again he said to him, “Descend to earth. Console my vassals.
And say to Mary that she alone, only she calls to me well,
prays to me well, she alone. And you angels, not one of you is
like this. And they who live on earth, not one of the common¬
ers is like this. She alone, only she calls to me well, prays to
me well. She alone really delights me, really makes me happy.
My heart is attached to her.” And now in this way our lord God
spoke, he commanded him. And as for Saint Gabriel the angel,
he was very joyful and happy because all the angels want all
of us to go to heaven, to the home of our lord God. And when
the demons fell,^° they all fell, they left the shimmering [135]
seats. Therefore the angels want all of us commoners to sit
over them, the angels. After our lord God thus commanded
Saint Gabriel the angel, then he descended to earth in a cer¬
tain city, a place called Nazareth. He went to arrive on the
festival of Saint Mary. There Saint Gabriel the angel took his
body. It was very good, very shiny. When he had taken his
body then he descended and entered upon Saint Mary. She is
kneeling, there she is calling to, she is praying to the sole
divinity, God, on behalf of us commoners. And right then
Saint Mary is looking at a page about how the child of God
will descend to earth, will come to become a man inside a
certain maiden, will thus come to rescue us commoners. And
Saint Mary, as she saw it in the book, thus she is calling to,
thus she is praying to our lord God, She says, ‘ My lord God,
lord of the near, lord of the nigh, may your heart concede, as to
what I see in your pages. You will descend to earth. Inside a
certain maiden, who is very good, very proper, you will come
to become a man. May it yet be before me, may I yet see it,
may I yet look upon her face! What is she like? Who is the
maiden?” Thus spoke Saint Mary. She does not know that it
was she. So now Saint Gabriel the angel enters upon Saint
Mary. She is kneeling, she is calling to, she is praying to our
lord God. She saw how the angel was shining. It was very
good, very fine. Saint Mary looked toward him, she turned
around. And the angel then knelt before Saint Mary, because
[136] he knows well that she will be the mother of our lord
God. Thereupon he says to her, “Oh noblewoman, you have
suffered fatigue, you have tired yourself. I am the messenger
of God. I greet you. The ruler will be born, through his good¬
ness, through his propriety, through grace. It is because his
heart is attached to you alone, only you. You make our lord,
the sole divinity, God, very joyful, you make him very happy.
It is because not one of the angels lives like this, and there is
no one else in the world who lives like this, not one of the
46 BEFORE GUADALUPE
tichuelamachtia yn tt." yn icel teotl in Dios yehica yn ayac
ceme yuhque nemi yn agelosme auh ayac ceme yuhque nemi
yn cemanahuac yn ayac ceme yuh nemin. yn macehualtin
auh amo ceme tiuhque yn tagelosme ynic tichuellamachtia
yn icel teotl in dios auh in tevatin amo ceme tiuhque ynic
tichuellamachtia 5a mocel 9a tiyo. yn huel ticnot9a yn huel
tictlatlauhtia yn iuh quilhui yn agel. in yehuatl in sant gabriel
in sancta maria yn oquicac cenca mocnomatzino yn ihitic ye
quimonochilia ye quimotlatlauhtilia yn icel teotl in dios
Quimolhuilli Notecuiyo Notlatocatzin yn axca yn iuh
nechilhuia cuix nelli yn motlatoltzin cuix otichualmihualli
cuix no90 amo cuix no90 tlatlacatecolo y noca moca-
cavaznequi cuix nechiztlacahuiznequi Que nicmatiz ac
nechilhuiz auh yn axca Mopaltzinco xinechmolhuili auh in
yehuatl yn agel. nima huel quittac huel quima yn oquimo-
nochili yn oquimotlatlauhtili in tt“ in dios yn oquittac
Netlamaticac. yn tonatzin ye no ceppa quilhui. cihuapille
xicmatin xiccaqui titlacachihuaz timopilhuatiz mopa
hualtemoz yn iqualtica yn iyectica yn tt.“ yn ipalnemovani
mitic Oquichtli mochihuaquiuh yn moconnetzin yez. Q.n.
dios ynpiltzin Quilhui cihuanpille yn moconetzin yez yntoca
yez Jesus. Qn. temaquixtiani y nohuia yn cemanahuac. yn
itla90tatzin yn itla qui[ 137]tlalliz Quimomaquiliz yn icpaltzin
Quitlatocatlaliz yn ilhuicac yn tlalp.*^ y nohuia cemanahuac.
Nohuia notzalloz nohuia tlatlauhtilloz Nohuia yn itolloz
Anca tlamiz yn iteyo yn itoca. yn itauhcayo. yn oyuh q’lhui
yn agel. auh in yehuantzi yn tonantzin. yn sancta maria
Quimolhuili yn axca yn iuh tinechilhuia y ninopilhuantiz y
nitlacachihuaz Oyuh niquilhui Oyuh nicnoz Oyuh nicno-
tlatlauhtili in tt." in Dios y noteouh y notlatocauh yn aca
niquittaz yn oquichtlin 9a mochipa nichpochtli niyezneq’.
yn ipaltzinco y noteouh y notlatocauh yuh quito y. in sancta
maria auh in yevatl in sant gabriel yn agel. E^'' no ceppa quilhui
Cihuapille xiccaqui xicmatin yn axca yn iuh tiquitova yn aca
tiquittaz yn oquichtli ticnequi 9a no yuh mochivaz yuh
quimochihuiliz yn dios yc xitlaneltocan yn 9an icel. in
iyon. yn mochi quichiuh yn ilhuicatl yn tlalp^ y nohuia in
cemanahuac. mochi huel quimochihuilia auh yn iuh tiquitova
yn aca tiquittaz yn oquichtli 9a mochipa tichpochtli
tiyeznequi huel quimochihuiliz in tt.° in dios ca yehuatl yn
ompa hualtemoz yn iqualtica yn iyectica yn ichipahuanca yn
itoca sp sancto. yn mitic callaquiquiuh yehuatzin temaquix¬
tiani ye no ceppa Quilhui cihuanpille xiccaqui xicmatin. yn
moconetzi yez topampa quitlapoz yn ilhuicatl yn iquac yn
temaquixtiquiuh yn tlalp^ ynic quiteylhuiquiuh yn ihiyotzin
yn itlatoltzin yn aquique y huel quimoneltoquitizque yn
q’ntilhuiquiuh yn huel quinotzazque yn huel quimotlatlauh-
tilizque yn tlaneltocaz yn iyollo yehuanti Quintlecahuiz yn
ichantzinco ye no ceppa Quilhui Cihuapille yn moconetzi
yez [138] cenca miec yn quinpopoloz yn tlatlacoli yn intla-
tlacol yn achto Amona. yn achto amota. yn adam. in Euan, yn
quimoyolcehuiliz quimotlatlauhtiliz yn itla90tatzin dios yn
ipapa yn tlatlacolli ye no ceppa quilhui cihuanpille yn axca
yn iuh nimitzilhuia anca9omo titlaneltoca yc xitlaneltocan
commoners lives like this. And not one of us angels makes
the sole divinity, God, happy like this. And we, not one of us
makes him happy like this. Just you alone, only you call to
him well, pray to him well.” Thus the angel. Saint Gabriel,
spoke to her. When Saint Mary heard it, she was very humble.
Inside herself she now calls to, she now prays to the sole
divinity, God. She said to him, “My lord, my ruler, the way he
speaks to me now, perhaps it is true that they are your words?
Perhaps you sent him? Or perhaps not. Or perhaps the demons
want to mock me? Perhaps they want to deceive me? How am
I to know who is speaking to me? And now, by your will, tell
me.” And the angel then saw well, knew well that she called
to, that she prayed to our lord God. He saw that our mother
stood worrying. Once again he said to her, “Oh noblewoman,
know and hear that you will bear a child, you will become a
parent, upon you will descend the goodness, the propriety of
our lord, he by whom one lives. Inside you he will come to
become a man. He will be your child, that is to say, the child of
God.” He said to her, “Oh noblewoman, he who will be your
child, his name will be Jesus, which means ‘rescuer every¬
where in the world.’ His precious father [137] will place him
by his side. He will give him his seat, he will install him as
ruler in heaven, on earth, everywhere in the world. Every¬
where he will be called to, everywhere he will be prayed to,
everywhere he will be spoken to. Nowhere will his renown,
his name, his fame end.” Thus the angel spoke to her. And our
mother. Saint Mary, said to him, “Now you tell me that 1 will
become a parent, I will give birth. So did I speak to, so did 1
call to, so did I pray to our lord God, my divinity, my ruler,
that I would see no man. I just want to be a maiden forever, by
the will of my divinity, my ruler.” Thus spoke Saint Mary. And
Saint Gabriel the angel once again said to her, “Oh noble¬
woman, hear and know now that, as you say that what you
want is that you will see no man, just like this will it be done,
like this will God do it. Thus believe that he alone, only he,
9an who made everything, heaven, earth, everywhere in the world,
he can do everything. And as you say that you will see no
man, you just want to be a maiden forever, our lord God will
be able to do it. There will descend his goodness, his propri¬
ety, his purity, which is called ‘Holy Spirit.’ The rescuer will
come to enter inside you.” Once again he said to her, “Oh
noblewoman, hear and know that he who will be your child,
for our sake he will open heaven. When he comes to rescue
people on earth, thus he will come to tell people his breath,
his words. Those who will believe well what he comes to
tell them, who will call to him well, who will pray to him
well, whose hearts will believe, he will take them up to his
home.” Once again he said to her, “Oh noblewoman, he
who will be your child [138] will destroy a great many
sins, the sins of your^' first mother, your first father, Adam
and Eve. He will appease, he will pray to his precious
father, God, on account of sin.” Once again he said to her,
“Oh noblewoman, perhaps you do not believe what I am say¬
ing to you now. Thus believe that a certain relative of yours

yn ce tlacatl mohuayolqui yn itoca helisabel. yntech monex-
tia in tt." in dios yehica ye illama in ye chicahuac yn iyollo yn
inacayo ye chiuhcnauhpohualtonatiuh in ye oztli. Ma9ihui
in ye illama huellacachihuaz^’ yntech monextiz in tt." in
dios yn iuh quilhui yn agel. yn sancta maria aun^'’ 5ca yn
quito yn iuh tinechilhuia yn iuh motlatoltzin qa nelli
nitlaneltoca yn teotl y notecuiyo. y notlatocauh yn 9an icel
yn 9an iyo yn amo vme yn amo yei. yn mochihuelli yn quenin
quimonequiltia yn quenin yyollotlamatzinco yn mochi
mochihuan yn ayac queleltia yn ayac quitlacahualtia yn
quenin. Quimonequiltia yn Quenin yyollitzi tlama yn tley
notech quimochihuiliznequi Ma ciuh^’ quimochihuilli. Ca
nica nica y nimacevaltzin y nitlachihualtzin y nitetlaecol-
ticauh. Ma 9iuh-'' quimochihuili yn iuh motlatoltzin yn iuh
ticmitalhuia cu-'^ in ocan in yn huell iyollotzin pachiuh yn
tonatzin in sancta maria yn iuh quito yn itlatol. auh in
yehuantzin. in tt." in dios nima yn9iuhca quimochihuilli
centlacatl in teyollitia cenca yectli cenca chipahuac yn
ipaltzinco yn itoca Spu sancto yn iqualtica yn iectica yn
quivalmivalli in ce teyollitia yn ihitic callaquico in sancta
maria yn ihitic quimocuilli yn inacayotzin ynic oq’chtli
mochiuhtzinoco Nima iciuhca yhitictzinco mocallaq’co yn
ipiltzin in dios [139] yn ce teyollitia yn inacayotzin yehican
yn timacehualtin yn tiquitohua yn Dies DEO GRACIAS
5. Fray Juan de la Anunciacion, Sermonario en lengua mexicana, 1577
The first section of Anunciacion’s sermon for the Eeast of the
Visitation, presented here in full, turns the story into an
exeniptum of the proper behavior of chaste and modest young
women. Rather than celebrating Mary or expressing devotion
to her, the priestly voice emphasizes what people should not
do. Luke’s Gospel ascribes to young, betrothed Mary consid¬
erable personal freedom, as she is allowed to travel, apparently
alone, from Nazareth to her kinswoman’s house in Judea. The
sermon reverses this message, instead emphasizing constraints
on female activity. Nahua parents would surely second
Anunciacion’s recommendation that their daughters not go
around Eirting in the marketplace, but Mary’s hurried move¬
ment violates traditional norms of decorum (Burkhart 1989:137).
Anunciacion’s text resembles words that Pedro de
Rivadeneira, also citing Saint Ambrose, includes in his own
text for the Visitation to explain Mary’s speedy travel
(1669:451): “Learn you Virgins not to frequent the houses of
[165r] 1 In festo visitationis virginis Marise.
EXVRGENS MARIA abiit in motana cum festinatione, in
ciuitate luda: & intrauit in domu Zachariae & salutauit
Elisabeth. Luc. c. I. Quitoznequi. Yn ipa amotlatol, ca in
THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE VISITATION 47
whose name is Elizabeth, our lord God manifests himself
through her because she is already an old woman, her heart
and her body have attained old age. She is now pregnant for
180 suns already. Even though she is already an old woman,
she will be able to bear a child. Through her our lord God
will manifest himself.” Thus the angel spoke to Saint Mary.
And then she said, ‘‘The way that you speak to me, the way
your words are, it is just the truth. I believe that the divinity,
my lord, my ruler, he alone, the only one, not two, not three,
is all-powerful. Whatever he wishes, whatever is his heart’s
desire, everything is done. No one hinders him, no one
prevents him. Whatever he wishes, whatever is his heart’s
desire, that which he wants to do with me, may he quickly do
it. Here I am, I am his vassal, 1 am his creation, I am his
servant. May he quickly do it, as your words are, as you say.”
Then our mother. Saint Mary, was quite satisfied, as she spoke
her words. And our lord God then quickly made a certain
spirit of a person, which was very good, very pure, by the will
of what is called the Holy Spirit, his goodness, his propriety.
He sent a certain spirit, which came to enter inside Saint Mary.
Inside her he took his body, as he came to become a man.
Then quickly came to enter inside her the child of God, [ 139]
a certain spirit, and his body. Therefore we commoners say,
“God, thanks be to Cod."^-
strangers, not to stay in the streets, not to wander up and
down, and hant places that are full of company, nor to talk
where there is much people. Seeing that the Virgin of Virgins,
the true mirour wherein you are to glasse yourselues, and
learn your bounden duty, kept herself retired at home; and
when occasion called her abroad, made no stop or stay, but
hastened to her jorneys end.” Pedro de la Vega (1569:282r)
claims that Mary traveled not alone but with some of the
other virgins with whom she had served in the temple. She
hurried because she did not want to stay in public long and
“in order to show that it is not appropriate for a virgin to
linger in public and pleasurable places, nor to strike up con¬
versations with anyone.”
The sermon’s second section uses Mary’s ascent toward
Elizabeth’s home as a model for rising up out of sinfulness. A
third part takes her rapid travel as a model for the speediness
with which one must pursue virtue.
[ 165r] i On the festival of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary
Rising up. Mary went into the mountains with haste, into a
city of Judea, and she entered the house of Zacharias and
greeted Elizabeth. Luke, chapter I[:39]. This means, in your
48 BEFORE GUADALUPE
yehualzin ciuapilli sancla Maria moquetzino mohuicac,
yua mototoquiltiya in ompa tepelicpac, ypa altepetl judea:
auh onca mocalaquitzino yn icha Zacharias, yua qui-
motlapalhui in sancta Elisabeth. Yn amehuali in amich-
pupuchtin xicmatica, ca in yehuatzin s. Ambrosio amech-
mononochilia in axcan, ynic vel ytetzinco ammixcuitizqMe
in sancta Maria. Ca amechmolhuilia, in amehuati in
amichpupuchtin, ma ytetzinco ximixcuitica in sancta
Maria. Macamo tepan xiquiztinemican macamo xitecal-
panotineca, macamo tianquizco xihuecauacan, macamo
tctla ximotlatlalica, macamo otlica ximoquetzaca, maca¬
mo xiquinnonotzacan in oquichtin, macamo xiteix-
huetzquilican. Ca in yehuatzin S. Maria ca 9a calli, 9an
callitic in moyetzticatca, onca quimotlatlauhtiliaya
totecuiyo Dios. Auh yn iquac moquixtitzino 9an micihui-
titia mocxitotoquiltitia, ynic amo yttoz: yua 9an motolol-
titia amo ma moteitztilitia. Yn ixquich quimochihuili
ciuapilli S. Maria, ca mochi yc oamechmomachiotlalili,
ynic no yuh annemizqne nica tlalticpac. Ca in aquin
mopiaznequi, ynic amo tlatlacoz, ceca ytech monequi in
amo quittaz tlauanaloya ano90 netotiloya, amo no
huecauaz tiaquizco, ano90 canapa: amo no huetzcati-
nemiz amono teixhuetzquilitinemiz, 9an vel calli, ano90
teopa yez. Ca yn ichpuchtlahueliloc, ca 9a tepa quiz-
tinemi, nohuia tenonotza, auic yauh ixhuetzcatinemi:
vel yehuatl quipehualtia [165v] in tlahuelilocayotl, ynic
inca necacayahualoz. Auh in aquin mopixtinemi, yn
itech momati chipauacanemiliztli in nepializtli, ayac
quinotza mimattinemi yn ihuicpa tlatlaculli, yc cenca
quimopapaquiltilia quimotla90tilia totecuiyo Dios. Ca
yuh teotlatolpa mitoa. Qui diligit cordis munditid [propter
gratiam labiorum suorumj habebit amicu rege. / Co. c. 22.
Quitoznequi. Yn aquin quitla90tla yn ichipaualiz yyollo,
in vel mopixtinemi in vel chipauacanemi, in amo ytech
momati tlatlaculli, ca ycniuhtzin yez in tlatoani Dios,
ca quimotla90tiliz. Ypapa y, in amichpupuchtin ma
ximopixtinemica, ma ytetzinco ximixcuitica in ciuapilli
S. Maria, ma xicmoteputztoquilica. Declarar la virtud de
Castidad.
6. Doctrina, evangelios y epfstolas en nahuatl, late sixteenth century
Codex Indianorum 7, The John Carter Brown Library
The redactors of this devotional handbook present a transla¬
tion of Song of Songs 2:8-14 as a reading for the Feast of the
Visitation. In the twelfth century, before the Visitation had
become an established festival, Honorius Augustodunensis
interpreted this passage in regard to the Assumption of Mary:
it is Christ beckoning to the Virgin to join him in heaven
(Fulton 1996:102). The Franciscan Ubertino daCasale (1259-
1330) gives a similar interpretation (1485:bk.4:ch.38). This
reading remained salient: excerpts from this passage are used
words, “the noblewoman. Saint Mary, arose, departed, and
she was running there on the mountaintop, in the city of Judea.
And there she entered the home of Zacharias, and she greeted
Saint Elizabeth.” You, you who are maidens, know that Saint
Ambrose advises you today that you really take Saint Mary as
your example. Ele says to you, you who are maidens, may you
take Saint Mary as your example. May you not go around
passing people right by, may you not wander from house to
house, may you not linger in the marketplace, may you not sit
here and there among people, may you not stand in the road,
may you not address men, may you not smile at people. As for
Saint Mary, just the house,” just inside the house was she.
There she would pray to our lord God. And when she went out
she just rushed along, she just hurried her feet along, so that
she would not be seen. And she just went along lowering her
head, she did not go along looking at people. Everything that
the noblewoman. Saint Mary, did, she established all of it as a
sign for you, so that you will live in the same way here on
earth. For one who wants to keep herself chaste. ” so that she
does not sin, it is essential that she not see the place of drink¬
ing, nor the place of dancing, and that she not linger in the
marketplace nor anywhere else, and that she not go about
laughing, and that she not go about smiling at people. Just
right at the house, or perhaps in the temple, will she be. The
wicked maiden just goes around passing people right by. Ev¬
erywhere she addresses people, she goes back and forth, she
goes around smiling. She really initiates [165v] wickedness,
such that she will be mocked. But one who lives chastely
thinks about pure living and chastity. She calls to no one; she
is wary of sin. Thus she makes our lord God very joyful, he
loves her very much.” As it is said in the sacred words. He that
loves pureness of heart, [because of the grace of his lipsj he
will have the king as a friend. [ Proverbs 22:11 This means,
“One who loves the purity of his or her heart, who lives quite
chastely, lives quite purely, who does not think about sin. the
ruler, God, will be his or her friend. He will love him or her."
Therefore, you maidens, may you live chastely. May you take
as your example the noblewoman. Saint Mary. May you fol¬
low her. Declare the virtue of chastity.-''
with that sense in the Santoral en mexicano texts for the As¬
sumption (n.d.:68r, 70r-70v). The passage was a source for
Marian antiphonal chants, including two used for the Feast of
the Visitation, but it was also included in the reformed
breviary’s readings for the Visitation {Breviarium Romanum
1961 :v.2;741-742).^** The Nahuatl version is probably trans¬
lated from that breviary. The redactors of this manuscript,
perhaps attracted to the passage’s poetic imagery, copied the
piece into their text and allowed it to stand, with no exegesis.

as their sole entry for this festival. Similarly, they include as
readings for the Assumption Ecclesiasticus 24:11-20 and 22-
28, passages full of imagery of trees and flowers (see also text
1.3; Burkhart 1992b: 104).
The passage presents an evocation of love and spring
renewal appropriate for the Visitation: the goat or deer leap¬
ing across the hills and coming to look in the house may be
read as Mary rushing to Elizabeth’s house. Elizabeth, then,
rather than Christ, may in this context be seen as the speaker,
with Mary as her precious one who calls to her. The references
to fertility may also be read as allusions to the women’s spring¬
time pregnancies. Antoninus includes a tropological inter¬
pretation of part of this passage in his chapter on the Visitation:
it is the Holy Spirit calling the soul toward God and goodness
and away from the coldness of sin (1959:v.4:1120).
The biblical passage mentions a number of things intro¬
duced to New Spain by Spaniards: a goat, for which the Nahuatl
name means “that which has horns and hairy lips”; windows,
for which the Spanish ventanas is used; figs, for which the
Spanish higuera is borrowed as ynguera (or yn guera, article
plus noun”); and grapevines. The word vino ‘vine, wine,’ bor¬
rowed into Nahuatl, appears here in huinomilli ‘vine fields.’
The Nahuatl word chipahuac ‘something pure’ can also mean
“beautiful”; I have chosen the latter meaning for its three uses
here, where it translates, respectively, the Latin adjectives
fonnosa, speciosa, and decora.
[63r] 1 In festo uisitationis. beate, marie virginis, Caticoram.
Ecce Iste uenit salies i motibos. transiliens colies, &e.
Izcatqui yn yehuatl chochollotihuitz tepeticpac quipan-
pacholhuitihuitz. yn tlamilmilloli y notlago quinenehuil-
lia yn 9ivatl, quaquauhtentzone yhua yn iconeuh, quauhtla
ma^atl. Izcatqui yn yehuatzin Totepantepotzco. moque-
tzinoticac Valmotlachialtiticac ventanas, vncan valmotz-
tilliticac. Quauhchayahuacan vevnoch‘*° tlatzacuilcamac
Izcatqui. yn notla^o. nechmolhuilliya. ximoqwetza. xi^ihui
yn tinotla90. yn tinohuillouh. yn tichipahuac. xihualmo-
huica Ca yn itztic cehuallatl. ye hoquiz yn quiyahuitl
oyan hoquiz. In xochitl. honez omochiuh totlalpan.
le onca ye ima. yn tlamatetecoz. yn itzatzilliz. Cocotli
Ocacoc yn totlalpan Omochiuh yn ixochiquallo yn¬
guera. yn huinomilli. ye moxochiotia. Cenca hoa
[63v] huiyastimoma./. ma ximoquetza. xi5ihui yn tino-
tla9o yn tichipahuac. xihualmohuica yn tinohuillouhui./.
yn coconyoncatetl vnca yn cocoyonqui. tepantla-
tzacuilli xinechititi moxayac. y motzatzilliz ma nicca-
qui Ca yn motzatzilliz ca huel tepac Auh y moxayac
chipahuac./.
THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE VISITATION 49
For comparison, I place here Matter’s translation from the
Vulgate (1990:xix-xxi):
behold, he comes leaping on the mountains
springing across the hills
my beloved is like a goat and a young of stags
behold, he stands behind our wall
looking in through the windows
watching through the lattices
and my beloved speaks to me
arise swiftly my friend my beautiful, and come
for now the winter has passed
the rain has gone and departed
flowers appear on the earth
the time of pruning has come
the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land
the fig tree has put out its thick shoots
the flowering vines have given off a smell
arise my friend my lovely one and come
my dove in the clefts of the rock
in the hollow of the wall
show me your face
let your voice sound in my ears
for your voice is sweet
and your face is beautiful.
[63r] 1 On the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. Song of Songs. Behold, he comes lectping on the moun¬
tains, springing across the hills [Song of Songs 2:8 j.'"
Behold, she'*^ comes leaping on the mountaintops, she comes
skipping over the hills! My precious one is like the female
goat and the child of the forest doe,"*^ Behold, she is standing
behind our wall. She stands watching at the windows, there
she stands looking in, at the wooden grate, at the mouth of the
enclosure. Behold, my precious one says to me, “Arise! Hurry,
you my precious one, you my dove,you beautiful one.
Come! The cold, shadowy water has now departed. The ram
has gone, has departed. The flowers have appeared, have
grown on our land. Now is the time, now is the moment for
things to be pruned. The cry of the dove''^ has been heard on
our land. The fruit of the fig has grown. The vineyards are now
flowering, [63v] they have spread about giving off much fra¬
grance. May you arise! Hurry, you my precious one, you
beautiful one. Come forth, you my dove.'*'’ In the holes in the
rocks, there in the holes, the enclosures in the wall, show me
your face. May I hear your cry. For your cry is quite delightful.
And your face is beautiful.”
50 BEFORE GUADALUPE
7. Santoral en mexicano, Oraciones de Nuestra Senora, early seventeenth century
Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico MS 1476.
This oration recounts the story of the Visitation with an em¬
phasis on Mary’s humility and its function as a model or sign
(machiotl) for the supplicant’s own life. Mary’s stay in
Elizabeth’s home is a model of service to others and also for
Mary’s spiritual presence in her devotee’s soul. Elizabeth’s
words are adapted from Luke 1:43, with Nahuatl-style
diphrases.
Mary is the wife of the Holy Spirit in that she conceives
her child through its power; thus, she is daughter, mother, and
wife to the members of the Trinity.'*’ This multiple kinship
role in relation to God reminds Gillespie (1989:117) of the
“woman of discord” in Mexica mythology and mythicized
dynastic histories. The divinity Tocih (“Our Grandmother”)
plays wife, mother, sister, and grandmother to the Mexica pa¬
tron deity Huitzilopochtli, and royal women have multiple
and merging kinship roles in relation to the Mexica kings,
particularly at points of dynastic discontinuity where the
rulership passes from one man to another through a linking
female (Gillespie 1989). Thus, Mary’s familial multivalence
may have seemed perfectly logical to Nahuas. However, the
implication that she had two husbands simultaneously vio¬
lated both Nahua and Spanish ethics.
There seems to have been some attempt to distinguish
Mary’s relationship to the Holy Spirit from her marriage to
Joseph. In referring to Mary as the Holy Spirit’s wife, the
Nahuatl texts use the noun nemactli (from maca ‘to give’)
rather than namictli (from namiqui ‘to meet or find’). Namictli
is the most common term for spouse in colonial sources and
is usually used for Mary and Joseph’s relationship. Mary is
referred to as Joseph’s nemactli in the betrothal scene in
text 2.5, where she is also referred to as his ward, as if she is
[9r] Oracion de la uisitacion De la Virgen A santa Ysabel.
Ma ximopaquiltitie 5.*“ mariae tzopelicaahuiacatzintle cen-
quizcaichpochtle y cenca tiyectenehualoni in tiihueycal-
pepepetlaquilitzin in ilhuicac tlahtoani. Tla xinechmolhuili,
mixtzinco ninemi ilhuicac tlahtocacihuapille, y ye moch-
pochxillantzinco moyetzticatca in teotl oquichtli Jesu x."
yhuan in ye tiynantzin Dios ytla^opiltzin cuix yc otimo-
Cihuapilnectzino, ca niman ahmo ca ye huey necnomatiliz-
tica, Oticmanili in mocxitzin ynic oticmotoquili y cenca
onanticaya ohtli, yn oticmotlehcahuili, in altepetl Judea;
auh mochpochxillantzinco ticmohuiquiliaya i tonecuiltonol-
netlamachtiliztlahtocatzin [9v] ynic ticmotlapalhuito, ticmo-
ciauhquechilito, in mohuayolcatzin S.*“ Ysabel Cemihcac
ichpotzintle, ahmo ilhuicac titlahtocaCihuapilli quenin ahmo
something entrusted to him rather than his partner and equal.
The term appears also in the Psalmodia text above, where the
Vulgate Bible’s desponsatam is translated with a triplet com¬
prising cihuatlan ‘asked-for woman’ or betrothed, nemactli,
and namictli.
Lockhart (1992:80-81, 270n) suspects that the use of
namictli to mean wife or husband originated in the colonial
period in association with the Christian sacrament of mar¬
riage. Traditionally Nahuas had referred to a spouse as,
literally, “his woman” or “her man.”'*** Simeon, though not the
more reliable Molina, lists “spouse” as a definition for
nemactli, which in other contexts means gift or endowment
(1977:320). Reporting on preconquest marriage customs,
Motolinia (1971:323) states that women given to nobles as
secondary wives but not wedded with full ceremony were
called cihuanemactli ‘woman gifts.’ Such a relationship would
have been seen as more socially legitimate than concubinage
(momecatiliztli ‘tying oneself’), but polygyny was, of course,
prohibited to Christian Nahuas. The texts seem to be making
a distinction between Mary as Joseph’s legitimate wife wed¬
ded with full ceremony—and Nahuas may have assumed,
anachronistically, that this was a proper church wedding—
and Mary as partnered with the Holy Spirit in a less equal
relationship, in which she is bestowed as a gift. She cannot
have two namictin, but it appears that Nahuas could conceive
of her as one man’s namictli and God’s nemactli. In order to
make a distinction in the translations, 1 use “spouse” for
namictli and “wife” for nemactli, on the assumption that the
latter term, associated with women who are given to men, may
be more gender-specific. Texts 8.3 and 8.5 also refer to Mary
as the Holy Spirit’s nemactli.
oo ro
[9r] Oration of the Visitation of the Virgin to Saint Elizabeth
Oh, may you be joyful, oh Saint Mary, oh sweet and fragrant
one, oh perfect maiden! You are very praiseworthy, you are
the splendor of the great house of the ruler of heaven. Do
speak to me! I offend you,^' oh heavenly royal noblewoman.
When the divinity, the man, Jesus Christ, was already in your
maidenly womb, and you were already the mother of God’s
precious child, perhaps thus you wanted to be a noblewoman?
Not at all. Already it was with great humility that you took to
your feet so that you followed the very long road,**’ you as¬
cended to the city of Judea. And in your maidenly womb you
were carrying our ruler of prosperity and happiness, [9v] as
you went to greet, you went to salute your relative. Saint
Elizabeth. Oh forever a maiden, are you not a heavenly royal

timohuetziltia, ahmo timotlahtocacihuapilyetztica? ^a
nelli cemihcacaichpochahuiacatzintle, Ca 9an no yehuatzin
in tiynemactzin espu S.“ teotlatla90tlalizyollotica omitzmo-
yollotoli, ynic ticmotlahpalhuitiuh; auh yhuan ticmone-
mactilitiuh, ticmoxelhuilitiuh, in teonemactli, ynic omitzmo-
teotetlauhliliznemactili, yhuan ytlantzinco timopahpaquiltiz
ynic tlamahui9oltica onomotlaaquillotitzino; auh necnoma-
tiliztica yhuan teotlatla90tlaliztica oncan oticmotequipanil-
hui, ynic titechmomaquiliz teotlatla90tlaliznemilizmachiotl,
yhuan necnomatilizmachiotl. auh yn ica motetlahpalolitzin
yhuan yea motlahtoltzin ocenquizcaqualtilizcuepaloc,
OSantocuepaloc in tlateochihualli Juan Bapt,“ in niman yttic
yn inantzin, pahpaquiliztica otzitzicuin ochocholo; auh yn
ySabel yehuatl, oquipantlaz,"''' yn ipahpaquiliz yconeuh,
inic milzmoyectenehuili; in quimahui9auhcaytto. Can
nocnopil, Can nomacehual, in noteouh notlatocatzin Dios,
nechmotlapalhuico in onopan mocalaquico? Mihmatcanan-
tzintle, yectenehualoni [lOr] ichpotzintle, ma xiemonequilti
Xinechmomaquili ynic inin huey necnomatilizmachiotl
nixpan ticmotlalilia ma huel noconahxilti yea in motepale-
huilitzin, yhuan ma huel y micxitlan ninocnoteca, ma nech-
mocxipehpechtican in nohuanpohuan, ma ye nitetequipano,
yn amo ye nechtequipanosque, yhuan Ma huel nicyeccaqui
nicpaccacaqui in motla9oihyyotzin, in mochpochtlahtoltzin,
Ca teyolytiani, yoliliztlatolli Ca ic quimmotlanextililia, ic
quimmotlahuililia, ic quimmocequizcaqualtilizcuepilia in
motla90conetzin, yn aquihque mitzmotlayecoltilia, in
motlateomatcatzitzinhuan. Macuel ehuatl yolilizchipahuaca-
A9ucenaxochitzintle 5.'“ m.“‘' ma xinechualmoteochihuili,
nocihuatecuiyotzine, ynic no nechmoteochihuiliz in
motla90conetzin yhuan nechmotlapohpolhuiliz, inic nitla-
centelchihualli yn ipampa niypiltzin Adan, yhuan in ipampa
notlahtlacol, in onicmaceuh tecentelchihualiztli, ilhuicac
cihuapille, Ca ey metztli yn ompa timoyetzticatca. auh yn ica
mixpanyotzin huel mahui9oloni calli mochiuh yn ichan S.'*'
Ysabel, auh ynin Cihuapille. (ac nimitznomachiltia). ma
xiemonequilti, ynic ypan timoquixtiquiuh, ypan timocala-
quiquiuh in noyolia, nanima; auh yn ica mohuallalitzin,
ticmochihuiliz, ticmoqualticacuepiliz, ynic ymacehual
mochihuaz oncan mocehuitzinoquiuh in motla90conetzin
yhuan yea in motepantlahtolitzin quimonequiltiz nechmoteo¬
chihuiliz. ynic mochipa nimitznotlayecoltiliz ma ymochihua’"
NOTES
1. In earlier art and especially in the East, but not in any colonial
Mexican examples known to me, she is sometimes shown spinning
thread for the temple veil.
2. The same woodcut appears in Pedro de la Vega’s 1569 Flos
sanctorum (267v), published in Seville.
3. This was staged on the octave after Easter, which O’Gorman’s
notes in Motolinia place at April 16, 1539; it could not be performed
THE ANNUNCIATION AND THE VISITATION 51
noblewoman? How is that you do not fall? Are you not a
royal noblewoman? It is true, oh forever a maidenly fragrant
one, that you are also the wife of the Holy Spirit. With
sacred loving heart he inspired you so that you would go to
greet her. And you go to make a gift to her, you go to share
with her the sacred gift, with which he made you a gift of
a sacred boon. And with her you will rejoice about how in
a wondrous way she became fruitful. And with humility
and sacred love you labored there, so that you would give
us a sign of a life of sacred love, and a sign of humility.
And with your greeting and with your words the blessed one,
John the Baptist, was turned completely good, was turned
into a saint. Then inside his mother Joyfully he became
nimble and jumped about. And Saint Elizabeth revealed the
joyfulness of her child in the way she praised you. Wondrously
she said, “Where is my merit, where is my desert, that my
divinity, my ruler, God, has come to greet me, has come to
enter upon me?” Oh prudent mother, oh praiseworthy [lOr]
maiden, may you wish it, give to me this great sign of
humility that you place before me. May I be able to achieve
it, with your help. And may I really humble myself at your
feet, may my fellows trample me, may I yet labor for
people who will not labor for me. And may I hear properly,
may I hear joyfully, your precious breath, your maidenly
words. For they are life-giving, they are words of life.
With them your precious child illuminates, with them he
sheds light for, with them he turns to perfect goodness
those who serve you, your devotees. Let it be, oh pure
lily-flower of life, oh Saint Mary, may you bless me, oh
my lady, so that your precious child will also bless me
and pardon me, since 1 am despicable. Because 1 am a
child of Adam, and because of my sins, I have deserved
despising. Oh heavenly noblewoman, you were there for
three months. And through your presence Saint Elizabeth’s
home became a very honorable house. And this; oh
noblewoman (whom I know you to be), may you wish to
come to meet, to come to enter upon my spirit, my soul.
And with your coming you will make it, you will turn it
good, so that it will become its desert that your precious
child will come to rest there, and through your advocacy
he will want to bless me, so that I may serve you always.
May it so be done.
on the Feast of the Annunciation itself as this fell during the somber
Lenten season.
4. It is similar in usage to the noun huentli ‘offering’ (Jonathan
Amith, personal communication, 1998). In these texts, huentli tends
to be used in reference to Mary’s parents’ offering of her and her own
offering of Christ at the Purification. She is her parents’ huentli but
she is God’s tlacauhtli, the thing left to him.
52 BEFORE GUADALUPE

5. Read itlagomahuiznacayotzin. passage omitted from the quotation are in brackets.

6. Read iteoyotzin
7. Read tlalticpac.
8. Read ca ayamo.
9. That is, divinity, soul, and body.
10. The implication of this phrase is unclear to me. I thank Barry
Sell for his suggestion regarding the translation.
11. The term chalchihuiil refers to jadeite, nephrite, and other
greenish-colored minerals that indigenous Mesoamericans valued
highly. The term connotes preciousness.
12. As I had at first not noticed this shift, I thank Jonathan
Amith for pointing it out (personal communication, 1998).
13. There were differences of opinion regarding the timing of
the Annunciation and Incarnation. Saint Antoninus reviews argu¬
ments in favor of midnight and noon, but, following Albertus Magnus,
finds most persuasive the view that the angel came at dawn
(1959:v,4:969-970).
14. Read ye.
15. Read ye.
16. Read ye.
17. Read ye.
18. 'R.td.Ayn axcan.
19. The Spanish term diablos is borrowed here as diabrome
(hypercorrected and with the Nahuatl plural suffix).
20. Tanimantzin ‘our souls’ may have been intended here, or
the author may have not quite understood the scholastic view of fetal
development he is describing.
21. Read conmonochiti.
22. Read ilhuitzin ipan.
23. Read quimonochilia.
24. Read ye.
25. Read huel dacachihuaz-
26. Read auh.
27. Red iciuhca.
28. Read igiuhca.
29. Read ca.
30. Read hualhuetzque.
31. Plural possessives are used here, as if Gabriel is speaking to
all people of earth.
32. Phrase combines Latin deo with Spanish gracias.
33. A locative sense, as in “just at the house” or “just in the
house,” is presumably intended.
34. Gender is not specified; I use female pronouns as young
women are the subject here.
35. These verbs are paired in a couplet, but the passage makes
most sense if Mary is the subject of the first and God of the second.
36. Anunciacion’s text identifies this passage as First
Co[rinthians], chapter 22. It is actually from chapter 22 of the Book of
Proverbs; as Stafford Poole suggests (personal communication, 1998)
the abbreviation Pro was probably misread as I Co. Words in the
37. Chastity is the third of the seven moral virtues in the Catholic
catechism, which counter the seven mortal sins; the others are humil¬
ity, generosity, patience, temperance, charity, and diligence (D. de la
Anunciacion 1565:60v-61r).
38. In the breviary. Lesson 2 is verses 8-13; lesson 3 is verses
13-17. The antiphons are Surge, propera. arnica niea, forniosa mea,
et veni: iam enim hiems transit, imber abiit et recessit: Vox turtiiris
audita est in terra nostra and Ecce iste vend saliens in niontibus,
transiliens codes: Similis est dilectus mens caprece hinnuloque
cervorum (Breviarium Ronianum 1961:v.2:741, 743; CANTUS: A
Database for Gregorian Chant).
39. Molina’s dictionary gives a Nahuatlized hicox for Spanish
/!;go(l 970:7 Ir).
40. Unidentified word(s), underlined in the original and not
translated here.
41. The passage in the Vulgate reads: ecce iste venit, saliens in
montibus, transiliens colies.
42. In the biblical passage, a female speaker is here describing
her male beloved. But because in this context the passage seems to
apply to Mary’s trip to visit Elizabeth. I have translated it as referring
to a female.
43. As conetl is used for the child, a female deer is implied.
44. Huilotl or mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura Linnaeus;
Anderson and Dibble in Sahagiin 1950-82:bk.l 1:50). Here it trans¬
lates Latin columba ‘dove’ (the phrase “my dove,” from columba
mea, is not included in the Matter translation that I quote).
45. The cocohtli or Inca dove, here translating Latin turtur ‘turtle¬
dove.’
46. Again, columba is translated as huilotl or mourning dove.
47. According to the Capuchin Lawrence of Brindisi (d.l619),
Mary was partnered with God in a “divine” and “legitimate and true
marriage”; “to overshadow,” as the Holy Spirit does Mary (Luke
1:35), means “to act as a husband” (Graef 1963-65:v.2:27-28). Graef
notes that Brindisi’s emphasis is unusual, as most theologians treat
Mary’s marriage to Joseph as true and legitimate.
48. This usage appears in text 1.1 in reference to Saint Anne as
Joachim’s wife and in text 9.2 in the narrative about the Jewish woman,
whose husband is referred to as “her man” (she. however, a convert to
Christianity though not married with the Christian sacrament, is called
his namictli).
49. In margin before this word, in manuscript editor’s hand:
exultauit ‘she exulted.’
50. Read ma iuh mochihua.
51. Tentative translation for mixtzinco ninerni. literally “1 live on
your face.” The phrase mixtzinco, mocpatzinco ninerni 'I live on your
face, on top of you’ has the sense of “I offend you.”
52. I am grateful to Barry Sell for helping me translate this
passage. On ana -(i)cxi as “to take to one’s feet,” and on onanticah in
reference to distance, see Karttunen and Lockhart (1987:52, 56).
4
The Expectation and the Birth of Christ
A s the focus of the Christmas festival is not Mary’s
parturition but Christ’s birth, and the literature tends
to celebrate the child more than the mother, I have not
included Christmas texts per se. Mary was, however, in¬
cluded in the iconography of the Nativity of Christ and the
Adoration of the Magi as these were represented in New
Spain. Celebrations of the Christmas season included drama¬
tizations of the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, a
tradition associated particularly with the Augustinians and
the forerunner of today’s posadas (Weckmann 1984:v.l:256).
Manger scenes, with statues of Mary, Joseph, the Christ-
child and shepherds, were typically erected at indigenous
churches from Christmas to Epiphany (Mendieta 1980:432).
Duran (1967;v. 1:288) reports that Nahuas held vigils in the
churchyards on Christmas Eve, as they had done for the
festival of Atemoztli (Descent of Water), which he dates
at December 26.
Two surviving colonial Nahuatl plays enact the story of
the Three Kings. In one of these Mary has no speaking part
but in the other, a 1607 work written at Tlatelolco for fray
Juan Bautista, Mary responds eloquently to greetings from
each of the Magi (Horcasitas 1974:253-327).
This chapter presents two orations that focus on Mary’s
pregnancy and her experience of giving birth. I also include
four excerpts from catechisms. The virgin birth is proclaimed
as the third tenet of the Apostles’ Creed and as one of the
articles of faith pertaining to Christ’s humanity. Thus, this
aspect of Mary’s biography was part of the basic doctrine
Nahuas learned in catechism classes. Although the theologi¬
cal significance of this tenet is to establish Christ s humanity
through his link to a human mother, in refutation of heresies
that proclaimed Christ entirely divine (Brown 1993:518),
Mary’s virginity becomes the focus of attention. Explaining
the anatomical mystery of the virgin birth was a challenge for
1. Santoral en m&dcano, Oradones de Nuestra Senora, early seventeenth century
Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico MS 1476
Because the Feast of the Annunciation falls during Lent, it is
impossible to celebrate the event with very much pomp and
festivity. To solve this problem, in 656 the Visigothic
Church in Spain, under Saint Ildefonsus, Archbishop of Toledo,
priests writing in any language, and texts 4 through 6 are
three examples of how this was done.
Pain in childbirth was one of Eve’s punishments (Genesis
3:16) and did not apply to Mary because she was exempt from
original sin. Thus, descriptions of her parturition emphasize
its painlessness as well as her intact condition. For Nahuas,
Mary’s childbirth inverts an important mythological paradigm:
the deification of women who, unable to give birth, died in their
first parturition and rose into the sky to live in the western part of
the sun’s heaven. As one name for these divinities was
cihuapipiltin ‘noblewomen,’ comparisons with the cihuapilli
Mary, who also rose into the heavens, were surely made. In¬
deed, the midwife’s oration to her dead patient in the Florentine
Codex ascribes a Marian role to her: she is entreated to “pray
for us” (Sahagun 1950-82:bk.6:165). Difficulty in childbirth
was attributed to sexual excess: the mother had adulterous rela¬
tions or else had too much sex with her husband too late in her
pregnancy, such that excess semen caused the infant to adhere to
the uterus (Sahagun 195{)-82;bk.6:142-143, 156-157). Mary,
in contrast, has no sexual relations and gives birth with no
pain; there is a certain logic to this from a Nahua perspective.
Many images known to Nahuas depicted Mary as
mother of an infant. Plates 7 and 8, both from Sahagun’s
Psalmodia Christiana, depict the madonna and child (see also
plates 3 and 15). In the second woodcut they are joined by
Saint Anne, the boy’s grandmother, in a three-generational
image.' The striking indigenous relief sculpture in plate 9
dominates the pediment of the Dominican church in
Tepoztlan, Morelos, dedicated to the Nativity of Mary. Here
the Virgin is flanked by Saints Dominic, with the Dominican
symbol of the dog (domini canis ‘dog of the lord’), and
Catherine of Siena. The infant seems almost insubstantial
compared to his towering, crowned mother, and her sculpted
name declares her prominence.
initiated the Feast of the Expectation of the Childbirth of Our
Lady on December 18, a celebration of Mary’s pregnancy
falling during the more joyous Advent season (Escribano
Alberca 1967:191; Vega 1569:149r; Villegas Selvago
54 BEFORE GUADALUPE
1760:50). The day was associated with one of Spain’s (and
Europe’s) oldest and most popular apparition legends, the
eighth-century story in which Mary presents a chasuble to
Saint Ildefonsus in the Toledo cathedral (Christian 1981b:77-
78; Vega 1569:149v). The feast is also called the Feast of Our
Lady of the O, after the seven antiphons beginning with the
exclamation “O” from the Advent liturgy, sung also for this
festival; otherwise the liturgy for the feast was the same as for
the Annunciation (Vega 1569:149r-149v). According to
Pedro de la Vega (1569:149r), expectacion means esperanza
‘hope,’ in reference to Mary’s hope that, as declared in proph¬
ecy, her upcoming parturition would not take away her
virginity, as well as her hope to see her son.
In this prayer for the Expectation, the “chest, coffer” fig¬
ure from Nahuatl oratory is applied to Mary’s womb; the pre¬
cious treasure hidden within is described with Nahuatl tropes
for children and other highly valued things. The phrase “the
sun of life, the judge” derives from the Latin epithet sol
justiticE ‘sun of righteousness,’ taken from the Old Testament
prophecy of Malachi (4:2) and applied to Christ in the Catho¬
lic liturgy (see also text 5.2). Christ is also the judge for Judg¬
ment Day and the “light of the world.” The “tortilla” is an
allusion to the Eucharist, but these references also link Mary
to maize and sustenance.
The prophet Ezekiel, describing his visionary tour of a
heavenly temple, tells of a closed gate to the sanctuary: “And
he said to me, ‘This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be
opened, and no one shall enter by it; for the Lord, the God of
Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut’” (44:2).
Medieval Mariologists read here a reference to Mary’s invio¬
late virginity. For Antoninus, the temple is the Church and
Mary is the door, born into the Church through the grace she
received in utero,^ inviolable and closed to all but God
(1959:v.4:940). Elsewhere he uses the same Ezekiel text to
explain how Mary is the door of heaven {porta cceli), entered
only by God and closed to man, as she is perpetually virgin
(1959:v.4;1061). In the sixteenth century Laurentius Surius
made a similar use of the figure in his text on Mary’s birth: she
is the door that Ezekiel saw, always closed and thus incorrupt
(1875-80:v.9:207). Pedro de la Vega (1569:150r), citing Saint
Do Co
[12r] Oration De la expectacion del parto de nuesttz. S.'^”
Ma ximopaquiltitie cenquizcaqualtilizCihuapille, tzopeli-
cachipahualizahuiacayocatzintle. Dios ytla9onantzine.
Cenquizcaqualli tlateochihualichpotzintle teoyotica
yolilizameyalacaxtzintle, Ca ye ahcitiuh ye inmantitiuh y
cenca yecteneloni mochipahualiztlacachihualitzin ynic
teoyotica neuctzopelicatla9oquiahuiz tlalticpac, Ca aquen
techihualiztica ahquen ticmomachiltiz in motlacachihualitzin
9a papaquiliztica aahuializtica, ynic timotlacachihuiliz yn
iquac y, tlatocaCihuapille, Ca huel mocahuitzin, huel mone-
mactzin Ynin cahuitl, ypampa Ca yhquac ticmotlapolhuiz in
mochpochtoptzin, in mochipahualizyolilizpetlaacaltzin yn
Ildefonsus, accuses heretics who doubt Mary’s virginity of
daring to open with their tongues “the door of the house of
the Lord, which Ezekiel saw, by which only the son of God
went out, it remaining closed.” Ezekiel’s door is one of the
figures on the Huejotzingo Immaculate Conception mural
(plate 1, to the right of Mary’s shoulders). Later in his book
(47:1-12), Ezekiel describes how water issuing eastward from
the temple forms a river that flows into the sea and makes the
water fresh, “so everything will live where the river goes.”
Antoninus identifies the water with grace flowing from the
Church in the sacraments (1959:v.4:940), but in this oration
the water flows from Mary herself.
The phrase “you are the fine flowery enclosure, you are
the finely emblazoned jade-green water vessel” refers to the
hortus conclusus, fons signatus ‘garden enclosed, fountain
sealed’ of Song of Songs 4:12 (see text 1.3). The “water of
life” passage echoes Song of Songs 4:15, “the fountain of the
gardens, a well of living waters which flow rushing from Leba¬
non.”^ The passage referring to the children of Eve borrows
from the Salve Regina prayer (see texts 8.1 and 8.2). The
oration’s various references to water, especially jade-green
water, present Mary as something of a water divinity, analo¬
gous to Chalchiuhtlicue (“She of the Jade Skirt”). Even though
the water is here meant as a figure for Christ, these passages,
like those that speak of the tortilla, play with images salient
for a lacustrine and agricultural people.
The word I translate as “sacrificer” is intetlacoquix-
ticatzin ‘their one who takes out sticks for people.’ The
verb tlacohquixtia* refers to an indigenous penitential
ritual in which the penitent drew sticks (tlacohtli) through
his or her tongue and then offered the blood-coated sticks
to a divinity. The author may have intended this as a
figurative allusion to Christ’s blood sacrifice rather than a
statement that he actually performed this rite; nevertheless,
it is odd to find a reference to so non-Christian an indi¬
genous ritual in a Christian prayer. This is, though, a Christ
who takes on “our commoner’s flesh.” Given the associa¬
tion between macehualtin and indigenous people at this
time, this passage could be read as implying that Christ
took native flesh.
’SS #
[12r] Oration: of the Expectation of the childbirth of Our Lady
Oh, may you be joyful, oh noblewoman of complete good¬
ness, oh fragrant one of sweet purity, oh precious mother of
God, oh completely good and blessed maiden, oh in a sacred
way the vessel of the spring of life. Now it is about to arrive,
it is about to be the time for what is very praiseworthy,
your pure childbirth, through which in a sacred way honey-
sweet and precious rain will fall on earth. It will be with¬
out disturbance; you will not be at all troubled by your
childbirth. Just with joyfulness, with delight, will you give
birth then. Oh royal noblewoman, this time is indeed your
time, is indeed your gift, because it is when you will open

oncan motzacuiltihtica mopixtzinotica in chalchihuitl.
yn quetzalli in teoxihuitl. (ynic mochalchiuhteoxiuhtla-
quentizque, in motlaqopilhuantzitzin in motlateomat-
catzitzinhuan:) in yehuatzin yoliliztonatiuh, tetlatzonte-
quilicatzintli; in quimotlahuililiz. in qu motlanextililiz
cemanahuac tlaca: auh ca no yhuan tiquinmotlapolhuiliz,
tiquinmomaquiliz, in yoliliztlaxcaltzintli in ilhuicac
tlaxcaltzintli in teoyotica tonacayotl, ynic ihiyocuizque
pachihuizque, teoyotica monacayotizque in cemanahuac
tlaca, Tehuatzin chalchiuhmatlalaacaxtzintle in motetzinco
hualmeyaz, hualpipicaz, yn ilhuicac yolilizchalchiuh-
matlalatzintli; ynic cenquizcaqualtilizatica mMiuiliz in mochi
cemanahuatl, ynic teoyotica ixhuaz, itzmoliniz in tlein
tlatlacolcetica, ocequaloc, ma ximopaquiltitie S.“ m.'“= [12v]
chipahualizcemihcacaichpochxochitzintle, Ca ynic timotla-
cachihuilitzinoz, Ca ye oc achi tinecuiltonolizyectene-
hualoz; ynic tiynantzin timochiuhtzinoz in totemaquix-
ticatzin, Ca amo ic quen mochihuaz, ahmo ic pilichahuiz,
huaquiz ytlacahuiz in mochipahualizichpochA9ucenaxo-
chicelticayotzin: ^a ye ilhuice oc achi ic celiaz, itzmoliniz,
ic oc achi chipahuacaqualneziz, ynic taQucenaichpochcelti-
catzintli: yehica Ca tehuatzin in ticaltenyotzintli in
ticalacoayatzintli in mitzmottili Ezequiel in huel titlayec-
tzauctzintli, yn ayac onca calaquia y ^an huel yceltzin
mixcahuitzinoaya in huey tlahtoani rey yn oncan mocala-
quiaya, in yehuatzin motla^oconetzin yhuan ca tehuatzin in
tiyecxochitlatzaqualtzintli; tehuatzin in tiyecchalchiuhmatla-
laAcaxmachiotiltzItli ypampa in tlahtocacihuapille ca in
mochintin cemanahuac tlaca, motetzinco atlizque. yea in
yolilizatzintli, in motechpatzinco moquixtiz: yhuan ca
mitzmocihuatecuiyotitzinozque ypan mitzmomachiltizque
in ca dios tiynantzin no yhuan teoyotica mitzmomahuiztili-
lizque. yn ipampa ca tiynantzin yn inteotzin yn intlahtocatzin
Tehuatzin in mocatzinco, in mopapatzinco opahtic yn iytla-
cauhea yn icocoliz cemanahuac tlacatl; Qa ce ca tehuatzin in
ticemanahuac tiCihuapilli yn mochinti cemanahuac tlaca
momactzinco mohuicpatzinco onitztozque, ynic tiquimmo-
tlaocoliliz. Cihuapille Dios ynantzine, Ca tehuatzin in ye
izquitzonxiuhpa chielo elcicihuilo in mochipahualiztlaqotla-
cachihualitzin Tehuatzin in mocatzinco tipatizque, in mopam-
patzinco tiqualticacuepalozque Yn ica motlacachihualitzin
[13r] O, cihuapille tonetemachilitzine tonechixcaelitzine
timitzontotzatzililia in tftlatotocti in tiypilhuan eua, in nican
choquizixtlahuaca, ma cuel ehuatl xicmocuili, xiemanili, yn
intlaocol yn imelcihcihuilizin ye nechca onmihquilttitihui
mocoltzitzinhuan, yhuan yn axcan in mochinti cemanahuac
tlaca ynic mitzmotlaocoltlatlauhtilia, mitzmelcicihuilia, y nican
tlayohualtlahtlacolpoctitlan, ayauhtitlan, actoque, in quimo-
nechixcachielitoque yn tla^otlanextzintli in mochpoch-
xillantzinco moetztitica ma cuele Xiquinmottitili yn intema-
quixticatzin. yn intetlacoquixticatzin, in inyolilizameyaltzin,
ininnecuiltonoltzin, (^a ce in incennetlamchtiltzin^ ma cuel
ehuatl cenquizcaqualtilizichpotzintle ma ximicihuiti, macaoc-
mo* xicmohuehcahuili; in motla^otlacachihualitzin, ma cuel
ehuatl xitechmottitili in mochalchiuhtzin, in moquetzaltzin.
THE EXPECTATION AND THE BIRTH OF CHRIST 55
your maidenly coffer, your chest of pure life, where is en¬
closed, is kept the jade, the quetzal plume, the turquoise
(with which your precious children, your devotees, will dress
themselves in jade and turquoise). It is the sun of life, the
judge, who will shed light for, who will illuminate the
people of the world. And likewise you will open for them,
you will give them the tortilla of life, the heavenly tortilla,
what in a sacred way is sustenance, by which the people
of the world will take breath, will be filled, in a sacred way
will put on flesh. You, oh vessel of jade-green water, from
you will flow forth, will drip forth the heavenly jade-green
water of life, so that with utterly good water all the world will
be watered, so that in a sacred way will germinate, will sprout
that which was frozen with the ice of sin. Oh, may you
rejoice, oh Saint Mary, [12v] oh pure and forever maidenly
flower, for the way that you will give birth, still more will
you be richly praised, since you will become the mother
of our rescuer. Nothing will happen to your pure and maid¬
enly lily-flower freshness. It will not thereby be wrinkled,
wither, be damaged. Much more, still more will it bud, will
it sprout, still more pure and appealing will it be, how you
are a lily-like and maidenly fresh one. It is because you are
the doorway, you are the entrance. Ezekiel saw you. You
are quite properly enclosed. No one was entering there
except only him whose sole business it was, the great ruler,
the king. He who is your precious child was entering there.
And you are the fine flowery enclosure, you are the finely
emblazoned jade-green water vessel. Therefore, oh royal
noblewoman, all the people of the world will drink from
you of the water of life, which will emerge from you. And
they will take you as their lady, they will consider you the
mother of God. And also, in a sacred way they will honor
you, because you are the mother of their divinity, their
ruler. Through you, because of you the corruption, the sick¬
ness of the human being of the world has been cured. Only
you are the noblewoman of the world. All the people of
the world are in your hands. They will hold vigils to you,
so that you will have compassion for them. Oh noble¬
woman, oh mother of God, for so many ages now has your
pure and precious childbirth been awaited and sighed for!
Through you we will be cured, because of you we will be
turned good, with your childbirth. [13r] Oh! Oh noble¬
woman, oh our confidence, oh our hope, we go crying out
to you, we exiled ones, we children of Eve, here on the
plain of weeping. Let it be, take, seize the sadness, the sighing
of your grandfathers who stand forth from long ago. And
today, how all the people of the world pray to you sadly, sigh
to you. Here in the dark smoke of sin, in the mist, they lie
submerged, they lie hoping for the precious light that is
in your maidenly womb. Let it be, show them their rescuer,
their sacrificer, their spring of life, their contentment, which
is their one and only treasure. Let it be, oh maiden of utter
goodness. May you hurry, may you not delay any longer
your precious childbirth. Let it be, show us your jade, your
quetzal plume, your precious child, who has put on, who
56 BEFORE GUADALUPE
in motla^oconetzin, in oquimaquitzino. ynic omoquimilotzino,
in tomacehualnacayo, in mochpochxilantzinco, Ca ye oncan
ye inman Cihuapille, in quimmoqualtilizyecyollocuepiliz in
tlalticpac tlaca ynic ypilhuantzitzin tot.° dios quinmochihuiliz
in yehuatzin yhuantzinco motlahtocatilia, in tetatzin, in espu
S.'" yn axcan. yhuan mochipa cemihcac. ma ymuchihua’
2. Santoral en mexicano, Oradones de Nuestra Senora, early seventeenth century
Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico MS 1476
This Mary-centered account of Christ’s birth immediately
follows the Expectation prayer above. In Nahuatl texts the
stable in Bethlehem is often associated with deer, this term
having been extended to cover large ungulates imported
from Spain; the image links Christ to the forest, to the
uncivilized periphery (Burkhart 1986, 1996:186—188).
The designation as a cave or cave-like building is unusual
in the Nahuatl literature, but in the Protoevangelium Mary
does give birth in a cave. Rivadeneira (1669:60) refers to the
rflp
OQ ro
[ 13r] oracion DE la agria* de la Virgen despues que pario a su
precioso hijo
Ma ximopaquiltitie. teoepyollotzintle, chalchiuhtzintle S.'®
m“ in tiyteoxiuhtzin Dios tetatzin, in tiyquetzalitztetzin dios
tepiltzin, in tiyepyolotzin espu S.“ chipahuacaichpotzintle
[13v] Ca yhuantzinco in motla9onamictzin S, Joseph, in ye
ytentla motla90tlacachihualitzin, timohuicac yn ompa altepetl
ypan Belen: auh inic ye nohuian otetemoac. ye mochi tlacatl
omocalloti, aoccan mitzmocelilique, ic niman timohuicac
ceccan oztocalxixiticco, mama9a incochian; auh oncan
ticmotlacatilili in ilhuicac tlahtoani, Dios ynantzine Aquin
huel quinalquixtiz. in mochipahuacaichpochyolotzin,
inic conmatiz in quenin cenca otimopaquilti, otimaha-
huializtlamachtitzino, yn ihquac hualtzopelicaneuca-
huachquiahuia ilhuicac yn ompa Belen, huel iquac timotlaca-
chihuili; ahtle tecoco ticmomachilti ahtle mitzmamanili
ahquen techihualiztica, ahmo ic yhtlacauh, in mochipahualiz-
ichpochA9ucenaxochicelticayotzin. ynic ticmotlacatilili in
motechpatzinco moquixti motla90chalchiuhtzin in motzope-
licatla9oconetzin in ticmottilitzinoticatca mixpantzinco
mohuetziltitoca, in mochpochxillantzinco hualmoquixti in
oc achi chipahuacatzintli, in oc achi motlanexpepetla-
quillotitzinoaya yn ahmo mach yehuatl yn amo mach iuhqui
in tonatiuh in yehuatzin quimoqualtilili quimoyectilili in
quimopatili cemanahuatl, auh motzitzilquitihtoca cepayauh-
nepantla: mochoquilihtoca motziucnoltitoca; Ca yea in icho-
quUzin niman quimopehualtili yn itemaquixtiliztequitzin.
auh ca yxpantzinco timopechtecatzino tiemoteotitzino.
ypampa ca huel nelli teotl dios, tiemotenamiquilili yn
itla9omatzin yN iuhqui huel nelli motlahtocatzin; auh inic
has wrapped himself in our commoner’s flesh, in your
maidenly womb. It is the time, it is the moment, oh noble¬
woman, for him to turn their hearts good, the people of earth,
so that he will make them children of our lord God, he with
whom he rules, the father, the Holy Spirit, now and always,
forever. May it so be done.
location as a cave and as a “poore shed and stable”; Villegas
Selvago (1760:59) describes a cave-like structure set in¬
to the city walls of Bethlehem. This motif recalls the
emergence caves of Nahua mythology and migration
legends. Angels, associated with birds {aves del Cielo) in
Villegas Selvago’s description of Christ’s birth (1760:61),
appear as roseate spoonbills and other tropical birds in
the Psaltnodia Christiana’s Christmas and Easter songs
(Sahagun 1993b: 108-113, 72-73).
oo oo
[13r] Oration of the gladness of the Virgin after she gave
birth to her precious son
Oh may you be joyful, oh sacred pearl, oh jade, oh Saint
Mary! You are the turquoise of God the father, you are the
quetzal-green jade of God the child, you are the pearl of the
Holy Spirit. Oh pure maiden, [13v] with your precious spouse.
Saint Joseph, when it was almost time for your precious child¬
birth, you went there to the city, into Bethlehem. And since it
was already full everywhere, everyone was already housed,
they did not receive you anywhere. So then you went to a
certain place, a dilapidated cave house, a place where deer
sleep. And there you gave birth to the ruler of heaven. Oh
mother of God, who will be able to penetrate your pure and
maidenly heart in order to know how very joyful and de¬
lighted you were when sweet honeyed dew came raining from
heaven, there in Bethlehem, right when you gave birth? You
knew nothing painful, nothing bothered you, there was no
disturbance. Your pure and maidenly lily-flower freshness was
not damaged as you bore him, as your precious jade, your
sweet and precious child emerged from you. You were look¬
ing at him; he lay fallen before you. He emerged from your
maidenly womb. He was purer, he was shining and shimmer¬
ing much more than even the sun. He made the world good, he
fixed it up, he cured it. But he lay shivering in the middle of
the snow. He lay crying, he lay wailing. With his crying then
he began his work of rescuing people. And you knelt before
him, you worshipped him, because it is quite true that he is
the divinity, God. You kissed his precious hand as if it were
quite true that he is your ruler. And the way you kissed him on
his face, it was because it is quite true that he is your precious

yxayacapantzinco tycmotenamiquili Ca ypampa in ca huel
nelli motlapoconetzin, Ca ticmomalcocho [14r] ticmona-
palhui; auh ticmomaquili in mochpochmemeyallotzin ic
ticmochichitili in moxocoyotzin, in mocenteconetzi. icnotzo-
tzomahtzitzinti yc ticmoquihquimilhui ic ticmihilacatzilhui:
auh in tla^opiltzintli, in teopiltzintli Jesus huel mitzmoyecit-
tili huel mitzmahuiacaittili mitzmixhuetzquilili yn iuhqui
piltzintli inic huel nelli tiytlaponantzin. Auh ca tiquinmottili
yn ilhuicac tlaQopipilti in tlauhquecholme. in teoangeloque-
cholme in hualtemohuique. in hualmopihpilotzinoque in
hualmocacanauhtzinotihuitza ynic quimoteomachiltico
quimotlapalhuico. yhuan quimocuicayectenehuilico: auh ca
no ic hualmohuicaqae inic quinmotlalhuilico in ichcapixque:
auh in ichcapixque hualaque quimotlapalhuico quimoteo¬
machiltico yhuan quimomacehualmacatzinoco yn ipampa ca
intemaquixticatzin. yhuan intlahtocatzin Ma ximopaquil-
titie Cenquizcaqualtilizichpotzintle quenin cenca huel
ticmopaccaihtili, in yehuatzT motla^oconetzin in huel
mitzmopaccaittili in mitzmixhuetzquilizittili tleyn tlatlatlauh-
tiliztlahtoli ic ticmoyectlatlauhtili ic ticmoyecnohnochili
tlein tlapocuicatl ic ticmocuicatili tlein tlatla90tlaliztlahtoli
yc ticmonanquilili, tlein motzopelicanantiliztlatoltzin ic
ticmononochili tlein tlahuilli, tlein tlanexpepetlaquillotl tlein
tlatla90tlaliztletl. ic tlatlaya [14v] ic timoyolyamanialtiaya?
in iquac ticmotztiliticatca motla90conetzin iztac yecyoloxo-
chitzintle Cihuapille ynic timopacca90tlahualtiaya,
timopacamiquiltiaya, Aquin huel quitoz, aquin huel
quimelahuaz Ca in noyolia nanima, (^an iuhquin onpolihui
9an ontlami, in nihiyo yn iquac niquilnamiqui niquitzti-
motlalia inic timotlamahui9oltlacachihuili, in huey teotlatla-
90tlaliztica oncan ticmotztiliticatca in motla90conetzin yn
itlachihualtzin in ocuilton in teuhtontli, iuhqui ypampa
motepitonotzino mahtletilitzino; auh in tehuatzin, omitzmo-
cenquizcayechuecapanilhui, impan omitzmotlalili yn ixquixti
yn ilhuicac tlatlamantitoque tla9opipilti Angelome,
tzopelicatzintle ahuiacatzintle icnohuacatzintle. ilhuicac
Cihuapille, in tiyCihuatecuiyotzin Angelome Ilhuicac. yhuan
tlalticpac tlahtocaCihuapille nonetemachilitzine nimitzno-
Ciauhquechilia, ynic otimotlacachihuili ynin huey moma-
huiz90tilocatzin, yc ninopaccatlamachtia, nimitznotla-
tlauhtilia Cemihcacaichpochxochitzintle Cihuapille, Ca nel
nopampa yn oticmotlacatilili motla90conetzin. macamo
ypampa in notlahtlacol nicpolo, in tlein yehuatzin onechmix-
nextilili yCa in itlacatilitzin yhuan yea yn icenquizcaqual-
nemihtzin, Cihuapille Ca axcan in mitzmotlapalhuia, yhuan
axcan in timotetlaocolilia. auh in nicnotlacatontli in nitla-
tlacoani, tlein ic nimitznociauhqu[echi’][15r]liz tlein
nimitznomaquiliz, nican catqui in noyollia, nanima nimitzno-
huenchihuililia, ninocencahua mixpantzinco ynic cemiheae
nimomacehualtzin. nimotlacauhtzin niez. nimitznotlatlauh-
tilia Cemiheae ichpochtzintle, ma xinechmocnoittalhui in
ixpantzinco motla90conetzin nechmomaquiliz yn igraciatzin
inic nomacehualtiz notic motlacatiliz yhuan nottic moyetztiez;
auh yn ixquich ytla90tlatquitzin onechalmotquilili yn
THE EXPECTATION AND THE BIRTH OF CHRIST 57
child. You embraced him, [14r] you carried him in your arms.
And you gave him your maidenly milk, you nursed him with
it, your youngest one, your only child. With poor little rags
you wrapped him, you diapered him. And the precious little
child, the sacred little child, Jesus, looked quite well upon
you, looked quite delightedly at you. He smiled at you like a
little child, since it is quite true that you are his precious
mother. And you saw the precious nobles of heaven, the rose¬
ate spoonbills, the sacred angel spoonbills. They descended,
they hovered, they came spreading out their wings." Thus
they came to express devotion to him, they came to greet him,
and they came to sing praises to him. And they also came to
tell the shepherds. And the shepherds came, came to greet
him, came to express devotion to him, and came to give them¬
selves as vassals to him because he is their rescuer and their
ruler. Oh may you be joyful, oh maiden of utter goodness!
How very joyfully did you look at your precious child! He
looked quite joyfully at you, he looked at you smilingly.
With what prayerful words did you properly pray to him, did
you properly address him? What precious song did you sing
to him? With what loving words did you answer him? With
what sweet and motherly words did you address him? What
illumination, what shimmering light, what fire of love was
burning, [14v] with which you were melting your heart when
you were looking at your precious child? Oh white and fine
heart flower, oh noblewoman, who will be able to say, who
will be able to explain how you were fainting with joy,
you were dying of joy? It is as if my spirit, my soul just per¬
ishes, my breath just ends, when I remember, I consider
how you gave birth in a wondrous way. With great sacred
love there you were looking at your precious child. It was
as if for the sake of his creations, the little worm, the fine
dust, he became small, he became nothing. But you he utterly
exalted! He placed you above all those who lie arranged
in heaven, the precious nobles, the angels. Oh sweet one,
oh fragrant one, oh merciful one, oh heavenly noblewoman,
you are the lady of the angels in heaven and on earth. Oh
royal noblewoman, oh my hope, I salute you. This way
that you gave birth is a great honor that is given to you.'^
Thus I am joyful and happy. I beseech you, oh perfect
maidenly flower, oh noblewoman, since it was for my sake
that you gave birth to your precious child, may I not lose on
account of my sins that which he obtained for me with
his birth and with his utterly good life. Oh noblewoman,
today they greet you, and today you have compassion for
people. But I am a little wretch, I am a sinner. With what
will I salute you, [15r] what will I give you? Here is my
spirit, my soul, of which I make an offering to you. 1 array
myself before you so that I will always be your vassal,
your offering. I beseech you, oh forever a maiden, may you
have pity on me before your precious child. He will give
me his grace so that it will become my desert that he may be
born inside me, and he may be inside me. And he dressed
me in all his precious garments of heaven. Since it is for
58 BEFORE GUADALUPE
ilhuicac ynic nopampa omotlacatili macamo notech nen-
polihuiz ma yea in motepantlahtilitzin, motlatlatlauhti-
litzin ma yhuan nomacehual mochihua ynic naheitiuh in
yoliliztlalpan Helen yn ompa moyetztica motla90conetzin
Jesu x.“ ma ymochihua.'®
3. Fray Pedro de Gante, Doctrina Christiana en lengua mexicana, 1553
Pedro de Gante, or Peter of Ghent, was a Flemish Franciscan
who came to New Spain in 1523 and spent a long career
teaching literacy, music, and Christian doctrine to Nahua
children at the chapel of San Jose de los Naturales in Mexico
City. A lay brother who never received ordination, he was
extremely popular among the Nahuas because of his facility
in Nahuatl and his selfless devotion to native education.
His 1553 doctrina is an expanded version of a work he first
published in 1547 (Garcia Icazbalceta 1954:81). Unlike many
of the early doctrinal handbooks, which were bilingual with
* #
[25v] NO.‘^ JniqMetetl neltoconi tla xiquito. 1 Nic.'"'Ynique-
tetl'^ articulo yn itetzon tlaneltoq’liztli yn quitlali sanctiago
tetiachcauh quito. Qui conceptus est de spiritu sancto natus
ex maria virgine. q.n. Ca yehuatzin yn ica spiritu sancto
mo[26r]tlalitizino: motlacatili/ yn ichipahuacaxillian-
tzinco"^ yn sancta Mai'ia cequizcaychpochtli. 1 No. Yn iuh
tiquitohua y tie ypa timoyolnonotza. f Nic. ca ypa niquil-
namiqui, yhuan nicnocuitia/ ca 9an huel yehuatzin yn
itlachihual spiritu sancto, yn yc motlalitzino yhitictzinco yn
sancta Maria yn totla9onantzin quimocuilitzino yn
itla90cenquizca/qualnacayotzin/ yn totecuiyo Jesu christo
yn ipiltzin dios: ynic omochiuhtzinoco huel nelli oq’chtli:
yhua quimotlacatili yn totla9onatzin seta maria: mochipa
cenquizcaichpochtli. Jniq’hitic'^ motlalitzino yn ipiltzin
dios: ca ychpochtli. Auh ynic otztli catca ca ychpochtli.
Auh ynic motlacachihuili ca ychpochtli auh yn iquac
omotlacachihuilica 9an mochipa ychpochtli: yn axcan ca
ychpochtli/ yhuan yn inantzin dios ynic oquichtli. Y yehua¬
tzin yn totecuiyo Jesu christo nelli teotl. Yhuan oquichtli yuh
nitlaneltoca.
4. Doctrina cristiana en lengua espahola y mexicana,
por los religiosos de la orden de Santo Domingo, 1548 (1944)
Mary’s virgin purity entailed, in Catholic doctrine, not only
total sexual abstinence but also an intact hymen, even after
childbirth. The walls of the enclosed garden were never
breached. Various figures were used to explain how Christ
could have exited Mary’s body without destroying this sign
my sake that he was born, let them not be lost to me in vain.
May it be, through your advocacy and your prayers. May
it also become my desert that I go to arrive in the land of
life, Bethlehem, where your precious child, Jesus Christ, is.
May it so be done.
Spanish and Nahuatl in facing columns (for example, texts 4
and 5 below), Gante’s doctrina is entirely in Nahuatl, with
Latin passages. Formatted as a dialogue between a Nahua
teacher and a Nahua student, who address one another as “my
elder brother” and “my younger brother,” it is oriented more
toward Nahua catechism teachers and their pupils than to¬
ward Gante’s fellow friars. The twelve proclamations of the
Creed, each associated with its apostle, are described as the
faith’s tetzontli, porous volcanic rock widely used as a build¬
ing stone, and as its roots (23v).
*
[25v] Oh my younger brother, do say the third thing to be
believed. *][ Oh my elder brother, the third article, building
stone of belief. Saint James the elder brother"* placed it. He
said. Who, conceived of the Holy Spirit, was born of the Vir¬
gin Mary. This means, “He who through the Holy Spirit was
[26r] placed, he was born of the pure womb of Saint Mary,
perfect maiden.” ^ Oh my younger brother, as you Say it, about
what do you confer with yourself in your heart? *1 Oh my elder
brother, I remember and I profess that he is really just the
creation of the Holy Spirit, the way he was placed inside of
Saint Mary, our precious mother. Our lord Jesus Christ, the
child of God, took his precious and utterly good body; thus
he came to become a true man. And our precious mother. Saint
Mary, who is always a perfect maiden, bore him. When the
child of God was placed inside her, she was a maiden. And
when she was pregnant she was a maiden. And when she gave
birth she was a maiden. And when she had given birth she was
forever a maiden. Today she is a maiden, and she is the mother
of God as a man. Our lord Jesus Christ is a true divinity. And
he is a man. So do I believe.
of her virginity. Nahuas seem also to have associated a
woman’s first sexual intercourse with a breaking open. The
verb xapotla ‘to perforate’ was used for the defloration of a
virgin (Molina 1970:158v); two sixteenth-century sources
report that, if a man discovered on his wedding night that his

bride was not a virgin, his family would embarrass his in¬
laws by serving the subsequent banquet on broken and perfo¬
rated dishes (Garibay K. 1967:26; Duran 1967:v.l:57).
However, no word for hymen is recorded in Molina’s dictio¬
nary or in the Florentine Codex.
This and the following two excerpts are three Dominican-
authored variations on the second article of faith pertaining
to the humanity of Christ. This anonymous doctrina,
# *
[54r] I Ynic otetl neltoconi in itechpatcinco yn itlaqona-
cayotzm I dios ypiltcin tictoneltoquitizqMe: ca ytechpatcinco
omotlacatili yn itla9onantci in seta Maria: qa tlamauiqol-
tica. Auh ca uel cemichpuchtli catca yn icoac quimotlaca-
tilili in toueitlatocauh Jeso Xpo: qan niman aye q’mocauili in
ichpuchyo in ilhuicac ciuapilli: auh ca in quenami oqui-
monacayotilitcino yn itlaqocunetci Jesu xpo ynic oquichtli:
ca 9a y ye no uhqui in [54v] oquimotlacatili ynic oq’chtli/
9an tlamaui9oltica: auh ca mochipa ychpuchtli omochiuh/
yn ayamo motlacachiuilia/ auh yn icoac ye q motlaca-
chiuilia yuan in oiuh oq’motlacachiuili. Yn iuhq’ in tonatiuh
ytlanex yitiepa ualq’qa in teuilotl in amo que mochiua in
amo yc tlapani in amo ca t9ayani yn teuilotl. Ca 9a no yuh-
qui yn icoac motlacatilitcino in totlaqotemaquixticauh
Jesu xpo ca amo que muchiuhtcino yn itlaqonantci i ciuapilli
seta Maria amo ca ot9ayan amo ca omotlapo yn itlaqo-
nacayotcin: 9a yiticpatcTco oualmoqxtitcio: ca 9a tlamaui-
9oltica omochiuh.
5. Fray Domingo de la Anunciacion, Doctrina Xpiana breuey copendiosa
por via de dialogo entre vn maestro y vn discipuio, 1565
Domingo de la Anunciacion, born in Fuenteovejuna, came
to New Spain with his elder brother in 1528 and Joined the
Dominican order a few years later. He spent over fifty years
ministering to indigenous peoples and also accompanied
an ill-fated expedition to Florida; he died in 1591 (Garcia
Icazbalceta 1954:193-199). The Dominican chronicler
Davila Padilla describes how Anunciacion would write a text
[21 v] J[ Ynic ontetl neltoconi, yn onimitzilhui ca uel ye-
huatzl yn ipiltzin Dios in Jesu christo tocentlatocatzl omo-
tlacatilitzino ytechpatzinco yn sancta maria mochipa
cemicac ychpochtli aye [22r] ytlacauh yn iychpuchyotzin.
Ca in quenin tlamahuiqoltica yitictzinco monacayoti-
tzinoco: 9an no iuh tlamahui9oltica motlacatilitzino, hamo
que yc mochiuhtzio yn cihuapilli sancta maria amo yc
ytlacauh yn ichipahualiz yichpuchyotzin. Auh monequi
tiematiz notla9opiltze ca in iquac monomayzcalitzino
THE EXPECTATION AND THE BIRTH OF CHRIST 59
published with Spanish and Nahuatl text in parallel columns,
was the first Dominican imprint in Nahuatl. It is based on a
Spanish doctrina by fray Pedro de Cordoba, printed in
Mexico in 1544 (Cordoba 1970). The bilingual edition was
reprinted in 1550 (Garcia Icazbalceta 1954:86-87). Here the
friars compare Christ’s birth to the passing of sunlight through
glass or crystal, a figure also used in the same context by the
Augustinian Juan de la Anunciacion (1575:38).
[54r] f The second thing to be believed in regard to the pre¬
cious body of the child of God, which we will believe, is that
he was born of his precious mother. Saint Mary, just in a won¬
drous way. And she was really a complete maiden when she
had given birth to our great ruler, Jesus Christ. In no way did
the heavenly noblewoman ever lose her maidenhood. And
the manner in which she caused her precious child, Jesus
Christ, to become flesh as a man, in Just the same way [54v]
she gave birth to him as a man. Just in a wondrous way. And
she was always a maiden, before she gave birth, and when she
was about to give birth to him, and after she had given birth to
him. It was like the way that the light of the sun comes forth
from inside crystal. Nothing happens to the crystal, it does
not thus break, it does not tear. It was Just like this when our
precious rescuer, Jesus Christ, was born. Nothing happened to
his precious mother, the noblewoman. Saint Mary. Her pre¬
cious body did not tear, did not open. He Just came forth from
inside her. It happened Just in a wondrous way.
in Spanish, translate it clause by clause with the help of an
interpreter, and then memorize it, such that “the natives were
amazed to see him in such a short time make such long argu¬
ments in their language” (1955:606). Here, Anunciacion’s
bilingual text draws an analogy between the resurrected
Christ’s ability to pass through walls and his passage out of
Mary’s womb.
[21 v] 1 The second thing to be believed that I said to you is that
the child of God, Jesus Christ, our one ruler, was bom of Saint
Mary, who is always and forever a maiden. Never [22r] was her
maidenhood damaged. In the way that he wondrously came
to become flesh inside her, likewise in a wondrous way he was
born. Nothing happened thereby to the noblewoman. Saint
Mary. Her purity, her maidenhood were not thereby damaged.
And it is necessary that you know, oh my precious child, that
when our rescuer, Jesus Christ, revived himself among the
60 BEFORE GUADALUPE
totemaquixticatzin Jesu christo yntlan yn mimicque,
impa mocalaquito yn itlaqohuan apostolome cecni mocal-
tzacuticatca, auh hamo motlapo yn tlatzacuilli hao90 vetaa,
hamo no ca coyo I tepatli ynic mocalaq’to, 9a huel iytic
mSalq’xtitzino. ^an no iuh monequi ticcaquiz ca inic
motlacatilitzino totecuyo, ynic ixillapatzico vel moq’xti yn
cemmaca ichpuchtli sancta maria hamo ic ytlacauh hamo can
motlapo yn ichpochnacayotzin yn ilhuicac cihuapilli. Ca in
queni iytictzinco mocalaq’ yn iquac monacayotitzio yn
hamo quen yc mochiuhtzTo in ciuapilli 9a ye no iuh in
motlacatilitzino hamo ic itlacauh in iceq’zcaichpuchyotzl i
tla9oychpuchtli sancta maria. [22v] Ca mochipa cemicac
ychpuchtli, yn ayamo motlacachihuilia, yhua in itlacachi-
hualizpatzinco, yhuan yn iquac ye omotlacachihuilitzino.
6. Fray Martin de Leon, Camino del cielo en lengua mexicana, 1611
Catechismo en lengua mexicana
The Dominican Leon (see text 3.1) compares Christ’s
emergence to starshine, which passes through the heavens
without breaking them. Here are meant the spheres of the old
[32r] INIC ONTETL ARTICVLO, IN IXlMAchocatzin Dios,
inic tlacatl oquichtli, ca yehuatl neltocoz, ca in Dios te-
Piltzin in toTecuiyo lesu Christo, omotlacatilitzino,
itechpatzinco, in tlagdCihuapilli Sdta Maria tlamahuigoltica,
in mochipa huel nelli ichpochtli, aic oquimopolhui in
itlagdmahuizichpochyotzin.
TLa xicmomachiltican notla9opilhuane, ca in macihui
omomixihuilti in tla9oCihuapilli S. Maria amo ma nel [32v]
tepitzin aitlacauh,'* in ichipahuacanemilihtzin, cemiccac
ichpochtli, in icuac ayamo motztilia, no90 in imixihuiliz-
patzinco, ano90 in icuac ye yuh omomixihuititzino, amo omo-
tlapo in inacayotzin, amo omitlacahuilti, yuhqui cicitlaltin
nican tiquimonitta, in yohualtica neci in intlanextiliz, quinal-
quixtia in intlanexillo, in Ilhuicatitech, cequi nauhtlamampan,
cequi macuillamampan, cequi chicuetlamampan, auh amo ic
tzayani, coyoni, in ilhuicame, inic oncan qui9az in intla-
nextillo, amo ic itlacahui, 9an no yuh omochiuhtzino in
toTecuiyo lesu Christo, Dios itla9opiltzin, yuhqui in Citlalin,
omochiuhtzino, auh in tla9oCihuapilli, in itlaqomahuiznantzl,
yuhqui in Ilhuicatl, yhua Cicitlaltin, in iccuac nican tlalticpac
techtlanextilia, amo cequi icotonca in Citlalin nican tlalticpac
mocahua, 9an no yuhcatzintli in tla9oCihuapilli, macihui in
nica oquimotlacatilili in itlaqoconetzin lesu Christo, in Dios
itla9oPiltzin, amo ic itla oquimocahuilitzino, amo oquimo¬
polhui in itla9oichpochyotzin, inic cemiccac ichpochtli.
dead, he went to enter upon his precious ones, the apostles,
who were closed up in a house in a certain place. But the door
was not opened, nor a window, nor was any hole made anywhere
in the wall. The way he went to enter, he just passed right
inside it. Likewise it is necessary that you hear that the way
our lord was bom, the way he emerged right from the womb of
the perpetually maiden Saint Mary, the maidenly body of the
heavenly noblewoman was not thereby damaged, it did not open
anywhere. The way that he entered inside her when he became
flesh, such that nothing happened to the noblewoman, in just
the same way when he was born the perfect maidenhood of
the precious maiden. Saint Mary, was not thereby damaged.
[22v] Always and forever she is a maiden, before she gave
birth, and in her childbearing, and after she had given birth.
Ptolemaic cosmology, but the image works equally well for
the layered Mesoamerican upperworld.
# #
[32r] The second article, of the knowing of God as a human
being, a man, which will be believed, is that God the child,
our lord Jesus Christ, was born of the precious noblewoman.
Saint Mary, in a wondrous way. It is quite true that she is
always a maiden. She never lost her precious and honored
maidenhood.
Do be informed, oh my precious children, that even though
the precious noblewoman. Saint Mary, gave birth, her pure
life was not [32v] damaged the slightest bit. She is forever
a maiden, before she was pregnant, as well as in her child¬
birth, as well as after she had given birth. Her body did not
open, it was not damaged. It was as we see the stars here, at
night their light is visible, their radiance passes through
the heavens, some through four, some through five, some
through six. But the heavens do not thereby tear and become
full of holes, so that their light will pass through there.
They are not thereby damaged. Just like this our lord Jesus
Christ, God’s precious child, was made. He became like a star.
And the precious noblewoman, his precious and honored
mother, was like a heaven. And when the stars shine on us
here on earth, no pieces of star remain here on earth. Just
like this the precious noblewoman, even though she gave
birth here to her precious child, Jesus Christ, God’s pre¬
cious child, did not thus leave anything, she did not lose
her precious maidenhood, so she is forever a maiden.
 THE EXPECTATION AND THE BIRTH OF CHRIST 61

NOTES

1. Like plate 6, this woodcut also appears in Pedro de la Vega’s reconstruction.

Flos sanctorum (1569;267v, 304v), where it is used for the festival of 10. Read iuh mochihua.
Anne but also for the birth of John the Baptist, as if the older woman 11. The verb root is mo-canahua ‘to make oneself thin’; applied
can represent either Elizabeth or Anne and the infant either Christ or to birds or angels this might suggest that they are stretching them¬
John the Baptist. 1 have published the Psalmodia's woodcut of the selves out or spreading out their wings, but the interpretation is tentative.
Nativity of Christ elsewhere (Burkhart 1996:187). 12. More literally, “your great being honored.”
2. A Dominican, Saint Antoninus did not consider Mary im¬ 13. Abbreviation for Noteyccauhtzine (Iv), “oh my younger
maculately conceived, but rather sanctified after conception, upon the brother” (reverential).
infusion of her soul (1959;v.4:944). 14. Abbreviation for Niccauhtzine (1 v), “oh my elder brother”
3. Translation by Matter (1990:xxv). (reverential).
4. The glottal stop is not shown in the document. 15. Read inic etef/.
5. Read incennetlamachtiltzin. 16. Read ichipahuacaxillantzinco
6. Read maca aocmo. 17. Read inic ihtic.
7. Read ma iuh mochihiia. 18. That is. Saint James Major or Saint James the Great, Spain’s
8. Read alegria. Santiago.
9. Letters are obscured in the inner margin of the text; this is a 19. Read oitlacauh.
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5
T he February 2 Feast of the Purification commemorates
Mary’s visit to the temple in Jerusalem for the customary
rites of post-partum purification and consecration of the
male firstborn, as recounted by Luke (2:22-38). Jewish
law dictated that, forty days after the birth of a boy and
eighty days after the birth of a girl, the mother must provide a
pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering to cleanse herself of
the ritual impurity resulting from childbirth. A yearling lamb
or, in the case of poor women, a second bird was offered in
gratitude for a successful childbirth. Firstborn males not
of the tribe of Levi had to be “redeemed” for a fee of five
shekels paid to the temple in Jerusalem, so that a Levite
could, symbolically, take their place in God’s service (Gaffney
1967:1042; Rivadeneira 1669:60, 166; Vega 1569:183r).
Thus, in obedience to Mosaic law Mary and Joseph bring
the infant to the temple and, being of humble means, make
an offering of two turtledoves.' At the temple the
fJebrew elder Simeon immediately recognizes Jesus as the
Messiah. God had promised Simeon that he would see the
savior in his lifetime, and he realizes that this prophecy is
now fulfilled.
Luke, a Gentile with no firsthand experience of
Palestinian Judaic practice, gives an inaccurate rendering
of these customs, conflating the two rites, omitting the
payment of the fee, and implying that the infant Jesus had
to be brought along to the temple, which actually was not
necessary (Brown 1993:448-449). According to Brown
(1993:450, 452) the Jewish rites serve Luke as a plot
device enabling him to tell a story paralleling the presenta¬
tion of Samuel at the sanctuary of Shiloh (I Samuel 1.24—28),
although the evangelist also wished to show that the fulfill¬
ment of prophecy is made possible through obedience to the
law of Moses.
As Mary came to be seen as perpetually and perfectly
pure, it seemed inconsistent that she should have to undergo
a rite of purification. But her participation in the tradition,
like Christ’s circumcision, was treated as an act of obedience
to law and conformity to the customs of her people (e.g.,
Vega 1569:12v).
The festival is celebrated with a procession in which
lighted candles are carried (hence its more common name.
The Purification
Candlemas or, in Spanish, Candelaria). Originally observed
forty days after Epiphany, on February 14, in Rome the festi¬
val was moved to February 2, forty days after Christmas, where
it coincided with the Roman festival of lights. During this
festival, a commemoration of Proserpine’s abduction by
Pluto, candles and torches were carried in nocturnal proces¬
sions to counter the powers of the underworld. In 701 Pope
Sergius I appropriated the pagan festival by instituting the
candlelight processions in honor of Mary’s purity (Villegas
Selvago 1760:70; Warner 1976:67). According to Pedro de la
Vega (1569:184r), the festival also replaced Roman rites
honoring the goddess Februa, mother of Mars, and sacrifices
offered to Pluto and other underworld powers during
February; both these rites had featured the carrying of torches
and candles. The procession was introduced to New Spain,
and Nahuas developed a devotion to the candles blessed at
their churches on this day. In Spain these candles were kept
and lit during storms as protection from lightning (Foster
1960:170). Motolinia (1979:55) attests that the Nahuas
adopted this custom and also burned the candles when some¬
one was very sick.
In the native calendar that fray Martin de Leon included
in his 1611 Camino del cielo, he dates the beginning of the
year as February 2 (96v). He was probably following Sahagun s
1585 Calendario, although the Franciscan placed it a day
earlier (Garcia Icazbalceta 1954:369). Colonial attempts to
correlate the Julian or Gregorian calendars with the preconquest
solar (or vague) year, comprising eighteen 20-day “months”
plus five unnamed days, vary from one author to the next. The
significant issue here is not which, if any, correlation is actu¬
ally correct but the fact that one line of interpretation associated
the old new year with the Purification, a date that had signifi¬
cance in the colonial period as a major Marian feast and one
of the twelve festivals that native people were expected to
observe. Leon warns that the old ceremonies of Atl cahualo,
in which children were sacrificed to the rain gods, might lurk
beneath the celebration of Mary’s own offering of her child at
the temple (1611:96v). In a broader sense, Mary’s offering of
Jesus at the temple, like her own parents’ offering of her, may
have reminded Nahuas of the promising of infants to the temple
schools (see discussion in chap. 2).
64 BEFORE GUADALUPE
1. Fray Juan de la Anunciacion, Sermonario en lengua mexicana, 1577
I present here this Augustinian friar’s complete set of texts
for the Purification, showing the structure 'of the sermons
and his incorporation of doctrinal lessons into them—both
directly, through readings from the catechism to be inserted
at certain points, and indirectly, through the interpretations
he offers of the narrative material. The Augustinian tells
and elaborates on the Gospel-based story and also explains
the customs regarding the procession and the candles,
[136v] I In festo Purificationis virginis MARIAL.
POSQVAM IMPLEti sunt dies purgationis Marice, secundum
lege moisi: tulerunt lESVM in Hierusalem: vt sisterent eum
Domino: sicut scriptum est in lege Domimi. Luc. c. 2.
quitoznequi, Yn ipan amotlatol, yn iquac in ye otzonquiz yn
izquilhuitl yn inechipaualiztzin in sancta Maria, yn iuh catca
ytenauatil Moysen: in yehuatzin piltzintli lESV ompa
quimohuiquilique yn Hierusalem: ynic yxpantzinco quimo-
uenchiuilizque totecuiyo DIOS: yn iuh ycuiliuhticatca ypa
ytenahuatiltzin. Notla^opilhuane ca in axcan, mahuiztica yn
ilnamico yn ilhuitzin tociuatlatocatzin sancta Maria: yn iuh
momelahua ypan sancto Euagelio. Ca yn iquac in ye oquiz in
ompoalylhuitl, yn ye yuh omotlacachiuili: niman yquac
omohuicatzino in ompa teopan quimonapalhuitia yn
itlagoconetzin lESVS, quimouenchiuilito yxpantzinco in
totecuiyo Dios, ytetzinco quimopohuilito: yuan oncan
quimouenchiuili onteme vilococone. Auh ma vel xicmatican
yuan ma xicacicacaquican, ca in onteme vilococone,
quinezcayotia in matlactetl teotenahuatilli, y ^an ocean
quiztica. Ynic ceccan quiztica, ytetzinco pohui yn totecuiyo
DIOS, yn imahuiztililocatzin. Ynic ocean quiztica, intech
pohui in tohuampoan, ynic tiquintlagotlazque. Yehuatl y, in
amotech monequi yn teoyotica anquiuenchiuazque, yn
ixpantzinco totecuiyo DIOS. Quitoznequi vel monequi in
anquipiazque, yuan anquimonemiliztizque in teotenauatilli,
in ocean quiztica. Ca yehuatl amouen yez yn ixpatzinco
totecuiyo Dios, ca nima atle quinenehuilia ynic tla§otli ventli.
Declarar estas dos partes de mandamientos.
AVH YNTLA TIQVItoz in 5a50 ac tehuatl tichristiano, tlein
occentlamatli nicuenchiuaz yn ixpantzinco totecuiyo DIOS,
ynic nicnohuellamachtiliz, yuan ynic vel nicnoteputztoquiliz
sancta Maria? Nopiltzine xicuenchiua yn innezea yn onteme
vilococone, auh ca tlehuatl? yehuatl yn. Declina d malo &
fac bonum. Psal. 36. quitoznequi xictlalcahui xictelchiua in
aqualli, yua xicchihua xictequipano in qualli. Ca in yehuatl
y, yvelmatzin in totecuiyo DIOS, vel quimonequiltia in [137r]
ticuechiuaz yxpatzinco, ynic mitzmocneliz. Declarar de los
peccados mortales que se han de dexar, y las virtudes y buenas
obras que se hd de obrar, que es el sacrificio agradable a Dios.
while seeking to limit participation in this appealing
festivity to those who follow his moral teachings. Obedi¬
ence to the commands of God is represented as a sacri¬
ficial offering, and the one most pleasing to this deity,
yet Mary and Joseph model the common indigenous
custom of sacrificing birds. The turtledoves Mary and Joseph
offer become mourning doves {huilomeh)\ turtledoves are
an Old World genus.
OC tro
[136v] *][ On the Eeast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary
And when the days of her purification according to the law
of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him to Jerusalem, to
present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord.
Luke, chapter 2[:22-23]. This means, in your words, “When
all the days of Saint Mary’s purification had come to an end,
as was the command of Moses, they took the little child, Jesus,
to Jerusalem, in order to make an offering of him before our
lord God, as it was written in his commands.” Oh my precious
children, today the festival of our queen. Saint Mary, is re¬
membered with honor, as it is explained in the Holy Gospel.
When forty days had passed since she had given birth, there¬
upon she went to the temple, carrying in her arms her precious
child, Jesus. She went to make an offering of him before our
lord God, she went to turn him over to him. And there she
made an offering of two dove chicks. And may you know
well, and may you understand fully, that the two dove chicks
symbolize the ten sacred commands, which are divided into
two parts. The first part pertains to the honoring of our lord
God. The second part pertains to our fellows, so that we will
love them. It is necessary for you that you make an offering
of these in a sacred way before our lord God. This means that
it is quite necessary that you keep and that you live according
to the sacred commands, which are divided into two parts.
That will be your offering before our lord God. Nothing at all
equals it as a precious offering. Declare these two parts of the
commandments.
And if you say, whoever you are, you Christian, “What else
will I offer before our lord God, so that I will please him, and
so that I will be able to follow Saint Mary?” Oh my child,
make an offering of that which the two dove chicks symbol¬
ize. And what is this? This is Depart from evil, and do good.
Psalm 36[:27]. This means, “Abandon and scorn that which
is bad, and do and work at that which is good.” It is this that is
our lord God’s pleasure. He really wants [137r] you to make
an offering of it before him; thus he will favor you. Declare
the mortal sins that must be abandoned, and the virtues and
good works that must be done, which is the sacrifice agree¬
able to God.

NOTLA^OPILHVAne ye anquimati, ca in axca nohuyan
moteochiua in candelas, yua tlayahualolo, temac tlatlatiuh in
candela tlanextia. Ynin, ca quinezcayotia yn ichipaualiztzin,
yn iqualnemiliztzin, yn itlahuiltzin, yn itlanextzin yn ianima-
tzin, in tomahuiztla9onantzin Sancta Maria, Auh vel yc neci,
in ca 9a yehuantin in chipauac ymaniman, in yecyolloque in
quallachiualeque, ymmac tlanextia in tlateochiualli candela,
in quitquitihui in tlayaualolizpa: ca vel yc quimouellamach-
tilia yyehuatzin sancta Maria, yua yn itla90Conetzin lESV
CHRISTO. Auh in tlatlacultica catzahuaticate, ca amo qui-
mouellamachtilia yn totecuiyo lESV CHRISTO, amo no yn
itla9onantzin: ym manel ymmac tehuan tlatlatiuh quitquitihui
in tlateochiualli candela, ca atle ypan pohui, ypampa ca temic-
tiani tlatlacolli intech ca. Declarar el sexto peccado mortal.
f Sermon segundo.
NOTLAQOPILHVAne ca in axcan yn ipa sancto Euangelio,
tla9oylnamico yn ilhuitzin ciuapilli sancta Maria, in
moteneua purificacion. Ca tlamahui9oa in axcan in sancta
yglesia, yua cenca papaqui, ynic quilnamiqui in quenin teopan
mohuicac in ciuapilli sancta Maria, quimonapalhuitia yn
itla90conetzin lESVS, quimouenmanilito. Ca yn iquac in ye
oquiz in ompoalylhuitl in omotlacachiuili, ca niman
quimohuiquili yn itla90conetzin lESVS, in ompa teopan
Hierusalem: yxpantzinco quimouenchiuilito yn totecuiyo
DIOS, ytetzmco quimopohuilito quimouemmanilito. Ca yuh
catca innauatil yn ipilhuan Israel in mitoa, Leuit. c. 12. Yn
ciuatl yn iquac mixiuhqui catca, oc ompoalylhuitl in cali yez
ayacampa yaz, ynic vel patiz. Auh in oquiz in ompoalylhuitl,
niman quinextiz centetl ychcaconetl, yuan centetl viloconetl,
yc tlamanatiuh in teopan quimacaz in teopixqui, ynic
yxpantzinco totecuiyo DIOS quiuemmanaz, yua ynic ypampa
in ciuatl mixiuhqui quimotlatlauhtiliz in totecuiyo DIOS. Auh
macihui yn iuh innauatil catca y, yn ipilhua Israel, ca amo
ytetzinco tlatoaya in ciuapilli sancta Maria, ca amo yte-
tzinco monequia, ynic no yuhqui mochiuiliz: yehica ca
tlamahui9oltica spiritu sanctotica in omotlacachihuili, amo
ma nacayotica, ca tlacnelilli mochiuhtzinotica. Auh ca amo
yehuatzin ypampa, in tlali[l 37v]loc nahuatilli: ca 9a
yehuantin yntechpa tlatoaya in ciua in tlacaxinachtica otztia,
in nacayotica tlacachiuaya. Auh macihui in ciuapilli sancta
Maria, in amo ynahuatiltzin catca, ca 9an yyollotzin tlama in
oquimoneltilili oquimopiali yn inahuatil catca Israel ypil-
huan. Ypampa in oquimochihuili, ynic amo ytetzinco
netlapololtiloz, ca ayamo machoya, ayamo yximachoya, in
ca yehuatzin ynantzin totecuiyo lESV CHRISTO. Ypampa in
oquimolhuili sant loseph, in tehuantin ca monequi yn
ticpiazque yn inahuatil Israellaca, macihui in amo totech
pohui: ma 9an ticchiuacan ynic amo totech netlapololtiloz,
ca nel ayamo tiximacho, ma tictohuiquilican, in piltzintli in
ompa Hierusalem teopan, yuan ma ticcahuati in huentzintli,
ma neci in tohuen mochiuaz: intlacamo neciz yn ichcaconetl,
ma ye onteme vilococone necican, ca axcan macuilli yn
tiazque in ompa teopan Hierusalem. Auh yn iquac in oacic
macuilylhuitl, ca niman quimohuiquili yn itla90Conetzin
THE PURIFICATION 65
Oh my precious children, you already know that today candles
are blessed everywhere, and there is a procession. In people’s
hands the candles go burning; they shine. This symbolizes
the purity, the good life, the illumination, and the light of the
soul of our honored and precious mother, Saint Mary. And
thus it is quite evident that they whose souls are pure, who are
of proper hearts, who are of good deeds, in their hands shine
the blessed candles that they go carrying in the procession.
Thus they really please Saint Mary and her precious child.
Jesus Christ. But those who are dirty with sin do not please
our lord Jesus Christ, nor his precious mother. Even if in their
hands, along with the others, the blessed candles go burning,
they go carrying them, it is considered as nothing, because
mortal sin is with them. Declare the sixth mortal sin.-
*][ Second sermon.
Oh my precious children, today in the Holy Gospel the festi¬
val of the noblewoman. Saint Mary, which is called
“Purification.” is remembered as something precious. The Holy
Church marvels today, and is very joyful, as she remembers
how the noblewoman. Saint Mary, went to the temple, carry¬
ing in her arms her precious child, Jesus, She went to lay him
as an offering. When forty days had passed since she gave
birth, then she took her precious child, Jesus, to the temple in
Jerusalem. She went to make an offering of him before our
lord God, she went to turn him over to him, she went to lay
him as an offering. Such was the command of the children of
Israel, it is said, Leviticus chapter 12. The woman, when she is
newly delivered, for forty more days she will be in the house,
she will not yet go anywhere, so that she will heal well. And
when the forty days have passed, then she will procure one
lamb and one dove chick. Thus she will go to lay things in the
temple. She will give them to the priest, so that he will lay
them as offerings before our lord God. and so that he will pray
to our lord God on behalf of the newly-delivered woman. And
even though such was the command of the children of Israel,
it was not said in regard to the noblewoman. Saint Mary. It
was not required of her that she also do this, because she gave
birth by means of a marvel, through the Holy Spirit, not through
the body; she is a favored one. And it was not because of the
command that was [137v] established, for it was said only in
regard to women who became pregnant with human seed, who
gave birth through the body. But even though it was not the
command of the noblewoman. Saint Mary, she Just felt that
she should carry out and keep what was a command of the
children of Israel. For this reason she did it: so that people
would not be confused about her, for it was not yet known, it
was not yet recognized that she was the mother of our lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore she said to Saint Joseph, “As for us, it
is necessary that we keep the commands of the people of
Israel, even though they do not pertain to us. Let us Just do
them so that people will not be confused about us, since we
are not yet recognized. Let us take the little child to the temple
there in Jerusalem, and let us leave a little offering. May some¬
thing be procured that will be our offering. If a lamb is not
66 BEFORE GUADALUPE
totecuiyo lESV CHRISTO, yn ompa teopan. Auh quiahua-
tempan quimonamiquilico in teopixqui catca veuentzin ytoca
Simeon, quimitalhui. Nunc dimittis seruum tuum Domine, se¬
cundum verbum tuum in pace, quia viderunt oculi mei salutare
tuum. quitoznequi. Totecuiyoe Diose, axca ticmomacahuili
in motetlayecolticauh, ma ye cuelle pacca yocoxca nimiqui,
yn iuh ticmitalhui, ca vel oticmoneltilili in motlatoltzin, ca
ye onicnottili in notemaquixticatzin, ca opachiuh in noyollo:
ypampa in axcan ma xinechualmanili ma xinechmocelili. Ma
vel xicacicamatican ca in yehuatzin in teopixqui Simeon, ye
vecauh in quimochieliaya yn ihuallaliliztzin yn totecuiyo
lESV CHRISTO, ypampa cenca quimotlatlauhtiliaya totecuiyo
Dios, ynic quiualmihualiliz yn itla5opiltzin. Auh yn iquac y
ye oualmohuicac, in oquimottili Simeon in vel yxteloloyca,
niman quito. Totecuiyoe Diose, ca ye vecauh in nimitzno-
chielia: auh in axcan ca ye opachiuh in noyollo, ca ye
onimitznottili. Ypampa y, ma xinechmonahuatili ma niyauh
ma nimiqui totecuiyoe, ca in quenin oticmotenehuili yn iuh
oticmocemitalhui, ca oneltic in motlatoltzin, ca ye neltitica.
Yehica in axcan totecuiyoe ma xicmonequilti, ma ninocehui
ca vel nixtelolotica nicnottilia in motemaquixtiayatzin,
yn intech monequi cemanahuac tlaca. Notla^opilhuane,
xicmatican ca in yehuatzin in Simeon, ca quinezcayotia
in aquique yecnemiliceque, in quelehuitinemi yn intzon-
qui^aliz yn immiquiliz, yehica yn atle intech ca temic-
tiani tlatlacolli, in mictlan tetla9ani tehuicani. [138r]
Auh ypampa y, cenca amotech monequi yn achtopa
anquitla9azque in temictiani tlatlacolli, neyolcuiti-
liztica, necencahualiztica, ynic vel yollochipaualiztica
anquimoyectenehuilizque in totecuiyo DIOS: ynic vel
9atepan anquiteputztocazque yn itlatoltzin Simeon,
anquitozque yn iuh oquito. Totecuiyoe Diose, in axcan ca ye
opachiuh in noyollo, ynic oniquittac in moteutlanextzin in
motepatiayatzin, in motemaquixtiayatzin: ca cenca yc
otinechmocnelili, otla90tic in moyollotzin otinechmocnelili,
ma xicmonequilti, ynic niaz ynic nimitznottilitiuh in
mochantzinco yn ilhuicatl ytic.
NOTLAQOPILhuane ca ye oanquimocaquitique, ca in
tomahuiztla9onantzin sancta MARIA, ca Spiritu sanctotica in
omotztili, yuan tlamahui9oltica in omotlacachiuili, aquen
omochiuhtzino. Ypampa y, ca amo ytetzinco monequia in
nechipaualiztli yn iuh ye vecauh innahuatil catca ciua, yn
iquac tlacachiuaya. Ca in totla9onantzin sancta Maria yuh
yol, yuh peuh, yuh tzintic, yuh motlacatili, cenquizcachipauac.
Auh ynic omonemiti muchipa chipauacayotica, aye ytetzinco
omochiuh, aye ytetzinco acic in ma ytla tliltic catzahuac.
Auh ynic mohuicac teopan, yuh monextitzino yn ca mo-
chipauhtzinoto, yece nelli 9an yc techmotlalililia tech-
mottitilia ontlamantli yn neyxcuitilli. Ynic centlamantli,
yehuatl ynic pialoz in itenahuatiltzin totecuiyo DIOS. Auh
ynic ontlamantli, yehuatl ynic tiematizque ca I tehuantin in
titlatlacoanime, ca cenca totech monequi yn teoyotica
tichipaualozque, ynic vel tiquicnopilhuizque ynic tica-
laquizque ychantzinco totecuiyo DIOS: ca niman ayac vel
available, may two dove chicks be procured. Five days from
today we will go to the temple in Jerusalem.” And when the
fifth day arrived, then she took her precious child, our lord
Jesus Christ, to the temple. And at the entrance the priest, who
was an elderly man named Simeon, came to meet her. He said,
“Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to
your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation " [Luke 2:29-
30], This means, “Oh our lord, oh God, today you have
conceded to your servant, let it be that joyfully and gently 1
die, as you said, for you have really fulfilled your word, for
now 1 have seen my rescuer. 1 am satisfied. Therefore, now
may you take me, may you receive me.” May you fully under¬
stand that the priest, Simeon, had been waiting for a long time
for the coming of our lord Jesus Christ. Therefore he would
fervently beseech our lord God to send his precious child.
And when he came, when Simeon saw him with his own eyes,
then he said, “Oh our lord, oh God, I have been waiting for
you for a long time. And today I am satisfied, for now I have
seen you. Therefore, may you command me, may it be that 1
go, may it be that I die, oh our lord. For the way you pro¬
nounced it, as you declared it, your word has come true, it is
now true. Therefore today, oh our lord, may you wish it, may
it be that I rest, for with my own eyes I see your rescuer of
people, who is necessary for the people of the world.” Oh my
precious children, know that Simeon symbolizes those who
have proper lives, who go about desiring their end, their death,
because there is no mortal sin with them, that which casts
people, which carries people, into the place of the dead. [ 138r]
And therefore it is essential for you that first you cast down
mortal sin through confession and abstinence, so that you
will be able to praise our lord God with purity of heart, so that
afterwards you will be able to follow the words of Simeon,
you will say what he said: “Oh our lord, oh God, now I am
satisfied, as I saw your sacred light, your curer of people,^
your rescuer of people. Greatly thereby have you favored me.
you have been kind,'* you have favored me. May it be your
wish that I go, that I go to see you in your home in heaven.”
Oh my precious children, you have already heard that our
honored and precious mother. Saint Mary, became pregnant
by means of the Holy Spirit and gave birth by means of a
marvel. Nothing happened to her.^ Therefore, purification was
not necessary for her, in the way it was women’s command
long ago, when they gave birth. Our precious mother. Saint
Mary, as she came to life, as she began, as she started, as she
was born, was completely pure. And as she lived always with
purity, nothing black or dirty was ever done in regard to her
or ever reached her. And the way she went to the temple, how
she showed herself and went to purify herself, moreover it is
true that she thus establishes for us, she shows us, two ex¬
amples. The first is that the commands of our lord God will be
kept. And the second is that we will know that it is essential
for us sinners that we be purified in a sacred way, so that we
will be able to obtain entry into the home of our lord God. For
none soever will be able to enter there if he or she does not

ompa calaquiz intlacamo achtopa teoyotica mochipahuaz.
Ca yuh quimitalhuia yn sant luan. Nihil coinquinatum intrabit
in regnum Dei. Apoc. c. 21. quitoznequi. Ca amotle tliltic, atle
catzahuac, atle tetlayelti, calaquiz yn ichatzinco totecuiyo
DIOS. Auh in axcan ma ytetzinco ximixcuitican in tonantzin
sancta MARIA, ma teoyotica ximochipauacan, ma xictlaqacan
in amotliliuhca in amocatzahuaca, ynic vel teoyotica
chipaualoz yn amoyolia in amaniman. Ca ayac vel quimottiliz
in totecuiyo DIOS, yntlacamo achtopa chipaualoz yn iyollo
yn ianiman, ca yuh oquimitalhui yn totecuiyo DIOS. Beati
mundo corde quoniam ipsi De videbunt. Marttha. c. 5.
quitoznequi. Quemmach vel yehuantin yn chipahuatica yn
inyollo, ca yehuantin quimacehuazque, ynic quimottilizque
intotecuiyo DIOS. O notlaqopilhuane, intla anquimotiliznequi
in amoteouh in amotla[138v]tocauh, in ompa yn ichantzinco
yn ilhuicatl ytic in ompa moetztica, ma vel xicmocuitlahuican
in teoyotica ynechipaualiz in amanima, yn inezca in candela
in axcan amomac tlatlaz. Ca in quenin candela tetlanextilia,
ca 9an no yuhqui yn tonemiliz, ca intla qualli yectli, ca yc
titetlanextilia ynic totech neixcuitiloz. Ca quimitalhuia in
totecuiyo lESV CHRISTO. Sint lumbi vestri prxcincti, &
lucernce ardentes in manibus vestris. Luc. c. 12. quitoznequi.
Yn ipa amotlatol, ma ximocuitlalpican, yuan ma amomatica
xictzizquican in ocotl in tlanextli. Quitoznequi y, ma
ximotlacahualtican yn ihuicpa yn ahuilnemiliztli, ca yn iquac
amotlacahualtia ca yuhquimma ammocuitlalpia; yuan yn
iquac anquichiuhtinemi in qualli yectli, ca yuhquima
anquitquitinemi tlanextli, antetlahuilia, ynic amotech
neyxcuitiloz. Yehica yn iquac titlayahualoua tiquitquitihui
in tlateochiualcandela tomac tlatlatiuh tlanextitiuh: ca yuh
quimati quitoznequi, ca toqualnemiliztica titetlanextilia.
Auh in qaqo ac tehuatl in titlatlacouani, in atiqualnemilice, in
catzahuatica maniman tlatlacultica, ca amo titetlanextilia: ca
fan titetlapololtia, ca fan tlayohualli in ticteyttitia. Ypampa
y, qualli yezquia in macamo xiquitquitiani in tlateo¬
chiualcandela, ca amo momacehual. Ypampa y, in amaqui-
que yn amotech ca in tlatlaculli, ma xiccahuacan ma
xictelchiuacan in amocatzahuaca in amotliltica, ynic teoyotica
vel antetlanextilizque, yua ynic vel anquicnopilhuizque in
nican tlalticpac yn igraciatzin totecuiyo DIOS, yuan in ompa
yn ilhuicac yn igloria.
2. Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, Psalmodia Christiana, 1583
This second complete set of Purification texts comes from the
songbook by Sahagun and his students (see text 3.2). The
Psalmodia's authors based their Purification texts directly on
the Latin liturgy for this festival, amply excerpted in the mar¬
gins of their book. Most of the source material consists of
antiphonal chants; the interpreters surely intended that the
Nahuatl version also be chanted. Simeon’s canticle in psalm
three {Nunc dimittis) comes from Luke 2:29-32, but was also
THE PURIFICATION 67
first purify himself or herself in a sacred way. As Saint John
says. Nothing defiling will enter the kingdom of God. Revela¬
tion chapter 21.^ This means, “Nothing black, nothing dirty,
nothing repulsive will enter the home of our lord God.” And
now may you take as an example our mother, Saint Mary. May
you purify yourselves in a sacred way, may you cast off your
blackness, your dirtiness, so that in a sacred way your spirit,
your soul may be purified. For no one will be able to see our
lord God unless his or her heart, his or her soul is first purified.
As our lord God said. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God. Matthew chapter 5[:8j. This means, “Fortu¬
nate are they whose hearts are pure, for they will merit that
they will see our lord God.” Oh, oh my precious children, if
you want to see your divinity, your ruler, [138v] there in his
home in heaven, where he is, may you attend well to that
which in a sacred way is the purification of your souls, the
symbol of which is the candle that will burn in your hands
today. The way the candle shines on people, likewise with our
lives, if they are good and proper, do we shine on people, so
that people will take us as examples. Our lord Jesus Christ
says. Let your loins be girded about, and lights burning in
your hands. Luke chapter I2[:35]. This means, in your words,
“May you gird yourselves, and may you bear with your hands
the torch, the light.” This means, may you abstain from plea¬
surable living, for when you abstain it is as if you gird
yourselves. And when you go about doing what is good and
proper, it is as if you go about bearing light, you illuminate
people, so that people will take you as examples. Therefore,
when we make a procession, we go bearing the blessed candles,
in our hands they go burning, they go shining, it is as though
it means that with our good lives we shed light for people.
And whoever you are, you sinner, you who have a bad life,
you whose soul is dirty with sin, you do not shed light for
people. You just confuse people, you just show people dark¬
ness. Therefore, it would be good if you do not bear the blessed
candle, for it is not your desert. Therefore, those of you with
whom there is sin, may you abandon, may you scorn your
dirtiness, your blackness, so that in a sacred way you will be
able to shed light for people, and so that you will be able to
obtain the grace of our lord God here on earth and his glory
there in heaven.
used in the liturgy and was probably taken here from a missal
or breviary rather than directly from the Bible. I have recon¬
structed the liturgical texts and provided English translations.''
This source material is printed in brackets preceding the cor¬
responding passages from the Nahuatl in the transcription
and translation. The letters A through L in parentheses in the
English text indicate the beginning of each of the twelve
individual Latin chants quoted and translated here. Latin text
68 BEFORE GUADALUPE
from these antiphons not actually reproduced in the
Psalmodia's side notes is enclosed in parentheses; in many
but not all cases this content was incorporated at least par¬
tially into the Nahuatl.
The Psalmodia’s Purification chants provide an example
not only of a Nahua-Christian text intended for singing but
also of a text based directly and almost entirely on known
Old World sources, thus allowing direct comparison and analy¬
sis of the interpreters’ translation technique. Some effort to
edit and interpret the figurative language of the liturgy is
evident, as, for example, references to “Zion” and the “holy
city” are translated as “Holy Church.” So is some accommo¬
dation to the local context, as in the translation of “gentiles”
[26r] In die purificationis beatae Mariae virginis.
PRIMERO Psalmo.
[26v] IN tonantzi sancta Iglesia, in axca cenca tlamauigoa,
yoan cenca papaqui, inic quilnamiqui, in quenin vei teupa
omouicac m ciuapilli Sancta Maria, in vmpa Hierusalem.
Quimonapalhuitia in itla^ocunetzi I lesus, yispantzinco
quimomanilito in Dios tetatzi, in vmpa teupa.
[27r] Quimouiquilitia in iehoatzi sant loseph, auh in vmpa
teupa quiaoac, quimonamiquilico in veuetzi Symeon.
Tlatlauhtilo, iectenteoalo in inantzi Dios, no iehoatzi in
teutl piltzintli; izcatqui tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
[Aue gratia plena, Dei genitrix virgo.]
Ma ximopaquiltitie, timotemiltitica in gracia, Dios
inantzine, ichpuchtle.
[Ex te ortus est sol iustitis (illuminans quae in tenebris
sunt).]
Motechtzinco oquiz, otlacat, iecnemiliztonatiuh, in
quintlanestilia in tlaiouaian nemi.
[Laetare tub senior iuste (suscipiens in vlnis liberatorem
animarum nostrarum: donantem nobis resurrectionem).]
Auh in tehoatzi in tiveuentzi, in tijecnemilice, xipapaqui
in tiSymeon.
Ma xicmopaccanapalhui in nouia temaquistiani, in
quimotemaquilia in cemicac nemiliztli.
SEGVNDO Psalmo.
[Adorna thalamum tuum Syo (et suscipere regem christum).]
IN tehoatzi in tisancta Iglesia, ma xicmoiecchichiuili in itlato-
caicpaltzi in moteouh in motlatocauh in iehoatzi in tlatoani lesus.
[Amplectere Maria, quae est coelestis porta.]
Ma xicmoiecnaoatequili in Maria, in [27v] ilhuicac
tlatzacuillutl.
as “idolaters,” an allusion to non-Christian native practice.
But, overall, they follow the liturgical models rather closely.
One of the striking things about this material is how much
it differs, despite its canonical content, from Anunciacion’s
text above. Here the tone is celebratory rather than didactic;
exegesis, should any be made, is left to the performers or
listeners. The authors are assuming that the Latin-based chants
can stand on their own in a Nahua ritual context, as a Nahuatl
liturgy. This is an assertion of legitimacy for the Nahuatl lan¬
guage and the Nahua Church.
The woodcut that accompanies the text is shown in plate
10. The doves are on the altar and Simeon takes the infant
into his arms.
djb
[26r] On the Day of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
First Psalm
[26v] Our mother. Holy Church, today greatly marvels and
greatly rejoices, as she remembers how the noblewoman, Saint
Mary, went to the great temple, there in Jerusalem.
She went along carrying her precious child, Jesus, in her arms.
She went to lay him before God the father, there in the temple.
[27r] Saint Joseph went along accompanying her, and
there at the entrance of the temple an elderly man, Simeon,
came to meet her.
The mother of God is prayed to and praised, also the
divinity, the little child. Here is the prayer.
[(A) Hail, full of grace, mother of God, virgin.]
Oh, may you rejoice! You are full of grace, oh mother of
God, oh maiden!
[ From you is risen the sun of righteousness (illuminating those
things which are in darkness).]
From you emerged, was born, the sun of proper living,
who illuminates those who dwell in darkness!
]Rejoice, just elder (carrying in your arms the liberator of
our souls, giving us resurrection). ]
And you, you elderly man, you of proper life, be joyful,
you who are Simeon!
May you joyfully carry in your arms him who is the res¬
cuer everywhere, who gives people eternal life!
Second Psalm
](B) Adorn your bridal chamber, O Sion (and receive Christ
the king).]
May you. Holy Church, properly adorn the royal seat of your
divinity, your ruler, who is the ruler, Jesus!
(Embrace Mary, who is the door of heaven.]
May you properly embrace Mary, the [27v] door of
heaven!*

[Ipsa enim portabat regem glorias, (nouo lumine subsistit virgo)
duces I manibus filium (ante luciferum).]
Ca in iehoatzi ciuapilli quimonapalhuia in ilhuicac
tlatoani, in netlamachtillatoani.
Quimonapalhuitiuitz in icunetzi, in ieppa moetztica, I
aiamo vnca vei citlali.
[Que accipies Symeon in manibus suis (predicauit populis
dominum eum esse uite & mortis, saluatorem mundi).]
Aub in iehoatzi teutl piltzintli oquimonapalhui in
Symeon: aub oquiteilhui ca iehoatzi in nemiliztlatoani.
[Response accepit Symeo a spu sancto (non visurum se
mortem, nisi videret Christum Domini).]
In iehoatzi teutl Spiritu sancto, quimolhuili in Symeo,
amo gan cuel in timiquiz oc timottiliz in temaquistiani.
[Et cu induceret pueru lesum i templum (accepit eum in vlnas
suis & benedixit deum & dixit: Nunc dimittis seruum tuum
domine in pace).]
Auh in iquac ie quimouiquilia in piltzitli, I vmpa vei
teupa, tlamaui9oltica oquimiximachili: auh yoa oqui¬
monapalhui.
[Obtulerut pro eo dno, par turturum (aut duos pullos
columbarum sicut scriptum est in lege domini).]
In ipampa piltzintli oquimotlamanililique in totecuio, in
tlatoani, vnteme cocoti in inuentzin omuchiuh.
TERCERO Psalmo.
[PostqMflm aut impleti sut dies (purgationis Mariae secundum
legem Moysis, tulerunt eum in Hierusalem).]
IN iquac ie oacic vmpoaliluitl, inic omotlacachiuili in ciuapilli
sancta Maria: niman quimouiquilique in piltzintli lesus, [28r]
in vmpa teupa Hierusalem.
[Vt sisteret eu domlo.]
Inic ispatzinco quimomaniliqMe 1 totecuio in iehoatl piltzi¬
tli, invetzin omuchiuh, in iuh catca in itenaoatiltzi dios tlatoani.
Ma ticmaui50ca in icuicatzi veuetzi Symeo, inic qw/mo-
iecteneuili totecuio, quito.
[Nuc dimittis seruum tuum dne (secundum verbum tuum in
pace).]
Totecuioe Diose, ca ie uecauh in onicnochielitinenca in
notemaquisticatzi, in axca opachiuh in noiollo, axca tinech-
momacauilia I niaz, i nimiquiz, pachiuhtiuh noiollo, ma niauh,
ma nimiqui.
Totecuioe, in tlein otinechmolhuili, ic oneltic, oneltic in
motlatoltzi, oticmocuepili: in axca ma xiemonequilti, ma
ninoceui.
[Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum.]
lehica in axca, ca vei nistelolotica oniquittac in tema¬
quistiani, in otiqualmioali, in motla^opiltzi.
[Quod parasti ante facie omniu populoru.]
In ticmisquechili, inic quimmopachilhuiz in isquichti
cemanoac tlaca.
[Lumen ad reuelatione gentiu.]
Ca teutlanestli, ca teutlauilli, inic tlachiazque in tlateu-
tocanime.
THE PURIFICATION 69
[For she was carrying the king of glory. (With a new light the Virgin
stood) carrying in her hands the son (before the morning star).j
The noblewoman carries in her arms the ruler of heaven,
the ruler of happiness!
She comes carrying in her arms her little child, who ex¬
isted before there was the great star.
[Whom Simeon, receiving in his hands, (preached to the people
that he was the lord of life and death, savior of the world).]
And Simeon carried the divinity, the little child, in his
arms, and he told people that he is the ruler of life!
[(C) Simeon had received an answer from the Holy Spirit (that
he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's anointed), j
The divinity Holy Spirit said to Simeon, “You will not
die right away. You will yet see the rescuer.”
[And when they brought the child Jesus into the temple (he
received him in his arms and blessed God and said. “Now let
your servant depart in peace, oh lord").]
And when they were bringing the little child into the
great temple, wondrously he recognized him. And he too car¬
ried him in his arms.
[(D) They offered for him to the lord a pair of turtledoves (or
two young pigeons, as it is written in the law of our lord). ]
On behalf of the little child they laid things for our lord,
our ruler. Their offering became two doves.'*
Third Psalm
[(E) And when the days were completed (of Mary’s purification
according to the law of Moses, they brought him to Jerusalem)]
When the fortieth day had arrived since the noblewoman.
Saint Mary, had given birth, then they took the little child,
Jesus, [28r] to the temple in Jerusalem,
[To present him to the Lord.]
So they laid the little child before our lord. He became
their offering, as was the command of God the ruler.
Let us marvel at the song of the elderly man, Simeon,
with which he praised our lord! He said:
[(F) Lord, now let your servant depart (in peace, according
to your word.)]
“Oh our lord! Oh God! For a long time I went about await¬
ing my rescuer. Now I am satisfied. Now you grant me that I
go, that I die! I go satisfied. May it be that I go, may it be that
I die!
“Oh our lord, that which you said to me, so has it become
true! Your words have become true, you have returned them!
Now, may it be your wish that I may rest!
[For my eyes have seen your salvation]
“Because today with my own eyes I have seen the rescuer
whom you have sent, your precious child!
[Which you have prepared before the face of all peoples]
‘You appointed him so that he will govern all the people
in the world.
[A light for the revelation of the Gentiles.]
“He is a sacred light, sacred illumination, by which the
idolaters will see!”
70 BEFORE GUADALUPE
QVARTOPSALMO.
[28v] [Senex puerum portabat (puer autem senem re-
gebat).]
IN iehoatzi veuentzi Symeon quimonapalhuiaia in teutl
piltzitli: auh in iehoatzi piltzitli quimoiacanilitiuia I veuetzi.
[Quem Virgo peperit (et post partum virgo permansit; ipsum
quern genuit, adorauit).]
In ichpuchtli oquimotlacatilili: in inatzi piltzintli lesus,
ca ichpuchtli: auh in iquac omotlacachiuili ^an ie ichpuchtli:
auh in iehoatzi in ichpuchtli oquimoteuti in icunetzi.
[Ecce venit ad templu sanctu tuu, dominator dns.]
Vel xiccaquica in amisquichti, in cemanaoac antlaca, ca
I omocalaquico in iteupanchatzinco in intlatocauh I tiatoque.
[Gaude & laetare Syo occurrens Deo tuo.]
In tehoatzi tiSancta Iglesia, ma uel iciuhca xicmopac-
canamiquili in moteouh in motlatocauh.
[Induere vestimentis gloriae tuas (civitas sancta et suscipe regent
Christum).]
In tehoatzi tisancta Iglesia, ma vel ximochichiua, ma ic
ximocencaoa, ma ic xicmonamiquili in motemaquixticatzi.
[Specie tua & pulchritudine tua intende & prospere (precede
& regna).]
Yioiaue teutl piltzintle, ma xitechoalmopaccaittili in ica
cenca tepapaquilti mistelolotzi.
[Speciosa facta es & suauis (in deliciis tuis, sancta dei
genetrix).]
In tehoatzin in dios tinantzi, ca cenca tichipaoacatzintli,
ca cenca timoteiollaliliani, ma touic xiqualmocuepili in
mo[29r]tla90xaiacatzi.
[Suscepimus Deus misericordiam tua, in medio tepli tui.]
Totecuioe tla90tetatzine, oticcelique in motetlaoculilitzi,
ie oittoc, oiximachoc in moteupanchantzinco.
NOTES
1. There is a contradiction between the Gospel evidence of Mary
and Joseph’s lack of means—they cannot afford a lamb as offering—
and the apocryphal tradition that Anne and Joachim were prosperous.
In Rivadeneira, Mary inherits her parents’ house upon their deaths
when she is 11 and she goes to live there with Joseph when she leaves
the temple, yet they must offer birds because they are poor (1669:58,168).
2. The sixth mortal sin is envy.
3. This and the following noun are possessed forms of instm-
mental nouns. Thus, they refer to Christ not as a person who is a healer
or savior but rather as an instrument of healing and salvation. The usage
may have been suggested by the Latin salutare in Simeon’s canticle.
4. More literally, “your heart has become precious” (Simdon
1977:577).
5. That is, she was not injured or disturbed.
6. The wording given in the text is not in the standard Vulgate, but
this must be a variant of Revelation 21:27: Non intrabit in earn aliquod
coinquinatum ‘And there shall not enter into it anything defiling.’
7. My sources are: Missale Romanum 1498; BreviariumRomanwn
1553, BreviariumRomanwn 1961:v.l:l 122-1130; CANTUS: ADatabase
Fourth Psalm
[28v] [(G) An aged man was carrying a child, (but the child
was guiding the aged man)]
The elderly man, Simeon, was carrying the divinity, the httle child,
in his arms. But the little child went leading the elderly man.
[The virgin who had given birth to him (remained a virgin
after childbearing; him whom she bore she adored).]
A maiden gave birth to him. The mother of the little child,
Jesus, was a maiden. And when she had given birth, she was a
maiden then. And the maiden worshipped her little child.
[(H) Behold, the Lord and Ruler has come to his holy temple.
Listen well, all of you, you people of the world! The ruler
of rulers has come to enter his temple home!
[Rejoice and be glad in meeting your God, O Sion.]
You, Holy Church, may you swiftly and joyfully meet
your divinity, your ruler!
[(I) Put on the garments of your glory (holy city, and receive
Christ the king).]
You, Holy Church, may you adorn yourself well, may
you thus prepare yourself, may you thus meet your rescuer!
[(J) In your glory and your splendor go forth, (advance) with
victory (and reign).'^]
Ah! Oh divinity, little child, may you look Joyfully at us
with your very gladdening eyes!
[(K) You have become beautiful and sweet (in your delights,
holy mother of God).]
You, you who are the mother of God, you are a very pure
one, you are a great consoler of people. May you turn toward
us your [29r] precious face!
[(L) YYe have received your mercy, O God, within your temple." ]
Oh our lord, oh precious father, we have received your
compassion, that has now been seen and recognized in your
temple home!
of Gregorian Chant. The complete set of antiphons does not appear in
the reformed breviary, indicating, as is logical given the Psalmodia’s
original composition date of 1558-1560, that the authors used an ear¬
lier version as their source. I borrowed English translations of a few
oi the. chants from Hours of the Divine Ojfice 1963:v.l:974,1741-1751.
My translation of Simeon’s canticle is adapted from that of the King
James Bible. Some of the antiphons are also used for other Marian festi¬
vals. Five of the Latin antiphons are printed, with musical notation, in
the psaltery that Pedro Ocharte published in Mexico City the year after
his press issued the Psalmodia (Psalterium 1584). Simeon’s canticle
appears twice in the Dominican book of the Hours of the Virgin printed
in Mexico City in 1561 (Incipiunt HorpBeat^Mari^ 1567:24v, 29r)
8. On Mary as the door of heaven, see discussion of Ezekiel’s
vision, text 4.1.
9. Inca doves (cocoJirin).
10. This antiphon is based on Psalm 44:5. Note that the associated
Nahuatl here has little relationship to the antiphon, which is directed at
Mary.
11. This antiphon is based on Psalm 47:10.
Plate 1. The Immaculate Conception, with Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus. Mural painting in the Franciscan cloister at Huejotzingo, Puebla. Photograph by the author.
Plate 2. IndO“Christian sculpture of the Immaculate Conception, Cantera stone, 37 centimeters high.
Copyright© Jann and Fred Kline Collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
 If Quafi Cedrus exaltata in Ltbano. ^

^ fS . — . w ^

s5^

11

ff- Quafi plantatio Rofa: in Hiericho. ^

• - ,.i<j - - - *
Plate 3. The madonna and child with palm and cypress trees, surrounded by text
from Ecclesiasticus 24. Woodcut in Juan Bautista’s 1606 Sermonario, p. 459.
Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.
Plate 4. Antiphon for the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, Psalterium, An[t]iphonarium Sanctorale, cu Psalmis, & Hymnis, 1584, 258r.
Courtesy of the Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin.
 Plate 5. First page of the chants for the Feast of the Annunciation, Psalterium, Anlt]iphonarium Sanctorale, cu
Psalmis, & Hymnis, 1584, 190v. Courtesy of the Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin.
Plate 6. The Nativity of John the Baptist, with Mai7 in attendance. Woodcut in Bernardino de Sahagun’s
1583 Psalmodia Christiana, 107r. Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.
Plate 7. The madonna and child. Woodcut in Bernardino de Sahagun’s 1583 Psalmodia
Christiana, 223r. Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.
 Plate 8. Mary and Anne with the infant Christ. Woodcut in Bernardino de Sahagun’s 1583
Psalmodia Christiana, 122v. Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.
 Plate 9. Relief sculpture of Mary and the infant Christ, with Dominican saints.
Pediment of the Augustinian church at Tepoztlan, Morelos. Photograph by the author.
Plate 10. The Purification of Mary and the presentation of Christ at the temple.
Woodcut in Bernardino de Sahagun’s 1583 Psalmodia Christiana, 26v.
Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.
Plate 11. Mary at the Crucifixion. Detail of mural painting in the upper cloister of the Augustian friary, Malinalco, Mexico. Photograph by the author.
Plate 12. Relief sculpture of the Assumption, posa chapel, Calpan, Puebla, Photograph by the author.
 jjm
• CTC ,■/ -

fiatn CwJ
^^ncvi h^f&mfii^tut'
■fn
Z

mmm

'f' P* PAhui a ^ixtmi

Cjx\^. .. m

Plate 14. Page from the Assumption nairative, Doctrina, evangelios, y epi'stolas en nahuatl, 57r.
Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.
tn la cenca quinmov'olUiltli cecaqn
mocbicalpuiU: quinniomacbtiU
yancemanabiiac.tiatoIH,mamopalt3m
CO ^ci:inec]?motIaocolilit3ino« l^atcr
iio:ies%£luemaria«.

Ijynkojona t5tn feta mai1a:

ymcquac demopo bmli3, ac^tops crus
ttcatimomael?iyoti3niniau dquitos
iCredo ^[cuepca yn neltocom/niman to
tocoaipel?ualti3 tiquit05»
l|£l^ariniopa^l
dtia tnticen^3ca
tlapanai^utcatla

ia.|*
“Pater nf/matla
tlacretU^uema
Has*
Cil^ariraopa^l
tirta yn dccnquis
ca tlapanadtiica
icl?pocl?f3intli in

Plate 15. Page from Pedro de Gante’s 1553 Doctrina Christiana en lenniia rnexicana. 128v.
Courtesy of the Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin.
 H. Oancr:^

5/ Esncro!-!

1-^7.

fuuco[Ci ontoc^t/f; dnca7i7n^li

to fiua ,y-njtu7iin 7n.(fk-paIe^uiH}a-^

^ I

jy rUB tla CO nanymyy naamr^iih

77ioJ)0nai(i'Cia^rd' a ytu ^^janof777h i '

P mrrwjo /aulln a s^ru^.ytpm

\4^' iTuDciTna/^^i/!'^zyrpJ^^t^njS'f mjra}c •
yoa^tuyTUfey^rU?-^
yTUftc^fcya Wii/rUj auJynJn
yjpTii ya

^kTVh'fccX^; ati^o ?v:Tan 7?^C^l^y

Quc£. ^layiu<^i^py'/i^c^::^u^7i/?7yi/£cyy
Hucin ^/^?nm£73au^, TnicaldJaiu^. cui&ni,
yuac cymTnay'mi^a'rUy^hynuy^f^i^^
■t&na^Uc^y'm^mfcnwa^ui <yin/c^nm£yyj^^^rr^

00'Tuu'^^ ynca^cy^^f^7n4^jy'nyn6c-4:^^
mnyu4'LafaM:>chmu«^
JfTiicfrieu./i'ynii^Tnttjtufpca^ c^cicirnaCfiMj^
Oyui^cttc (^7u kyyanyy^fyiarUfThcej^i^'’^
Ha Ch cA a OmyiIj'Sjin& ■moA'i,,
jtuz/7^£utdc

Plate 16. Page from miracle narrative, Sermones y santoral en mexicano, Mexican manuscript 464, 323r.
Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
6
A s devotion to Mary expanded in the High Middle Ages,
the meager Gospel references to her life with her divine
child were elaborated into a portrait of a devoted, loving, and
long-suffering mother, whose empathy with her son was such
that she experienced the full pain and anguish of his Passion
(Bestul 1996;113; Fulton 1996:106-107; Marrow 1979). Con¬
templation of Mary’s sorrows was, for many people, a more
accessible avenue toward mystical experience than attempts
to identify directly with God. Mary, despite her exceptional
character as a sinless being, was a human mother with human
feelings. By identifying with Mary, one could place oneself
on the scene as the central drama of Christianity unfolded.
Bestul {1996:122-125) comments on the voyeurism of
medieval writings that explore Mary’s innermost feelings in
excruciating detail. But he cautions against interpreting these
writings only as male-hegemonic attempts to invade and tor¬
ment a female mind and body. Women may have interpreted
the texts differently from men. The mere fact that a woman
was placed at the center of the action in the most sacred of
Christian narratives was highly significant and potentially
empowering. The writings valorize Mary’s passivity, weak¬
ness, and emotional outpourings—her “feminine” traits—
which men must themselves emulate in their contemplative
endeavor. In a broader sense, Mary as a sorrowing and pitying
mother legitimized and provided a model for all expressions
of compassion and mercy, for example the charitable works of
religious confraternities, even if the recipients were unworthy
in the eyes of a stricter God (Flynn 1989:28).
Given their culmination in the self-sacrificial rite of the
Passion, the various sufferings of Mary and Christ can be read
as penitential exercises (tlamahcehualiztU), which, from a
Nahua perspective, not only atoned for any impure acts one
1. Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, Exercicio en lengua mexicana, 1574,
copied by don Domingo de San Anton Munon Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin
Ayer MS 1484, The Newberry Library, Chicago
A collection of prayers and meditations for each of the days
of the week, this Exercicio bears the following inscription in
Spanish: “I found this exercise among the Indians. I do not
know who produced it, nor who gave it to them. It had many
The Sorrowing Mother
may or may not have committed but also enhanced one’s
spiritual powers and brought divine favor. Although ritual
impersonation of divinities, with a concomitant merging of
the divine identity with the impersonator’s, was a standard
feature of preconquest religious life, the contemplative iden¬
tification of self with a sacred other was something introduced
from Europe. One does not imagine preconquest Mexica gaz¬
ing upon images of the dismembered female divinities
Coatlicue and Coyolxauhqui and attempting to feel their
pain. Yet the complex of penitential and sacrificial beliefs
and practices did set a precedent for Nahua understandings
of the whole Passion experience, and their own status as a
conquered people may have brought local meaning to images
of martyrdom. The Nahuatl language certainly provided Chris¬
tian writers with an ample lexicon in the domain of suffering.
Indo-Christian iconography of the Passion often includes
a place for Mary, usually standing beside the cross, as in mu¬
ral paintings at Tepeapulco (Burkhart 1996:204), Acolman
(Fernandez 1992:73; Tovar de Teresa 1992:47; Toussaint
1982:pl.39), and Epazoyucan (Fernandez 1992:90). In the
sala de profundis at Tlayacapan, a doleful Mary is painted in
a trompe I’oeil niche adjacent to a scene of Christ and the two
thieves on their crosses. Cloisters sometimes had sequences
of Passion images used as processional stations (Phillips 1993);
these could include multiple images of Mary, as at Epazoyucan
where she also appears in a scene of Christ stumbling under
the cross (Tovar de Teresa 1992:42) and in lamentation over
Christ’s body (Burkhart 1996:243). Plate 11 is a detail from a
crucifixion scene in the upper cloister at Malinalco. Here,
Mary faints at the foot of the cross, supported by her compan¬
ion, presumably Mary the wife of Cleophas (John 19:20); a
partially defaced figure behind Mary points toward Christ,
errors and incongruities. But in truth it may be said that it
was done anew rather than that it was corrected. In this year
of 1574. Fray Bernardino de Sahagun” (Chimalpahin Qqauh-
tlehuanitzin 1997:183).' Neither the note nor the signature is
88 BEFORE GUADALUPE
in Sahagun’s hand. Rather, the entire manuscript is written in
the hand of don Domingo de San Anton Munon Chimal-
pahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, the Nahua writer who produced the
largest native-authored corpus of historical chronicles in
Nahuatl (Schroeder in Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin
1997:3). Born in Chaleo in 1579, Chimalpahin moved to
Mexico City in 1593 and found employment as an assistant
and steward at the small church of San Antonio Abad, where
he worked through the early 1620s (Schroeder 1991:7-11).
It was during this time that he produced his historical trea¬
tises; it was also, presumably, during this time that he copied,
and perhaps edited, the text previously revised by Sahagun,
who had died in 1590.
Anderson has published the Exercicio in Spanish and
English; both versions include a transcription of the Nahuatl
(Sahagun 1993a: 145-203; Chimalpahin 1997:130-183). The
following text is my own translation of a prayer to Mary from
the Exercicio, with a transcription made directly from the
original manuscript. The prayer is one of the texts for Thurs¬
day. It follows an account of the 12-year-old Jesus’s visit to
the temple in Jerusalem and precedes a prayer to Joseph.
The prayer relives two Gospel-attested trials of Mary’s
young motherhood: the flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-21)
and the boy’s three-day disappearance in Jerusalem, where
Mary and Joseph find him disputing with the sages in the
temple (Luke 2:42-50). Nahuas, who identified strongly with
their home communities and made a sharp distinction be¬
tween settled centers and wild peripheries, would likely have
sympathized with Mary’s woes in her wanderings. They also
considered small children particularly susceptible to illness
and death brought on by soul loss. The little child struggling
along the trail in intense heat and cold would have seemed at
high risk of death, as young Mary herself might have. The
# *
[20v] Jn tehuatzin tinantzin dios. in tiSancta maria,
niquitztimotlalia in quenin huei tlamahuigolli mopantzinco
oquimochihuilitzino yn ipalnemohuani totecuiyo dios.
niquilnamictimotlalia ca ticenquizcaichpochtli in ica mona-
cayotzin, ca ticenquizcaichpochtli in ica [21r] Manimantzin.
huel titla90chalchihuitl titeoxihuitl timotquitzinotica yn
niman atle yceyo atle iyecauhyo atle tlatlacolli motetzinco
ahcic: Niquilnamictimotlalia in ca miectlamantli netoliniliztli
netequipacholiztli mopantzinco omochiuh yn ixquich cahuitl
tlalticpac otimonemititzino, huel huei monetequipacholiztzin
monetoliniliztzin omochiuh in ihquac oticmocaquititzino ca
in yehuatzin motla90conetzin huel matemoloya ynic
momiquiliz. auh ca yehuatl in tlahueliloc tlahtohuani herodes
in quimomatemoliaya in motla90Conetzin, Auh cenca otone-
huac ochichinacac huel iuhquin opatzmic in moyollotzin in
monacayotzin in ihquac oticmocaquititzino in ca monequi
yn ompa timohuicaz in Egipto. inic vmpa tiemomaquixtiliz
image of a 12-year-old boy debating the priests may have
recalled the first postconquest generation of uppity Nahua
boys who, under tutelage of the friars, challenged the tradi¬
tional wisdom of the revered elders.
Even Nahuas who understood the distinction their friars
made between idolatry (tlateotocaliztli ‘following things
as gods’) and Christianity may not have understood the
distinction between ancient Jewish religion and ancient
paganism. The identification here of the Egyptians as
idolaters along the same lines as the Nahuas’ own recent an¬
cestors might suggest that Mary and her family were, by
contrast, Christians. Anachronistic references in other texts,
such as the identification of the rabbis as padres in text 2.4,
and the rarely explained use of the term pascua for both
Passover and Easter (Burkhart 1996:172-173), reflect the
priests’ general lack of attention to the precise religious and
ethnic identity of the Holy Family. I have not seen these is¬
sues fully explicated in a Nahuatl text. When Jews appear
designated as such they are in the role of villains who kill
Christ (as in text 5 below), attempt to burn Mary’s corpse (see
text 7.1), or commit other nefarious acts (as in the Theophilus
legend in chap. 9). This ambiguity, whether intentional or
not, leaves room for Nahuas to construct their own interpreta¬
tions. On the one hand, Mary and her family may seem like
proto-Christians; on the other hand, with their participation
in non-Christian customs (dedication of children to the temple,
circumcision, purification rites) that are not identified as
idolatry they model the transition from a non-Christian but
nevertheless honorable past to the Christian present. Nahuas
who were aware of the widespread speculation that Native
Americans descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
may have even more readily conflated Mary’s ancestry with
their own.
*
[20v] You who are the mother of God, you who are Saint
Mary, I consider how he by whom one lives, our lord God,
performed a great marvel on you. I contemplate how you are
a perfect maiden in regard to your body, how you are a
perfect maiden in regard to [21r] your soul. You are quite a
precious jade, you are a turquoise, you are intact, with no
marrow whatsoever, with no shadow. No sin reached you.
I contemplate the many afflictions and anxieties that befell
you all the time that you lived on earth. Very great did
your anguish and your affliction become when you heard
that your precious child was really being searched for
stealthily,'* in order that he die. And it was the wicked ruler,
Herod, who was searching stealthily for your precious
child. And your heart and your body hurt and ached very
much, quite as if they were squeezed to death, when you
heard that it was necessary that you go to Egypt so that there
you would save your precious child, Jesus. And your body

in motla^oconetzin Jesus: Auh cenca otonehuac ochichina-
cac in monacayotzin in moyollotzin in ihquac in ye timohui-
catiuh in ompa Egipto. ca amo 9an quex[21 v]quich yn ixtlahuatl
in atlauhtli oticmotoquili, auh ca ticmonapalhuitia in motla-
goconetzin, auh ca oc tipiltzintli tichpochtepitzin timoyetz-
ticatca ayamo quen tlamatia in momiyotzin in monacayotzin
ayamo chicahuac catca: auh amo 5an cenpoalilhuitl in timone-
hnemititzino, Auh inic vmpa timaxitito in Egipto. cenca otone¬
huac ochichinacac in monacayotzin in moyollotzin, ca intlan
in tlateotocanime timonemitito chiconxihuitl in iuhquima
tinenencatzintli ticnotlacatzintli. timotolinicatzintli ynic vn-
can timonemititzino, Auh no cenca otonehuac ochichinacac
in monacayotzin in moyollotzin inic tiquinmottiliaya in tla¬
teotocanime inic quinnotzaya quintlayecoltiaya in quahuitl yn
tetl in Ehuillome in diablosme in ydolosme, auh in nelli dios. in
iceltzin teutl. amo quimiximachiliaya amo quimonochiliaya
ca cenca ic timotequipchotzino in ixquich cahuitl vmpa [22r]
timonemititzino, Auh inic ye no ceppa itencopatzinco dios. ti-
mocueptzino in mochantzinco in nazareth ca cenca otonehuac
in moyollotzin in monacayotzin inic huei ohtli oticmotoqui-
litzino, ynic omotetzinco ceceuh yn itztic in cecec ticmottiti-
tzino cecuiztli auh in tonalli in mitonaltzin ticmomatemilitia:
Auh in piltzintli Jesus, ca ye mochiuhcnauhxiuhtiliaya ahnogo
ye matlacxihuitl, ca cenca ipampatzinco otonehuac in mona¬
cayotzin in moyollotzin inic huei ohtli oquimotoquilitzino,
in quemmanian anquimonapalhuiaya in tehuatzin yhuan in
Sanct Joseph, in quemmanian 9an monenemititihuia ca
huei quimihiyohuilti, ytetzinco ceceuh yn itztic in cecec auh y
tonalli huei mociamiquititzino: ca yaquen^ motlamachitiaya
ayamo chicahuac ayamo huapahuac catca yn iyomiyotzin yn
inacayotzin [22v] Auh yn izquitlamantli oticmihiyohuilti ca
gan topampa inic oticmohuapahuilitzino oticmopialitinen in
totemaquixticatzin, Auh ca niquilnamictimotlalia in tonehuiz-
tli in chichinaquiztli in ticmihiyohuilti in ihquac ticmopolhui-
tzino in motla^oconetzin in ompa in hjerusalem ca ticmotemo-
litinen Eilhuitl yhuan eyohual auh in ixquich cahuitl in ca huei
choquiztli nentlamatiliztli ic otonehuac in moyollotzin in mo¬
nacayotzin camo cochiztli ticmochihualtitzino, ca motentzin
ticmopalhuitinenca timoten^ahquahuiltitinenca, mocuitlax-
coltzin motetzinco motetecatinenca mixayotzin mixtlantzico
motetecaya. Auh inin ca ^an topampa oticmihiyohuiltitzino
inic ticmotemolitinen in totemaquixticatzin, auh ca niquilna¬
mictimotlalia in quenin cenca nihueitlatlacohuani auh in que-
nin cenca tlaquahuac tepitztic in noyollo in amo yamania in
amo icnoyohua in ipampa [23r] In motonehuitzin mochichina-
quiliztzin, auh camo titlatlacolecatzintli ca tiyecnemilicecatzin-
tli, auh miectlamantli in oticmopaccayhiyohuiltitzino; auh in
nehuapol in vei nitlatlacohuani camo nicpaccaihiyohuia in
nonetoliniliz in nonetequipacholiz, in quimattica noyollo ca
cenca notech monequi in nitlaihiyohuiz in ninotoliniz in ipampa
notlatlacol in cenca miec, Auh in axcan cenca nimitznotlatlauh-
tilia, nimitznonepechtequililia in titla9onantzin dios. ma nopan
ximotlahtolti in ixpantzinco in motla^oconetzin inic nechmo-
maquiliz in igraciatzin, inic nicpaccaceliz in nican tlalticpac
THE SORROWING MOTHER 89
and your heart hurt and ached very much when you were
traveling to Egypt. More than a few [21v] plains and ravines
did you pass through. And you went along carrying your
precious child in your arms. And you were still a child,
you were a small maiden, not yet discerning.’ Your bones
and your body were not yet strong. And for more than
twenty days you wandered. And so when you went to arrive
in Egypt, your body and your heart hurt and ached very
much. You went to live among the idolaters for seven
years. It was as if you were a vagabond, you were a poor
person, you were an afflicted person, the way that you
lived there. And your body and your heart also hurt and
ached very much as you used to see how the idolaters would
call to, would serve wood, stones, statues, devils, idols.
And the true God, the sole divinity, they did not know
him, they did not call to him. Thus you felt much anguish
all the time [22r] that you lived there. And when once
again by the order of God you returned to your home in
Nazareth, your heart and your body hurt very much as
you followed the great road, as around you it became cold.
It was frigid, it was cold. You experienced'’coldness. And
the heat—you filled your hands with your sweat. And the
little child, Jesus, was now nine or perhaps ten years old.
For his sake your body and your heart hurt very much as he
followed the great road. Sometimes you and Saint Joseph
were carrying him in your arms. Sometimes he just came
wandering along. He really suffered fatigue; around him
it became cold. It was frigid; it was cold. And the heat—
he was quite exhausted. He was not yet discerning; his
bones and his body were not yet strong, not yet grown.
[22v] And so many things as you endured, it was just for
our sake, as you reared, you went about taking care of our
rescuer. And I contemplate the pain and aching you en¬
dured when you lost your precious child there in
Jerusalem. You went about seeking him for three days and
three nights. And all the time with great weeping and
worry your heart and your body hurt. You did not get any
sleep. You went about wetting your lips, you went about
with parched lips, your entrails were stretching out against
you, your tears were spreading over your face. And only for
our sake did you endure this, as you went about searching
for our rescuer. And I contemplate how very great a sinner
I am, and how very hard, how petrified my heart is. It does
not soften, it does not feel pity on account of [23rl your
pain and your aching. But you are not a person of sin. You
are a person of proper life. And you endured many things
patiently. But wretched me,H am a great sinner. 1 do not en¬
dure my afflictions and my anxieties patiently. My heart
realizes that it is essential for me that I suffer, that I be af¬
flicted, on account of my sins, which are very many. And
now I fervently beseech you, I bow reverently to you, you
who are the precious mother of God. May you speak for
me before your precious child, so that he will give me his
grace, so that I may joyfully accept, here on earth, as
90 BEFORE GUADALUPE
in izquitlamantli netoliniliztli netequipacholiztli nopan qui-
hualmihualiz in noteouh notlahtocatzin Ma immochihua’
2. Santoral en mexicano, Oradones de Nuestra Senora, early seventeenth century
Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico MS 1476
This oration succinctly evokes the indignities of displace¬
ment from one’s home: not only does Mary suffer indigence,
she must do so among strangers. In the Exercicio oration the
speaker takes Mary’s sufferings as a model for his or her own
atonement for sin. Here, the supplicant goes beyond the peni¬
tential reading of Mary’s suffering and seeks to become a
spiritual exile, a poor wayfarer awaiting transport to a home
* #
[ 17r] oracion, quando la Virgen 55."'“ lleuo su preciosiss." hijo
en Egipto.
Ma ximopaquiltitie S.“* M;‘“^ huel nelli nantzintle, icnohuaca-
tzintle Ca yn iquac yn iangelotzin tot." oquimolhuilico, in
motla9onamictzin in quenin yehuatl Herodes. quimotemo-
liaya in motlagoconetzin. Jesus ynic quimomictiliznequia:
ca yhuan oquimolhuili, ynic anquimohuiquilizque oc anqui-
motlatilitihui yn ompa egiptotlalpan, yn oquic qui^aya
ytlahuel, in yollococolecapol Herodes [17v] auh niman yo-
hualtica timoquixti in ticmocahuili, in mocnoaltepetzin yn
mocnocaltzin, yhuan i mocnotlatquitzin, in mocnococo-
cayotzin, mochi ticmocahuilitehuac ynic timohuicac Egipto;
auh ompa timochicoxiuhtili intlan yn ahtlaneltocanih, in
tlateotocanimeh icnoixtli tealtepepan ticmochihuilitinenca
iuhquin ahmo tichanecatzintli yn ie tecaltech texomolco
icnoyotl ticmomachiltiaya. Ilhuicac Cihuapille, ahuiaca-
ichpochxochitzintle, Dios ynantzine, ma nomahcehualti
ynic ticmonequiltiz nimitznohuiquilitinemiz in mociamiqui-
lizohuipantzinco, yn iuh ticmopaccaihiyohuiltiaya in
monetolinilitzin ohtlica, ma nimitznonemiliztoquili yn ipan
motlapaccaihiyohuilitzin, in ipan monecnomatilitzin; yhuan
in ipan mocnotlacayotzin: (^ace ynic ninemiz nican tlalticpac,
ma iuhquin nitlatohtoctli, ma gan iuhquin ninehnenqui inic
notlahtocatiaz: yn oquic ixquich cahuitl nechmoquixtiliz in
notatzin Dios in nechmocuepiliz yn ompa huel nocha ynic
ypampa onechmochihuili [ 18r] auh ma cococayotica, neteo-
poaliztica, nohtlahtoca yn oquixquich** cahuitl nahcitiuh, yn
ompa timoyetztica yhuantzinco, in motlafoconetzin, yn
itetlamachcuiltonoliztlalpantzinco Gloria, ma imochihua.^
many afflictions and anxieties as my divinity, my ruler,
will send upon me. May it so be done.
that is not on earth. A desire to be poor and peripheral would
have been quite alien to preconquest Nahua religion, which
sought to sacralize a central place on earth and did not view
poverty as conferring holiness. The sentiments expressed here
are indicative of the Christian sensibility that infuses these
orations—and the ability of this skilled orator to express such
notions in poetic Nahuatl.
[17r] Oration, when the Most Holy Virgin took her most pre¬
cious son to Egypt
May you be joyful, oh Saint Mary, oh true mother, oh merci¬
ful one. It was when the angel of our lord came to tell your
precious spouse how Herod was seeking your precious
child, Jesus, as he was desiring to kill him. And he told him
that you should take him, you should go to hide him there in
the land of Egypt while the anger of big, wrathful-hearted
Herod was issuing forth. [17v] And then in the night you
departed. You left your poor city, your poor house, and your
poor goods, your poor property. You fled, leaving it all be¬
hind, as you went to Egypt. And you spent seven years there
among the non-believers, the idolaters. You went about mak¬
ing a poor person’s face in a city of other people, as if you
were a homeless person. By other people’s walls, in other
people’s corners you were experiencing poverty. Oh heav¬
enly noblewoman, oh fragrant and maidenly flower, oh mother
of God, may it become my desert that you may want me to
accompany you, about on your exhausting road, as you were
patiently enduring your afflictions on the road. May it be that
I follow your life, in your patient endurance, in your humility,
and in your poverty. Just so will I live here on earth. May I be
like an exile, may I just be like a wanderer, in the way that I
will go following the road, until my father, God, causes me to
depart and returns me there to my own home, for which he
made me. [ 18r] But may it be that with indigence,'" with mis¬
ery I follow the road until I go to arrive where you are, with
your precious child, in his land of happiness and prosperity,
glory. May it so be done.

3. Miercoles santo, ca. 1590
Princeton Collections of Western Americana, Princeton University Libraries
This anonymous Holy Week drama was adapted from a
Spanish auto by a Nahua interpreter who was probably one
of the Tlatelolco scholars (Burkhart 1996). The drama enacts
the farewell scene, or despedimiento, between Christ and
Mary, at Mary Magdalene’s house in Bethany, prior to Christ’s
departure for Jerusalem, where he will be arrested and ex¬
ecuted. This play is the only extant Nahuatl dramatic script
that can unequivocally be assigned to the sixteenth century.
In the Nahuatl play the character of Mary is more knowledge¬
able. confident, and authoritative than in the Spanish source,
and is treated with greater deference by her son. I reproduce
here two of Mary’s speeches from the play.
During the later Middle Ages, especially under the guid¬
ance of the Franciscans, the mater dolorosa of the Passion
had become a focus of great popular piety in Europe. Mary,
in Warner’s words (1976:211), “was the instrument medi¬
ating bafflement at the mystery of the Redemption into
emotional understanding.” The trend continued through the
Reformation period as, in response to Protestant criticisms of
Marian devotions that kept Christ in the role of an infant,
* *
[209r] O yn cenca techocti tetlaocolti ynic tinechmo-
nanquililiya yn tinotla^oconetzin ca nelli ca tlapanahuiya
ynic motolinia ynic chichinaca yn noyollo ca hatle quine-
neviliz chichicpatli teyolchichinatz ynic tinechmonaquililia
O yn ticenquizcaneltilizteotl, titlatohuani yn titla9opiltzin
yn cemicac monemitiya Dios tetatzin nimitznotlatlauhtilia
tla xinechmolhuili tie ypapa yn monatzin yn cenca ticmo-
tlaocoltilia neyoltequipacholiztica ynic timohuicaznequi
Hierw^alem. tleyca yn amo ycnoyohua ycnotlamati yn
moyollotzin notla^oconetzin tie ipampa tla xinechmol¬
huili Cuix amo ticmolnamiquiliya ynic nimitznotlacatilili.
yn onca mama9a yntlaquayan Cuix amo ticmolnamiquilia
yn nochichihualayo yc onimitznohuapahuili O yn cemicac
timonemitia tiDios tleyca tie ypampa yn timomiquiliz
ynic toquiztzintli auh in nehuatl yn nimonatzin ca tinech-
mocahuilitiuh. auh aquin itech ninoyollaliz que pactiez
yn noyollo yn aoctacatzintli nimitznottilia cuix amo tic¬
molnamiquiliya. yn quexquich ciyahuiztli tonalli ehecatl
atlauhtli, tlamimillolli yn tictocaque ynic timitztotlati-
lito yn onpa Egipto yn iquac mitzmomictiliznequia
Herudes ticmolnamiquilia yn niquihiyohui ynic 9a ni-
mitznonapalhuitiya yn 9a nomac timoyetzinotiya yn
iquac tiaque Egipto yhua yn amo 9an quezquipa netecuini-
liztica nimitznomacahuilizquia yhua yn occequi yn amo
9a quex[209v]quich mopapatzinco niquihiyohui yhua in
THE SORROWING MOTHER 91
Catholic reformers sought to focus her cult on Christ’s
Passion. The figure of the sorrowing mother was especially
popular in Spain; according to Flynn (1989:126), “The
Virgin without the Christ-child, suffering in solitary silence,
set the tone for the Spanish Catholic Reformation.” In New
Spain, the sorrowing mother was a familiar figure to Na-
huas from art and from the elaborate Holy Week observances
in which they participated, which included processions
of penitents bearing images of Christ and Mary. In 1591, as
Chimalpahin reports (1963-65:v.2:33-34, 38), the Nahuas
of Mexico City instituted a natives-only confraternity of
Our Lady of Solitude based at the chapel of San Jose de
los Naturales."
During the first half of the drama, Mary attempts to per¬
suade her son to stay with her and to redeem humanity by
some means other than his death. He appeals to the authority
of the ancient prophets who foresaw his death and to the ne¬
cessity of obeying his divine father. In the following speech,
she strives to gain her son’s obedience by invoking her mater¬
nal status, the flight into Egypt, and the temple incident.
[209r] Oh, it is very lamentable, it is very saddening, the way
you answer me, you who are my precious child! It is true that
it is extreme, the way my heart is afflicted, the way it hurts.
There is no bitter medicine so hurtful to the heart as the way
you answer me. Oh, you who are the utterly truthful divinity,
you who are the ruler, you who are the precious child of him
who lives forever, God the father, I beseech you, do tell me, for
what reason do you so greatly sadden your mother with anxi¬
ety of the heart, by wanting to go to Jerusalem? Why does
your heart not feel pity, why is not merciful, my precious
child? For what reason? Do tell me. Perhaps you do not re¬
member how I gave birth to you there in the place where deer
eat? Perhaps you do not remember my milk, with which I
nurtured you? Oh, you who live forever, you who are God,
why, for what reason, will you die, in the sense that you are a
man? And I, who am your mother, you are going to leave me!
And with whom will I console myself, how will my heart be
joyful, when I do not look to you as my measuring stick?
Perhaps you do not remember all the exhaustion, heat, wind,
ravines, and hills we passed through as we went to hide you
there in Egypt when Herod wanted to kill you? You do re¬
member what I endured, how I went along just carrying you in
my arms, just in my hands you traveled along, when we went
to Egypt, And there were not just a few times when, by stum¬
bling, I might have let go of you. And there were not just a few
92 BEFORE GUADALUPE
niquilnamiquia yc ninotequipachotinemiya yn ceyohual
yn cemilhuiti mopapatzinco Cuix amo ticmolnamiquilia ynic
ninotolini netequipacholizchoquiztli netoliniliztli yn iquac
nimitznopolhui yn ompa \{\&rusa\em. yn axcan ompa timohui-
caznequi tleyca in ^an ticmolcahuilia yn notlagoconetzin ma
ic xinechmotlaocolili xinechmocnelili ca cenca nimitznotla-
llauhtiliya ynic amo ticmonequiltiz yn timomiquiliz yn
tinocequizcatla90conetzin ma xinechmotlacamachiti
Of course, her son must obey a higher authority, and five Old
Testament personages in Limbo send letters attesting to the
necessity of Christ’s death. The speech below is the first of
four speeches that do not have a model in the Spanish source,
* *
[215r] Notla§oconetzin notelpotzin ma xicmonequiltitzino
ma mohuatzinco nimiqui [ma‘^] nimomiquiztehuicaltzin
quenmach huel yehuatl yn J[aco]b yn amo achto q’ma yn itla-
ihiyohuilitzin yn itelpoch Joseph yn iquac ayamo quihual-
hu[iqu]iliya quittitiya yn itilma yn [215v] 9a moca eztli auh
quemach huel yehuatl yn Dauid yn amo quittac yn itelpoch
Absalun ytech ce ahuaquahuitl tlatzico ytzontica mopillo
Ey tepuztopilli yc quixixilque 9a concaquitique yn oiuh
mochiuh auh intla yehuatl aca itlacauh cihuapilli Sarra. yn
quicauh yconeuh yn ye omic yn quito amo niquitaz y
noconeuh ye miqui yn yeica quenin tonehuaz chichinacaz
yn noyolliya cue noconetzin notelpotzin noyolilitzin none-
militzin nocozq’ noquetzal
4. Fray Martin de Leon, Primera parte del Sermonario del tiempo de todo el ano,
duplicado, en lengua Mexicana, 1614
In addition to his Camino del cielo (texts 3.1 and 4.6), fray
Martin de Leon published a sermonary covering the Church
year from the beginning of Advent through Holy Week; festi¬
vals of Mary and other saints are not included. In his sermon
for Holy Thursday, the Dominican focuses on the scene of
farewell, setting it on Thursday rather than Wednesday. The
preacher explains that in order to understand our Lord’s
suffering it is necessary to understand his farewell to his
mother (314r). Switching tenses and voices to dramatize the
scene, he leads his listeners through a graphic preview of the
upcoming Passion.
Nahuas had little context for understanding allusions to
Christ as the paschal lamb, the Passover offering of the ancient
Hebrews. But they did understand sacrifice. The references to
other things [209v] I endured for your sake. And I remember
how I used to go about anxious night and day because of you.
Perhaps you do not remember how I was afflicted, the anxiety
and affliction, when I lost you there in Jerusalem, where you
want to go now? Why do you just forget, my precious child?
May you thus have compassion for me and favor me. Fer¬
vently I beseech you not to wish that you will die, you who
are my utterly precious child! May you obey me!
^ *
appended to the play by the Nahua interpreter. Here Mary
compares her own suffering to that of three Old Testament
figures who lose (or, in Hagar’s case, fear they will lose) a child to
death. She is worse off because she will actually watch it happen.
* *
[215r] My precious child, my son, may you wish it, may it
be that I accompany you in death! Fortunate was Jacob!
He did not know in advance of the torment of his son,
Joseph, before they brought to him and showed to him
his mantle, [215v] all full of blood. And fortunate was David!
He did not see his son, Absalom, attached to an oak tree,
hanging by his hair. With three metal staffs they had pierced
him. They only heard how it happened. And if Hagar, the
slave of the noblewoman, Sarah, abandoned her child when
he was about to die—she said, “I will not look at my child,
he is about to die”—then how my spirit will ache, will hurt!
Ah, my child, my son, my life, my existence, my jewel, my
quetzal plume!
Mary sacrificing Christ and to Abraham’s near-sacrifice of
Isaac, like the texts that describe Mary offering Christ at
the temple or her own parents offering her, align the
Christian narratives with a principal vector of native reli¬
giosity. References to piercing and flaying, as well as
crucifixion, could recall indigenous sacrificial rites in which
people were flayed or were lashed to poles and shot with
arrows in order to please particular divinities (Burkhart
1996:230, 236; Manuel Aguilar, personal communication,
1998). Here, though, emphasis is on the personal suffering
these acts cause. Such empathy for the victim supports
the postconquest Nahuas’ renunciation of human sacrifice.
The torments are rendered the more horrific by contrast to
Mary’s love and tender care of her son. This care includes

the spinning and weaving of his clothes, quintessential fe¬
male productive activities in Mesoamerica.
Mother and son are in Bethany, in Mary Magdalene’s
house. Christ is eating but pauses and weeps, food forgotten
DE VLTIMO VALE lESV AD MATREM VIRGINEM
[315r] Scitis quia post viduu pascha fiet et filius hominis
tradet’in manus peccatorum. [315v] Xiquittacan ca ye
anquimati ca in huiptla ca Pascua, auh temac tla9aloz in
ichpochtli iconetzin, ca mochi quimolnamiquiliaya in
tla96Cihuapilli, inic quimomach'iltiaya ca ye imman in
momiquilitzinoz in itla96conetzin, ca nel itehtzinco
mehuiltiticatca in Spiritu Santo, in icuac oyuh qMimottili-
tzino in ixayotzin, in itla^oConetzin ixpantzinco omopech-
tecatzino, icxitlantzinco omomayauhtzino, inic onca
quimotlatlaihtiliaya, ma quimomelahuacanextilili in
inetequipacholtzin: auh in yehuatzin in toTeotzin, amo huel
oquimonextilili, oc cecni omocalaquitzino, 9an ichtaca
quimolhuiliaya. Notla96nantzine ca in monepechtequilihtzin
onechhualtititiz, inic ompa Ilhuicacpa onihualnotemohui,
mitictzinco oninonacayotzinoco, auh in axca in mixayotzin
nechmailpia inic nimitznotlacamachiltiz, in ma90 nelihui
cenca mitzmotequipachilhuiz, ca tonehuan tiquihiyohuizque
notla9onantzine, ma xicmomachiltitzino, ca ye oacico in
cahutl, in oquimotecpanili in notla9oTMzin Dios, in ipan
nitlaihiyohuiltiloz, ninamacoz, nilpiloz, nixtlatziniloz,
nixchichaloz, nimecahuitecoz, huitztica nitzotzopinaloz,
nixixipehualoz, Cruztitech nimama9oaltiloz, nimictiloz
innemaquixtiliztica in cemanahuac tlaca, mochi nopan
neltiz in inhuecatlatoliz Prophetasme, inic notech-
copa otlatotiaqwe, in yuh ticmacicamachiltia teoamoxpa
iculliuhtoc:'^ auh inin motla96Conetzin in Spiritu
Santotica mitictzinco omonacayotitzinoco, ticmottiliz
moztla momalcotzinco monoltitoz ye omomiquili, axcan
yohualtica pehuaz in notlaihiyohuilihtzin, ticmottiliz
mochi noma nocxi, notzontecon nonacayo xixipeuhtoc,
cuacuamintoc: auh inin notzontzin in nican ticmottilia
mecatl ipa pohuiz, huel miecpa itech nitititzaloz, nicua-
huilanaloz, ce yohual inchachan nechhuicazqwe luezes,
in tetlatzonteqwiliani tlalticpac, auh nocpac tlaliloz
xocohuitzicpactlatocayotl, mochi quitzotzopiniz in no-
tzontecontzin, auh onca in cuaxicaltepec mixpatzinco
nipepetlahualoz, nechcopinilizqwe in notlaqwentzin, in
oticmotzahuili in oticmiquitili, auh itech mo939^1®^
nonacayotzin, nehuayotzin, inic nixixipehualoz, nohuiapa
ezqui9az [316r] in nonacayotzin, auh 9atepan quipatozqwe
in notlaquentzin, in aquin quitlaniz quihuicaz, auh in
mocenquizcachipahuacachichihualayotzin inic otinech-
mohuapahuili, icuepca yez, nechitizque xocoatl, yhuan
chichic path, auh inic tinechmocochitiliaya motehtzinco
THE SORROWING MOTHER 93
in his hand, when he thinks of how Mary will suffer the
following day. His disciples also weep about his immi¬
nent death. Leon quotes Matthew for Jesus’s words to his
disciples.
OF JESUS'S LAST GREETING TO THE VIRGIN MOTHER
[315r] You know that after two days it will be Passover and
the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners [Matthew
26:2]}^ [315v] “Notice that you already know that the day
after tomorrow is Pascua, and the maiden’s child will be cast
into the hands of others.” The precious noblewoman was think¬
ing about everything, as she knew that it was now time for her
precious child to die. Truly, the Holy Spirit was inspiring her.
When thus she saw the tears of her precious child, she bowed
before him, she threw herself at his feet. So there she was
beseeching him to reveal clearly what was distressing him.
But our divinity could not reveal it.'® He entered in another
place; he just said to her in secret, “Oh my precious mother,
your reverence will show'’ me, as I descended from heaven, I
came to become flesh inside you. And now your tears tie my
hands, so that I will obey you, even though it will cause you
great anguish. Both of us will suffer. Oh my precious mother,
may you know that the time has now come to arrive that my
precious father, God, ordained, in which 1 will be made to
suffer, I will be sold, I will be tied up, I will be slapped in the
face, I will be spat at in the face, I will be flogged, 1 will be
stuck all over with thorns, I will be flayed all over, I will be
stretched by my hands on the cross, I will be killed in the
course of* the rescue of the people of the world. All of the
ancient speech of the prophets will come true upon me, in the
way that they went along speaking about me, which as you
are well aware lies written in the sacred book. And this; your
precious child, who by means of the Holy Spirit came to be¬
come flesh inside you, tomorrow you will see him lying on
your neck,'" already dead. Tonight my suffering will begin.
You will see all my hands, my feet, my head, my body lying
flayed all over, lying pierced all over on the head.’" And this:
my hair, which you see here, will be considered as a rope; 1
will be pulled and yanked around by it very many times. All
night the judges, those who pass sentence on earth, will take
me to their various houses. And the crown’' of sour thorns will
be placed on my head. They will all prick my head. And there
on the hill of the skull 1 will be stripped in front of you. They
will remove from me my clothes, which you spun, which you
wove. And my flesh, my skin will stick to them, such that 1
will be flayed all over, my body will bleed everywhere. [316r]
And afterwards they will gamble for my clothes. Whoever
wins them will take them. And in place of your perfectly pure
milk, with which you nurtured me, they will make me drink
sour water” and bitter potions. And as you used to put me to
94 BEFORE GUADALUPE
niccaquia nepapan Ilhuicac cuicatl, in moztla nonacazco
niccaquiz huel miec huexcatlatolli, inic nechpinauhtizque,
auh in 9a tlatzaccan tinechmottiliz notla96mahuiznantzine
Cruztitech, amotle huel itla ic tinechmopalehuiliz, aocmo
huel nohuicpa timaxitlantzinoz in oc ixqwichica ninomiquiliz,
ma ximochicauhtzino notla96natzine, ca inin itlanequilihtzin
i notla96Tatzin, auh ca mochi neltiz in izquitlamantli
notechcopa otenehualoc, auh in axcan ma oc tepitzin cahuitl
nohuicpa ic ximoyollalitzino, yehica aocmo ceppa tinech-
monochiliz, in oc ixquichica ninozcaliz in intla mimicqMc.
Ho, quenin cenca huei tetlaocolti, inin cenquizcatlapanahuia
tlaocoyaliztlatolli? Ca oticmotequipachilhui, yuhqw/n
lan9atica oticmixixili in itla96yollotzin in motla96Nantzin.
O, quenin cenca timahuiztililoni tiTlatocaCihuapilli, ca
niman atle quinenehuilia inin tlatolli, in axcan ticmoca-
quiltitzinoa, in omitzmolhuilico in Angel san Gabriel, in
axca ye cempoalxihuitl on mMlactli omei, in icuac mitic-
tzinco omocalaquitzino toTecuyo lesu Christo, ma oc tepitzin
ica xicmotzopelicamachilti in axca ticmocaquiltia, ma oc
xicmiyanili in monetequipacholtzin, inic huel ticmottilitzinoz
in moztla in ipantzinco mochihuaz in axca ticmocaquiltia.
O noTeoe noTlatocatzine lesu Christoe, quen ticmoma-
chiltitzinoa in axcan in itla96yollotzin in totla96mahuiz-
nantzin. Ca ontlamantli in itlanequilihtzin Dios teTatzin, in
ipampa in itetlacamachilihtzin, inic quimotlacamachiltitzino,
yhuan cenca huei tetla96tlaliztli inic quimotla96tiliaya in
itla96conetzin, in icuac ye quimottiliaya in yuhqui ce
ichcaconetzintli, inic immac mohuetzititiuh in ocelome,
in quautla mimiztin inic quimomictilizqwe. In axcan
niquilnamiqui, quen catca in iyollotzin in Abraham, in icuac
quimohuiquiliaya in itla96piltzin Isaac, in itencopatzinco in
Dios quimomictilizquia, auh no [316v] imaticatzinco
quimotquiliaya in tepuztlateconi inic mictiloz yhuan tetl*'*
inic tlatiloz: auh atle ipan quimottiliaya in inetequipachol,
inic quimacicachihuiliz in itlanequilihtzin Dios teTatzin.
TlatdcaCihuapille, ca in Dios teTMzin quimoneqw/ltitzinoa
inic momiquiliz motla96conetzin, inic ticmohuenchihuililiz
ixpantzinco: auh intla oquimonequiltiani in Dios teTatzin,
tehuatzin monomatzinco ticmomictiliz, ca ic necizquia in
huei motetla96tlalihtzin, ca timohuelitilizquia, 9an amo yuh
omonec, 9an quimonequiltzinoa in Dios timotlapaccai-
hiyohuiltiz, auh tehuatzin ticmohuenchihuililiz in Dios
teTatzin, in motla96Conetzin, ticmomacahuiliz, inic cenca
oticmopanahuili in itetlacamachiliz in itetla90tlaliz Abraha,
auh ca nel tinantzin, auh yehuatzin mictiloz ca nel motla90co-
netzin, ca cenca tlapanahuia inic ticmotla96tilia, ca huel
otimotequipachotzino in icuac oyuh ticmocaquiltitzino
tlatolli. O cenca tlaocoxqui in moyollotzin in TlatocaCihua-
pille, ma ximocencauhtzino, ca ye motentia in tepoztlateconi,
ye quimocopinilia in Santo Simeo, in quimonalquixtiliz,
quimixililiz in motla96yollotzin. Ha, ihyoyahue, tla96Cihua-
pille, ca oc ceca achi cualli yezquia inic 9a ceppa timomiqMiliz,
inic amo izquitlamantli tlaihiyohuiliztli ticmottiliz, inic
mopantzinco aciz in iquauhtzin in itehtzin Dios, chichic atl
sleep, I used to hear various heavenly songs from you. Tomor¬
row with my ears I will hear a great many curses, with which
they will shame me. And at the very end you will see me, oh
my precious and honored mother, on the cross. You will be
unable to help me in any way. You will no longer be able to
approach me, until I am dead. May you be strong, oh my
precious mother, for this is what my precious father desires.
And everything will come true, as many things as have been
pronounced in regard to me. And now there is only a little
time left to me, so be contented, because never again will you
address me, until I revive among the dead.” Oh! How very
saddening are these words of supreme sadness? You caused
your precious mother anguish, as if you stabbed her precious
heart with a lance. Oh, how very honorable you are, you royal
noblewoman! Nothing whatsoever matches these words to
which you listen today. Those which the angel Saint Gabriel
came to say to you, 33 years ago now, when our lord Jesus
Christ entered inside you, may it be that with those you will
consider what you hear today to be a little bit sweeter. May
you yet conceal your anguish, so that you will be able to see
for yourself what will befall him tomorrow, which you hear
today. Oh my divinity, oh my ruler, oh Jesus Christ, what
consideration do you give today to the precious heart of our
precious and honored mother? There are two things that God
the father desires: the way she obeyed him, because of her
obedience,^^ and the very great love with which she was lov¬
ing her precious child, when she was looking at him as if he
were a little lamb, as he went to fall into the hands of the
jaguars, the forest pumas, so that they would kill him. Now I
recall how Abraham felt when he was taking his precious child,
Isaac; by God’s order he would have killed him. And he
was also [316v] carrying in his hands the knife with which
he would be killed and the fire with which he would be
burned. And he considered his anguish as nothing, for he
would carry out fully what God the father wanted. Oh royal
noblewoman, God the father wants your precious child to
die, and you to make an offering of him before him. And if
God the father had wanted you to kill him yourself, thus
your great love would have been revealed, for you would
have been willing. But such was not necessary. God Just
wants you to endure patiently. But you will make an offering
of your precious child to God the father. You will give him
to him. In this way you greatly surpassed Abraham’s
obedience and love. And truly you are his mother. And he
who will be killed is truly your precious child. You love him
surpassingly greatly. You really felt anguish when you lis¬
tened to such words. Oh, your heart is very sad, oh royal
noblewoman! May you prepare yourself, for the knife that
will pierce, that will stab your precious heart is about to
intrude. Saint Simeon is about to pull it loose.^"* Ah, alas,
oh precious noblewoman, it would be better if you were to
die first, so that you would not see so many torments, how
the stick, the stone of God will come upon you. Bitter water
you will drink tomorrow. And that which I consider very

ticmitiz in imoztlaoc, auh in yehuatl in ca cenca nicohuica-
mati, ca ayamo ticmopehualtilia: auh ye cuel inomatzinco in
motlagoconetzin mitzmonahuatilia, mitzmitlanililia in mohue-
litilihtzin, inic momiquilitiuh. Auh in axcan in nehuantzitzin
motlancuaquetzinoa, monahuatectzinoa, monanahuatitzinoa,
onca hualqu/^a hualmoloni in imixayotzin, yuhquimma
nauhtetl ameyalli inic moloni in ielcicihuilihtzin in itla^oco-
netzin, quimococotonilia quimoxaxamachilia in ieltzacuillo
in itla^oyollotzin in TlMocaCihuapilli: auh 9an no yuhqui ipan-
tzinco mochihua in yehuatzin toTecuyo lesu Christo, quimotz-
tilitica in ixayotzin in itla96nantzin, auh huecauhtica achitzin
quimocahuili in inetequipacholtzin inic mogotlahualtiaya in
itlaijonenepiltzin: auh oquimolhuili. Hay, notla96mahuizco-
netzin, [317r] nocentetzin, notezcatzin notlahuiltzin, in oncan
motezcahuia manima, inic cemicac nimitznolnamiquili-
tinemi, ca nel ye timohuica timomiquiliz, ticmoxtlahuiliz in
tlalticpac tlaca intlatlacol, ca nel ye titechmonahuatilia, auh
in nehuatl icnoyotica tinechmocahuilitiuh tlalticpac, ma
xinechmoteochihuilitzino inic huel nimitznohuiquiliz,
motloctzinco niaz in icuac timomiquiliz. Auh inin mahuiztic
ichcaconetzintli in axcan huechihualoz in ipan in Pascua,
niman oquimoteochihuili in itla96nantzin, oquimoyolchica-
huilitzino, inic kno inepantla momiquiliz in ixquich nepapan
itlaihiyohuilihtzin: auh in ye macuilli tzilini omohuicatzino
in lerusalen inic ompa momiquilitiuh, huel cenca tetequipacho
inin tlanahuatiliztli, ca quimottilia in TlatocaCihuapilli, inic
ye moquixtia in itla96Conetzin, auh ye quimomachiltia
momiquilitiuh, auh 9a iceltzin mohuicaz in axcan.
5. Santoral en mexicano, Oradones de Nuestra Senora, early seventeenth century
Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico MS 1476
This is the middle one of three Passion-related prayers in
the Jesuit oration cycle; the others are for the farewell scene
and for Mary at the foot of the cross. As with European
Passion literature of the popular planctus, or “complaint” (of
the Virgin), genre, it presents an episode of Christ’s torment
through Mary’s eyes. Mary has traveled to Jerusalem to be
with her son during his ordeal, and meets him in the road as he
struggles toward Calvary bearing his cross. This meeting is
not attested in the Gospels but nevertheless became one of
the Stations of the Cross commemorated in Passion art, litera¬
ture, and drama (Villegas Selvago 1760:96; Warner 1976:211).
[22v] Oracion A La Virgen m.“ nuestra S™ quando le encontro
con la Cruz a cuestas Su precioso hijo.
S u ]yi ac cemihcac ichpotzintle, in tiyncihuatecuiyotzin
angelome, ilhuicac tlahtocaCihuapille in tiycaltenyotzin, in
ticalacoayantzin in ilhuicac netlamachtiloyan Parayso, yn
THE SORROWING MOTHER 95
difficult, you have not yet begun. But now your precious
child himself is saying goodbye to you, he is asking you
for your authorization, so that he will go to die. And now
they both kneel, they embrace each other, they say good¬
bye to each other. There come forth and flow forth their
tears; they flow like four springs. The sighs of her precious
child split and shatter the entrails, the precious heart, of
the royal noblewoman. And the same thing happens to
our lord Jesus Christ. He is looking at the tears of his
precious mother. But after a while she ceased her anguish,
which was making her precious tongue feel faint. And she
said to him, “Ay, my precious and honored child, [317r]
my only one, my mirror, my illumination, where my sou! is
reflected, as I always go about thinking of you, truly now
you are going. You will die, you will pay for the sins of
the people of earth. Truly now we say goodbye to each
other. And me, in misery you are going and leaving me on
earth. May you bless me so that I will be able to accompany
you, so that I will go by your side when you die.” And this:
the honored lamb, who now will be made an offering on
the Pascua, then blessed his precious mother, he strength¬
ened her heart, so that she would not die in the middle of all
her various torments. And when the fifth [hour] rang he
went to Jerusalem, so that he would go to die there. Very dis¬
tressing indeed is this farewell, for the royal noblewoman
sees that her precious child is about to depart, and now
she knows that he is going to die, and just by himself he
will travel today.
In a cognate scene in the Franciscan Alonso de Escalona’s
Passion narrative (n.d.:219v; Burkhart 1996:262), Mary
embraces her son and then the Jews push her away. In this
prayer Mary disobeys a direct command from her son, insist¬
ing on staying with him through his ordeal instead of going
home. She cannot prevail upon him to cancel his foreor¬
dained execution, but he does have to gain her permission
during their farewell dialogue and it is her choice to suffer
along with him. Given that his own trials were all set by proph¬
ecy, Mary actually exercises more agency than he: she is not
just a passive spectator.
[22v] Oration to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady, when she met her
precious son with the cross on his shoulders
Oh Saint Mary, oh forever a maiden, you are the lady of the
angels! Oh heavenly royal noblewoman, you are the door¬
way, you are the entrance to heaven, the place of happiness.
96 BEFORE GUADALUPE
icemihcacatetlamach[23r]cuiltonoayan xochitlalpantzinco tot:“
O, cemanahuac totepantlahtocatzine, Ca tehuatzin in motetzinco
cehui, pattih in tlahtlacoanime; tehuatzin in tiinyolilitzin in
cenmacicaqualtin tlaca: tehuatzin Cihuapille in tiinnecuilto-
noliznetlamachtiltzin in mochintin S‘“me; tehuatzin in titote-
machtieatzin yn ipan in mochi qualtihuani yeetihuani Virtudes.
tehuatzin in titochipahualiznemiliztezcatzin; ca tehuatzin in
tytotlapaccaihiyohuiliznemilizmachiotzin Qa ceca tehuatzin
in titonemilizcenquizcaqualtilizmachiotzin Cihuapille S.‘“
tlein nimitznolhuiliz, cuix pahpaquiliztetlapaloliztli yn
iuh mitzmolhuili S. Gabriel, Ca amo ymonecyan, Ca timotlao-
coltilitica: Ma xicmihiyohuilti S.‘“ m.”'^ ic timotemiltihtica. in
choquiztli, yxayotl huel tlaocoltica timotquitzinotica yn
axcan Ca aocmo motlantzinco moyetztica in motla90conetzin
Ca ye quimohuiquilia quimoquechpanilhuitiuh yn icruztzin
ynic nopampa, yhuan mochintin cemanahuactlaca inpampa
[23v] ytech momiquilitzinoz, auh ca tiquinmocempanahuilia
yn ixquichti Cihua, choquiz90tlahualiztica, Ca amo mitzmo-
yectenehuilique yn ihquac ticmaxitilito, in motla90conetzin
yn itla9opehpechtzin 8.'“ cruz quimoquechpanilhuitihuia: auh
in Judiopopol yCa intlahelcamac, intlahellatol, oncan ic
mitzmahuilique mitzmomahuizpolhuique, nipa mitzalmoxo-
pehuilique ynic quimiciuhcahuilique in motla90Conetzin; auh
ca amono quimoyectenehuilique, yn itlaaquilo moxillantzin
Jesus Qa ye oncan quimahuilique quimolhuiliaya tlahpal-
tontle xonnehnemi, Xitotoca in tlacamo iz tomac timiquiz
timitzompohpolozque auh in ticmocaquiltiaya y tlahtoca-
Cihuapille, ca iuhquin tepozitztli necoctene quitlaocolnalquix-
tiaya in moYolia manimantzin tla9oichpochtle Dios ynantzine.
Ca oncan mitzmolhuili in motla90conetzin yn innepantla in
Judiopopol: notla96nantzine tleh timaaylia in nican ca 9an
nou^^ [24r] notequiuh ynic nitlayhiyohuiz, mace ximocuep-
tzino in motlatlatlauhtilizcaltzinco, ompa xoconmoquixtili
in motlaocoltzin tlatlatlauhtiliztica; auh in tehuatzin Cemih-
cac ichpotzintle, ticmonanquiliaya. in motla90conetzin ticmol-
huiliaya, Notla90chalchiuhtzin Noteoxiuhtzin noxocouh, canin
tinechmihualia Canin nonecehuiayan noneyollaliayan, ahmo
9an oncan, in canin timoyetztica; Notelpotzin Cuix cana huel ni-
noyollalitiuh in tlacamo motlantzinco nie, in noyolia nanima,
ca huel motetzinco ca, yttic in manimantzin oninocalti, onino-
chanti; auh in noyoliliz, in nonemiliz ca motetzinco catqui.
Ca tehuatzin nocenteconetzin, in chiucnahuimetztli node timo-
yetzticatca, tleyca inni^^ Eilhuitl, ahmo mottictzinco niez, oncan
ninocehuiz? yntla oncan tinechmoceliliz in ihquac mitzmomah-
ma9oaltilizque ytech Cruz, oncan mohuatzinco no nimahma-
9oaltiloz; auh yn iquac tiemitiz, ticmopaloltiz, in chichicatl ic
tlanelolli xocoatl no mohuantzinco niquiz nicpaloz, Qa ce on¬
can mohuatzinco nimiquiz Yyo Dios Ynantzine ma nopa [24v]
Ximotlahtolti, in ixpantzinco motla90Conetzin ynic nechmoma-
quiliz yn igraciatzin huel tlaocolneyolcocoliztica niquitztimo-
tlaliz niquilnamiquiz ynic nopampa ycruztzin quimoquechpanil¬
huitihuia in ihquac tiemonamiquilito in oncan timochoquiz-
90tlahualti ytlantzinco ma mohuantzinco nichoquiz90tlahua
yn axcan nican tlalticpac ynic nomahcehualtiz yhuan nopan
timotlahtoltiz in nomiquiztempan ma ymochihua.^''
Paradise, our lord’s garden of eternal bliss! [23r] Oh, oh our
advocate in the world, it is with you that the sinners rest and
are healed. You are the life of the utterly good people. You, oh
noblewoman, are the delight of all the saints, you are our
teacher in all that makes one good, that makes one proper, the
virtues. You are our mirror of pure living, you are our sign of
the life of patient endurance. Very much so, you are our sign
of the life of utter goodness. Oh noblewoman, oh Saint Mary,
what will I say to you? Perhaps a joyful greeting, like that
which Saint Gabriel said to you? It is not an opportune time
for that, for you are sad. May you endure it, oh Saint Mary.
You are filled with weeping and tears; you are comporting
yourself quite sadly today. For your precious child is no longer
with you. Now he is carrying, he goes bearing on his shoul¬
ders his cross, in order that for my sake and for the sake of all
the people in the world [23v] he will die on it. And you sur¬
pass all women with tearful fainting. They did not praise you
when you went to approach your precious child, who went
along bearing on his shoulders his precious platform, the holy
cross. And the big Jews, with their angry mouths, their angry
words, made fun of you there, they dishonored you, they
kicked you aside, as they hurried your precious child along.
And neither did they praise the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
There they just made fun of him. They were saying to him,
“Oh little brave one, move along, run along! If not, here in our
hands you will die, we will destroy you.” And what you were
hearing, oh royal noblewoman, like a double-edged blade^* it
was piercing with sadness your spirit, your soul, oh precious
maiden, oh mother of God. There your precious child said to
you, in the midst of the big Jews, “Oh my precious mother,
what are you doing here? It is only [24r] my task to suffer.
May you return to your oratory. Express your sadness there
with prayer.” And you, oh forever a maiden, you were answer¬
ing your precious child, you were saying to him, “My precious
jade, my turquoise, my youngest one, where are you sending
me? Where is my place of rest, my place of consolation? Is it
not just there, where you are? My son, perhaps I can go to be
consoled somewhere, if I am not with you? My spirit, my soul
is indeed with you. Inside your soul I housed myself, I made
my home. And my life, my existence, is with you. You are my
only child, for nine months you were inside me. Why for these
three days will I not be inside you? Where will I rest? If you
will receive me there when they stretch you by your hands
upon the cross, there with you I too will be stretched by my
hands. And when you drink, you sip the bitter water^'' mixed
with sour water, with you I too will drink it, I will sip it. Just
there with you I will die.” Oh, oh mother of God, may you
speak for me [24v] before your precious child, so that he will
give me his grace. With quite sad repentance I will consider, 1
will remember how for my sake he went along bearing his
cross on his shoulders when you went to meet him. There you
fainted with weeping beside him. May I faint with weeping
along with you today here on earth, so that it will be my desert
and you will speak for me when I am on the verge of death.
May it so be done.

NOTES
1. Translation by Arthur J. O. Anderson.
2. Read aquen or ye aquen.
3. Read iuh mochihua.
4. The verb is matemoa, a compound of maitl ‘hand’ and temoa
‘to seek,’ defined by Molina (1970:32v) as “to seek something with
the hand in a dark place.” It suggests an element of stealth that temoa
by itself does not convey.
5. Tentative translation based on Molina’s gloss of aquen tlamati
as el que no hace caso de nada (1970:7r).
6. The verb is itta ‘to see’ but, applied to a physical sensation
such as coldness, it may be interpreted in a broader sense than visual
perception.
7. Literally, “big me,” with deprecatory suffix -pol.
8. Read oc quexquich.
9. Read iuh mochihua.
10. The term cococayotl occurs twice in this text, here and above
where I translate it as “property.” Molina (1970:23v) translates cococatl
as property or sustenance, but Simeon (1977:118) glosses the abstract
form cococayotl as indigence or misery. I have followed the context in
choosing a translation: “property” makes sense paired with tlatquitl,
while “indigence” makes sense paired with neteohpohualiztli.
11. For more information about Holy Week observations and
the figure of Mary in Nahuatl Passion literature, see Burkhart (1996).
12. Here and subsequent bracketed text: holes in manuscript.
13. Read icuiliuhtoc.
14. Read tied; from context, “fire” was surely intended.
15. The passage in Matthew actually ends with the phrase ut
crucifagitur ‘so that he be crucified’ rather than in manus peccatomm
‘into the hands of sinners’; the latter phrase is found in similar pas¬
sages in Matthew 26:45 and Mark 14:41.
16. To the others, that is; he and Mary must go into a private
place for their ensuing conversation.
THE SORROWING MOTHER 97
17. I have not been able to translate the verb here (onechhualtititiz),
and am only guessing that it is a garbled derivative of itta ‘to see.’ In
the context, a statement that she need not so humble herself before him
would make sense.
18. Or “by means of,” but the implication is that, by his suffer¬
ing all these things, their salvation will be accomplished.
19. Scenes of Mary’s lamentation over Christ’s body show him
draped across her lap, sometimes with his head nestled against her
neck and shoulder. I am grateful to Samuel Y. Edgerton for suggest¬
ing this line of interpretation for this passage (personal communication,
1998).
20. I am grateful to Frances Karttunen for helping me analyze
cuacuamintoc {personal communication, 1998).
21. Here, more literally, “on-top [of the head] rulership.”
22. The term was used for water in which maize had been soaked
(Simeon 1977:775).
23. I rearranged the word order here to make sense of the ipampa.
24. In Luke’s account of the Purification. Simeon says to Mary,
“a sword shall pierce through your own soul also” (2:35). This proph¬
ecy is not included in the Purification texts in this volume, but was
frequently invoked in Nahuatl Passion texts, as it was interpreted as
an allusion to Mary’s suffering during Christ’s torture (Burkhart
1996:181).
25. The following letter or two could not be transcribed from my
photocopy of the manuscript; the text runs into the inside margin
where the pages are joined. A possible reconstruction is nolhjuen,
which would give the diphrase “my offering, my task.”
26. Read inin.
27. Read iuh mochihua.
28. The double-edged blade that pierces Mary is the sword of
Simeon’s prophecy (see note 24).
29. Alternatively, bile.
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7
N ot until 1950 did the Assumption of Mary—her trans¬
port, body and soul, into heaven—become official
Church dogma, with Pope Pius XII’s bull Munificentissimus
Deus. Pius claimed that the Assumption had a scriptural basis
in Gospel texts on the resurrection of the flesh and the grace
and favor accorded to Mary by God. However, the details of
the story derive not from the New Testament but from a pious
tradition constructed of apocryphal gospels from Eastern
Christendom, the visions of the twelfth-century nun Elisabeth
of Schonau, creative readings of Old Testament passages, and
the writings of respected churchmen, who often appealed to
logic to support their case. For example, if Mary’s body had
remained on earth, why were there no associated shrine and
relics, as there were for other, less important, saints? If Enoch,
Elijah, and possibly Moses had, as tradition held, been taken
up bodily into heaven, could God have denied that favor to
his own mother? Could the uncorrupted flesh of the Virgin
have been allowed to decay in a tomb, or even to remain on
earth? Eastern narratives and iconography of the Dormition,
or sleep, of the Virgin were elaborated in the west into the
Assumption, in which a fully awake and active Mary ascends
to heaven. The associated festival, celebrated August 15—
near the time the sun enters the zodiacal sign Virgo—began in
the late sixth century as a commemoration of Mary’s death
but later became a celebration of her ascent to heaven.'
Whether or not Mary underwent death has been a subject
of some dispute among theologians, and Pius XII’s bull
avoided taking a stand on this particular point; however, the
prevailing opinion has been that Mary did die (Langlinais
1967:975). Her freedom from sin and sexuality granted her
not immortality, for she did die a painless death and, in imita¬
tion of her son, lay in a tomb for three days, but an early
resurrection. In Catholic belief, all souls will be reunited with
their resurrected bodies at the time of the Last Judgment and
those found worthy will, like Mary, be taken up into heaven.
Mary is unusual in that she does not have to await the end-
time. In this she may not be unique. A medieval tradition held
that the virginal John the Evangelist, in addition to the Old
Testament figures mentioned above, had ascended bodily to
heaven (Rivadeneira 1669:617; Warner 1976:90-91).
Matthew’s Gospel (27:52—53) speaks of saints rising from
their tombs along with Christ. But Mary is unique in that,
according to tradition, she is crowned queen of heaven and
The Assumption
placed at Christ’s right hand, higher than all the angels. Raised
as high as the Trinity, she becomes, almost, a fourth member.
Villegas Selvago describes how, any time God lifts his right
arm to inflict some general punishment on people for their
sins, Mary grabs that arm to detain him, and if he persists she
bares the breasts at which he suckled and demands that he
show mercy (1760:109).
Indigenous people learned of the resurrection of the
flesh in the catechism’s articles of faith; mural paintings and
relief sculptures of the Last Judgment showed the resurrected
dead climbing out of their coffins (as, for example, at Calpan,
Puebla, and Actopan, Hidalgo). One of the earliest Nahuatl
dramas was a Franciscan staging of Judgment Day (Sahagtin
1950-82:bk.8:8). The idea of bodily resurrection must have
been as alien as soul-body dualism to Nahuas, who viewed
the person as a composite of several kinds of spirit and sub¬
stance that dispersed at death. Christian burial practices were
adopted, as were masses for the dead (Cline 1986), but it is
difficult to know how thoroughly new ideas of the body per¬
meated people’s beliefs. But regardless of how they related
the story to their own ultimate fate, the Assumption presented
them with an image of a powerful celestial female, a link
between earth and heaven, humanity and divinity. Santa Maria
la Redonda, the principal church of one of Tenochtitlan’s four
native districts, was one of many Nahua shrines dedicated to
the Assumption.
Although no other woman’s body was taken up into
heaven, other virgins, as well as male saints, sometimes shared
Mary’s freedom from physical decay. For a body to be discov¬
ered intact and sweet-smelling long after death was a sign of
saintliness. Indigenous people were eligible for such favor.
The Jesuit chronicler Alegre tells of two such women (1956-
60:v. 1:306, 337). The body of one, presumably a Purepecha
woman, was found in 1585 in Patzcuaroby Father Juan Ferro.
The Jesuits presumed that she had resided in a house that
Bishop Vasco de Quiroga had established there for native
women who wished to live in chastity; one of those women
had had a particularly virtuous reputation, but her name had
been forgotten. The other was a virgin of Tepotzotlan (Otomi
or possibly Nahua) who predicted her own death and, after
a celestial vision, recited the Salve Regina (see texts 8.1
and 8.2) and died peacefully; a year later her body was
found intact and incorrupt, as were the flowers of the virgin’s
100 BEFORE GUADALUPE
garland in which she had been buried. According to the
Franciscan Motolinia (1979:179), the body of Cristobal, the
Tlaxcalan boy murdered by his unbaptized father in 1527,
was also found to be dry and incorrupt more than a year after
his death. As Nahuas traditionally associated moral pollution
with broader processes of breakdown and decay, and used
metaphors of foul odors and rottenness for moral wrong¬
doing, the bodily preservation of Mary and other pure indi¬
viduals probably made sense and appealed to their concepts
of purity (Burkhart 1989). It also marks these individuals as
highly exceptional.
Fray Bartolome de Las Casas, the great Dominican cru¬
sader for indigenous rights, attended a Nahuatl dramatization
of the Assumption on August 15, 1538, when visiting the
Franciscan establishment in Tlaxcala. He was impressed by
the singing and flute-playing, the devout and harmonious
movements of the actors, and the climactic scene in which the
actor playing Mary was lifted from the stage upon an artificial
cloud (l,967:v.l;333-334; Horcasitas 1974:441-443). The
Franciscan Antonio de Ciudad Real mentions a 1580 Assump¬
tion drama performed in Nahuatl at the town of Zapotlan,^
where the Franciscan friary was dedicated to the Assumption
(1976:v.2:148; Horcasitas 1974:445). Such enactments prob¬
ably were much more common than the meager records on
Nahuatl theater are able to attest.
Plate 12 shows a relief from the Marian posa^ chapel at
the Franciscan establishment at Calpan, Puebla; the same
chapel bears reliefs of the Annunciation and the Virgin of the
Sorrows (Burkhart 1996; 182, 240). Here Mary is flanked by
cherubs and stands on the moon; two angels hover above,
poised to set a crown on her head. A garland of flowers sur¬
rounds the image. The iconography is very similar to that of
the Immaculate Conception, which sometimes includes the
crown-bearing angels, and Reyes-Valerio (1978;192) inter¬
prets it as such. However, Mary’s hands are held in front of her
in a stance more reminiscent of Assumption images that show
her with outstretched arms; in Immaculate Conception ico¬
nography her hands are joined. This, along with the relief’s
juxtaposition with other narrative-based images, suggests
that Weismann (1950:58) is correct in classifying it as an
Assumption. However, it is an ambivalent image; the Nahuas
1. Doctrina, evangetios y epistolas en nahuatl, late sixteenth century
Codex Indianorum 7, The John Carter Brown Library, Brown University
This detailed account of Mary’s Assumption probably was
adapted into Nahuatl from a Spanish text, with the Nahua
interpreter preserving in garbled form the Latin biblical and
liturgical passages that peppered the original source. Its or¬
ganization, with biblical passages presented as themes for the
two sections, suggests that it is a translation of a sermon.
However, in content it is more hagiographic than homiletic:
who used the chapel may have interpreted in either or both
manners, or in additional manners of their own invention.
Assumption images at other sixteenth-century Franciscan/
Nahua establishments include a wood relief in the church at
Milpa Alta, State of Mexico (Tovar de Teresa 1992:242), and
a mural in the upper cloister at Huaquechula, Puebla. In both
of these, Mary stands on the moon with clasped hands, but the
depiction of people at the bottom of the scene indicates that
she is rising from the earth.
A large mural at the Augustinian convent in Epazoyucan,
Hidalgo, depicts the dead Virgin (plate 13). The inscription
at the bottom of the scene appears to read TRANSITUS
VIRGINIS BEATE MARIE ‘The Passing of the Blessed Virgin
Mary.’ According to Phillips (1993:416), the painting was
executed in 1563 in grisaille, with the polychrome added
around 1901. Mary lies on her bed, her eyes closed in death,
while eleven male figures stand over her. These may be inter¬
preted as the twelve original apostles minus Saint Thomas,
who, one tradition held, arrived after Mary’s entombment.
Phillips (1993:417) notes that fifteenth- and sixteenth-
century depictions of this scene typically show the Virgin
still alive, holding a candle. One may be reminded of the
dead goddesses in Aztec art, but this rendering of the scene,
rooted in Byzantine iconography (Phillips 1993:417),
also appears in Western European art.'' Its purpose is to
emphasize Mary’s mortality and thus her humanity, a
message reinforced here by the skull and bones and the
inscription OMNIA EQVAT ‘it [death] makes all things
equal.’ A smaller scene at the top of the painting (unfortu¬
nately truncated in my photograph) depicts a small figure
of Mary being crowned by the Trinity. The inscription
VENI DE LIBANO SPONSA MEA VENI CORONABERIS
‘Come from Lebanon, my spouse, come, you will be crowned’
is a passage from the Song of Songs (4:8) interpreted as
Christ calling Mary to heaven (Vega 1569;339r; Voragine
1993:v.2:80). Placed above the portal into the stairway that
leads from the lower cloister to the friars’ cells, the paint¬
ing was visible to native people who visited the cloister.
Friars would pass under it as they ascended to their cells,
their passage up the stairs mirroring Mary’s rise to heaven
(Phillips 1993:417).
even if its immediate source is a sermon, that sermon relied
heavily on one or more legendary narrative accounts. Parts of
the text are very similar to Jacobus de Voragine’s thirteenth-
century Golden Legend {\993:\.2:n~91). The entire text here
would lend itself readily to dramatization.
I have identified the Latin passages as well as I was able.
The correct spelling of badly garbled text is shown in the

endnotes, along with identification of the sources. Additional
biblical text that was translated into the Nahuatl but not in¬
cluded (or, in most cases, replaced by “etceteras”) in the Latin
quotations is placed in brackets in the translation; the Latin is
given in the endnotes. Both of the Psalm texts invoked at the
beginning appear in Villegas Selvago’s chapter on the As¬
sumption (1760:107, 109). These are examples of how Old
Testament texts were taken as allusions to the Assumption.
Various traditions associated Mary with Christ’s early
followers during the time after Christ’s Ascension: she lived
with Saint John,^ in accordance with Christ’s words on the
cross proclaiming them mother and son (John 19:26-27); she
was present at Pentecost and received the Holy Spirit along
with the apostles; she taught the apostles, and Luke the Evan¬
gelist, about Christ’s conception, birth, and childhood; she
was visited by many people who, converted by the apostles,
came from great distances to see her; she posed for portraits
and sculptures executed by Luke (Graef 1963-65:v. 1:6;
Pelikan 1996:18; Rivadeneira 1669:62, 64, 614; Sahagun
1993b:313; Vega 1569:336r, 337v; Warner 1976:8, 18, 292).
And Dionysius the Areopagite visited her.
Dionysius appears in Assumption literature through the
later Middle Ages (Antoninus 1959:v.4:1245; Casale
1485:bk.4:ch.38; Voragine 1993;v.2;79) and the Catholic
Reformation (Rivadeneira 1669:63; Surius 1875-80:v.8:
346-347; Villegas Selvago 1760:106).'’This man, referred to
in the Nahuatl text (and by Villegas Selvago) as a saint, is
actually a conflation of three individuals: Dionysius the
Areopagite, whom Paul converted in Athens, according to the
Book of Acts (17:34); a Christian Neoplatonist writer now
called Pseudo-Dionysius who, writing at the end of the fifth
century, established first-century authority for his mystical
and theological works by using the pen name Dionysius the
Areopagite; and Saint Denis, the third-century martyr and
apostle of Paris who, beginning in the ninth century, was
identified with Dionysius the Areopagite (Farmer 1992:131;
Murphy 1967:943-944; Amy Remensnyder, personal
communication, 1998). In his work The Divine Names,
addressed to Timothy, Pseudo-Dionysius refers in passing to
how he, Timothy, James, Peter, and others had “met together
for a vision of that mortal body, that source of life, which
bore God” (Pseudo-Dionysius 1987:70); this passage has
traditionally been interpreted as a reference to Mary’s
“dormition.” There is also a letter, preserved in Armenian but
probably originally written in Greek, that purports to be from
Dionysius to Titus, bishop of Crete, in which the Athenian
elaborates on the Divine Names passage, telling how the
apostles buried Mary in Gethsemane, heard angels singing
around the tomb for three days, and found it empty when they
opened it for a late-arriving apostle (Mimouni 1995:337-
340). Mimouni (1995:341) tentatively dates the letter to
the sixth century, after the death of Pseudo-Dionysius. This
Eastern tradition of Dionysius’s attendance at Mary s
dormition was eventually incorporated into Latin homilies
THE ASSUMPTION 101
on the Assumption and passed into Voragine’s Golden Legend
as well as later treatises (Rachel Fulton, personal communi¬
cation, 1998; Wenger 1955:177, 180-181). In this Nahuatl
text, as in Old World writings, Dionysius’s supposed eye¬
witness account lends credibility to the highly unusual tale
of Mary’s passing.
The Nahuatl text also explains that Dionysius would have
mistaken Mary for a divinity had Paul not preached to him
of her humanity. I have not identified the origins of this
motif, but Rivadeneira includes it in his life of Mary. He de¬
scribes how Mary comforted and inspired the apostles and
others, including many who came to Jerusalem to see her.
Dionysius’s visit is recounted as follows: “among those also
was the great Denys Areopagite, Disciple of Saint Paul, of
whom it is said that after he was conuerted at Athenes by the
preaching of Saint Paul, he went to see this lady, whose coun¬
tenance gaue him an admiration of great suauitie, and he
obserued in her a Maiestie more then of a mortal person: which
stroke him with so great an astonishment, as had not faith
taught him the contrary, he had esteemed and adored her as
a God” (Rivadeneira 1669:62),
The reasons given here for Mary’s death are also pro¬
vided by Villegas Selvago (1760:105-106): so that she would
not be taken as a god, so that she would conform to Christ,
“and considering this we all are consoled in death, seeing that
Christ died, and his mother.” Rivadeneira argues that it would
not be fitting that Mary, or any other person, enjoy a privilege
not granted to Christ; moreover, her immortality would sup¬
port the Manichaeans and other heretics who argued against
Christ’s humanity (1669:614-615). Her death is a comfort to
others: “For who will think strange to passe through this
narrow passage through which Christ and his mother haue
passed?” (Rivadeneira 1669:615). Her Assumption gives
people an advocate in heaven who, as “mother of the Judge
and mother of mercy,” can effectively handle affairs pertain¬
ing to humanity’s well-being and can be relied on to give
people gifts (Vega 1569:344v). In heaven she is able to inter¬
cede for people “with more confidence” (Rivadeneira
1669:615).
The second part of the text incorporates antiphonal chants
from the Assumption liturgy as well as biblical passages bor¬
rowed to create a deathbed dialogue. Many of the same pas¬
sages appear in Vega (1569:338v-339r) and Voragine
(1993:v.2:79-80). There were different opinions regarding
Mary’s age at death but, judging by the discussions in
Rivadeneira (1669:63), Vega (1569:336v-337r), Villegas
Selvago (1760:105) and Voragine (1993:v.2:78), 53, her age
in this Nahuatl text, was not one of the prevailing choices. To
the extent that there was a consensus, it seems to be that she
was 72 or a few weeks shy of her seventy-second birthday.
Since Mary was 15 at the time of Christ’s birth and he died at
33, her death at age 53 would have occurred only five years
after her son’s—and much too soon for Dionysius, converted
by Paul, to have met her.’
102 BEFORE GUADALUPE
Free of all corruption, Mary dies a death that is not only
painless but also, unlike the deaths of ordinary people,
unwitnessed by demons. Vega (1569;339r) states that at her
death the air was sanctified and the demons banished from
it. In the Nahuatl text, her spirit {iyolliatzin) emerges
but the witnesses then see her heart {iyollotzin). This is
another suggestion of native authorship, as the -yolia soul
was specifically associated with the heart and could be
identified with it; priests would be more likely to separate
the spiritual from the corporal. Mary then makes a trium¬
phal entry into heaven. As she rises higher and higher,
she is welcomed first by the souls of various dead mortals
beginning with Adam and Eve who, along with the other
^ *
[53v] Assuptiunis. b.te. ma.'" senper vir.ginis. p.mo. tha.
‘I Edoc. de Custodia. alam. mea. Vt cofiteat. not tou me expectat.
Justi vt mihi retribuas.”
lehuatl in. ytlatlauhtillocatzin. yn to.'’yn itla5onatzin. yn
sancta mariatzin. In quitotinenca yn iquac Omotlecahuitzino
yn ilh.‘^ yhua occequi Cuicatl yn oquicuillo dauit. In itlago-
tencopatzinco. Spu sancto. Quemadmondom..tesideratcernos.
ad fotes aquaron ynta desiderat. alam. mea. ad te dea^. mew^
effuerut mihi lachriyme epanes die ac nocten dum dicit mihi
quotidie. vbi e deus duus.'^Occenca. miyec. mitohua In ipan.
latin. tlatolli. yn ahuel ypa yauh. y nican tlatolli. mexico.
^annixquich'® mitoz Ini tlatolli. yn oquicuillo. dauit. q’n.
Noto.“e. diose le nechixticate. yn angelloti. yn santome yn
ilh.*^ cate, yheica ma mopaltzinco. xicmoquistillitzino y nala.
Ca yuhqui. yn quauhquechco catqui. Ca yuhqui yn teilpilloyan
Onoc. [54r] Aca yc quimoyectenehuilliz yn motocatzin./.tc.
xicmomachiltican. yn tleipanpa. In amo nima. quimohuiquilli
yn itla5onatzin ynic motlecahuitzinno. yn to." Can 9an oc
quimocahuillitia. tial.". Ca nauhtlamantli ypanpa ‘| Ini” cen-
tlamantli Inic quinyollaliz quinmochicanhuilliz. In apostol-
lome Ca yntla huel tenticatca. Spu Sacto. Cenca moyollaliti-
nenca. Itechtzinco yn s.ta ma.“tzin yn itla^onatzin. dios. Ini.'^ 2.
ynic quinmomachtilliz In itlacuillocanhua yn dios. In EEuan-
gellistame yn Euagellio. Ca eequi oquimomachtilli. In tona-
tzin. Ca yn Ihehuantin Euangellistasme. Ca hamo mochi.
hoqwdtaque. yn oquimochihuilli. yn to." Jex." Inic oquichtli.
topanpa. nican tial." monemiltico. mannel ymitic Catca. yn Spu
Sancto Ca hoquimonequilti yn Dios. Inic yuh mochihuaz yn
iuh yez f Inic. 3. ynic quintlaneltoquitiz Inic quinchicahuaz.
y martiresme. Ca cenca quinmochicanhuilitine. yn quintol-
linitine ca. yn quinmictitinneca yn tlahuelliloque. Ini'^ 4.
ynic yximachoz Ca yn apostollome. yn omocenmanque.
Inic huel quimachtizque. y nohuian. cemanahuac tiaca. qui-
totineca. Axcan. monemiltia yhehuatzin. In itIa9onatzin. yn
lesu X." yn totemaquisticantzin Ca honpa. moyetztica. yn
cenca huei altepenti ipan. yn itocanyocan yherosanlen yheica.
patriarchs and the prophets, were liberated from Limbo at the
time of Christ’s death. Each of the nine categories of angels
in the heavenly hierarchy also greets her as she goes to
take her place above all of them. The hierarchy of angels is
listed occasionally in other Nahuatl texts (e.g., Sahagiin
1986:184-187; 1993b:278-279). The enumeration of these
greeters suggests a layering of the heavens, with a different
set of inhabitants at each level; at the top, Mary and the
Trinity take the place occupied by the creator couple in the
thirteen-layered upperworld of preconquest conceptions.
The first page of the second section of the narrative,
with its decorated, polychrome initial letter, is depicted in
plate 14.
[53 V ] The Assumption of Blessed Mary ever virgin. Psalm theme.
*1 Bring my soul out of prison, that your name may be ac¬
knowledged. The righteous await me, while you will repay
me [Psalm 141:8],
This is the prayer to our lord, which his precious mother. Saint
Mary, went about saying when he had ascended to heaven,
along with another song that David wrote by the precious
order of the Holy Spirit: As the stag longs for the springs of
water, so does my soul long for you. Oh God. My tears have
been my bread day and night, while daily it is said to me.
Where is your God? [Psalm 41:2, 4], Many other things are
said in the Latin words that cannot go into the words here in
Mexico. All these words that David wrote will be said.”^ They
mean, “Oh my lord, oh God, now the angels and the saints
who are in heaven are waiting for me. Therefore, may you, by
your will, bring out my soul. It is as if it is in prison. It is as if
it lies in the place where people are tied. [54r] Someone thus
will praise your name.” Understand why our lord did not bring
along his precious mother when he ascended. He just had her
remain yet on earth. There are four reasons, jl The first is so
that she would console and encourage the apostles. They were
quite filled with the Holy Spirit. They went about very con¬
tented, with Saint Mary, God’s precious mother. The second
was so that she would teach the Gospel to God’s scribes, the
Evangelists. Our mother taught them some of it. The Evange¬
lists did not see everything that our lord Jesus Christ did,
when for our sake he came to live as a man here on earth, even
though the Holy Spirit was inside them. God wanted it to be
done like this, to be like this, The third was so that she
would make the martyrs believe, so that she would encourage
them. She went about greatly encouraging those whom the
wicked ones were going about afflicting, were going about
killing. The fourth was so that she would be known. The
apostles were scattered around so they could teach the people
everywhere in the world. They went about saying, “Today the
precious mother of Jesus Christ, our rescuer, is living. She is
there, in the very great city called Jerusalem.” Therefore many

mienquintin yn cenca hueca. hualle[54v]Huaque yn quimodil-
liznequi.'"’ In iuh q’chiuh In yhehuatl. yn. S. diomnisiom.'^Ca
yn iquac Oquimomachiltilli. yn. S. pablo. In opa. yn altepentl
ipan yn itocanyocan Athenas. nima ceca hoquinec. ynic quimon-
dillitiuh''’ Auh quin iquac yn oquimottilli. yc ceca huelliyollo'’
pachiuh. quithohuaya Ca dies. Ca yntlacamon quimomachtil-
liani yn. S. pablo. yntlacamo quimolhuilliani Ca hamo teutl
ijan itla90tlachihualtzin. yn dios. quiteotocazquia. quitozquia
Ca dios. yhehuatzin. S.ta ma.‘‘tzin. Ca cenca chipahuac yn ixa-
yacatzin Ca cenca huey tlanextilliztli. yn itech qui9aya Ca
hamo yuhque yn ocequintin'* i^ihua. Auh yn iquac Otlacauhqui
yn iyollotzin. In ipalnemohuani. yn quimohuiquilliz yn itla90-
natzin yn ichatzinco yn ilhuicac. Achtopa hualla. yn Sat gabriel
algansel. yn oquimolhuillico. quimonequiltia yn ipaltzinco
titonemiltia. yn ichantzinco. timotlecahuiz Cenca hoquimotla-
palhui Oquimomaquilli. yn ilhuicac (^oyatl. In ilhuicac quauh-
tomatl. In itocan palma. yni qoyatl. ilhuicacayotl. ynicquinpa-
paquiltiz yn itla9ohua dios. Auh yn hehuatzin yntla9onantzin
yn to.” Jesu x.“ Oquimolhuilli yn. S. gabriel. Ayac tlacatecollotl
[55r] Ixpantzinco. neqiz yn iquac. momiquilliz Auh nima
ytencopatzinco yn to." dios In agelloti Oquintzacuillique yn
tlatlacatecollo yn dpa mictlan Auh niman oyuh quimonequilti.
yn il." 9ihuanpilli Inic mocentlallizque. yn ixquichtin. Apostol-
lome. ynic quimodillizque.'^ In iquac he momiquilliz. Auh
yn oquimonequilti yn dios. Auh 9a nima Cen mixtli quihualna-
pallo. yn. S. Jua. Euangelista yn hueca. monemiltiaya. In itoca-
yocan Enphesu. hiyspantzincon^” quitlallico yn. S.ta ma.'" ^an
no yuhqui yn oceequitin. yn apostollome. mixtitlan. hualla-
que yxpantzinco haqitihuetzicon. yn il." 9ihuapilli. tlamahui-
9oltica. yn omonechicoque. yc omotentzanhuique. Ic oquitoque
tleyn on tlei quimonequiltia. yn to." dios Auh yn. S.ta ma.“tzin
Oquinmoyolpachihuiltilli. yn tleipanpa. Omocentlallique oquin-
nestilli. yn il." ^oyatl. yn itocan. palma. In itla90 yn. S. Jua. y
mochipa telpochtli. Auh yn hehuatl. yn. S. Jua. Oquinmolhuilli.
momiquilliz yn totlaqonatzin niman ic ochocaque Auh nima
In agellome yn oquicencauhque In itepetlacaltzin Niman omo-
callaquitzinno [55v] Centlamatli. mixtli Cenca yztac. Cenca
tlanextia Oquitlapacho yn inacayontzin. yn. S.ta ma.rizin. yc
amo hoquitaque. yn ichipahuacannacayontzin. yn tlahuelli-
loque. yhi he^' quitlatizquia. yheica Omomixtlapacho yn
inacayontzin. yc amo hoquichiuhquen hi yollotlahuelliloque.
yn Judiome. yn tleyn quichihuazquia. yn ipan yn inacanyon-
tzin y mochipa ychpuchtli. yc omopaccamiquilli yuhqui yn
9an omocochilti. yn totla9onatzin. yc omocauh yc oquiz. yn
ichoquilliztzin. yn totla9onatzin yn cenca mochoquillitinenca
In iquac yn tecocollianime Quilhuiaya. Catli y moconeuhui
yc quitotineca Edoc de Costudiat ala me.a. &c. xicmomachil-
tican Ca tlatlacoltica. yn opeuh miquiztli Auh yn totla9ona-
tzin yn. S.ta ma.Hzin. ca hamo tlatlacohuani. Inic omomiquil-
litzino. In inacayontzin Ca 9a no yuhqui monequiltitzino yn
dios. Ca hatle tlatlacolcolli.” ytechtzinco. ha9ic. hieica Ca
hamo momiquillizquia yn tehuantin ypanpa yn timiqui ypecuh-
cayo^^ yn tlatlacolli. yn itocan Original, yn otechahuillitiaque
In achto totatzin In achto thonatzin Auh yn S.ta ma.‘‘tzt [56r]
THE ASSUMPTION 103
people came from very far away, [54v] who wanted to see her.
Saint Dionysius did this. When Saint Paul had taught him
there in the city called Athens, then he wanted very much to
go see her. And when he had seen her, thus he was well satis¬
fied. He was saying that she was God. If Saint Paul had not
taught him, if he had not told him that she was not a divinity,
only a precious creation of God, he would have taken her as
a divinity, he would have said, “Saint Mary is God. Her face
is very pure. Very great light emerges from it. Other women
are not like this.” And when the heart of him by whom
one lives conceded that he would bring his precious
mother to his home in heaven, first Saint Gabriel the archan¬
gel came.'*® He came to say to her, “He by whom we live
wants you to ascend to his home.” He greeted her very
well. He gave her a heavenly palm, a heavenly acorn""
called a “palm.”"'^ This palm is a heavenly thing to gladden
God’s precious ones. And to the precious mother of our
lord Jesus Christ, Saint Gabriel said that no demon [55r]
would appear before her when she died. And then by order
of our lord God the angels closed up the demons there in
the place of the dead. And then the heavenly noblewoman
wanted all the apostles to gather together, to see her when
she was about to die. And God wanted it. And just then a
cloud brought Saint John the Evangelist, who was living
far away in a place called Ephesus. It came to place him
before Saint Mary. In just the same way the other apostles
came in clouds; they came to arrive suddenly before the
heavenly noblewoman. In a wondrous way they were as¬
sembled. Thus they were astonished. Thus they said, “What’s
that? What does our lord God want?” And Saint Mary satis¬
fied them as to why they were brought together. She showed
the heavenly palm, called “palm,” to her precious one.
Saint John, who is forever a youth."*^ And Saint John said to
them, “Our precious mother will die.” Thereupon they
wept. And then the angels prepared her sepulcher. Then a
cloud entered [55v], which was very white, very shiny. It
covered Saint Mary’s body. Thus the wicked ones did not
see her pure body, which they would have burned. Because
her body was covered with a cloud, the wicked-hearted ones,
the Jews, did not do what they would have done to the
body of her who is forever a maiden. Thus she died joyfully.
It was as if our precious mother just went to sleep. Thus
our precious mother’s weeping ceased, thus it was finished.
She went about weeping very much when the hateful ones
would say to her, “Who is your child?” Thus she went about
saying, "Bring my soul out of prison. ” Understand that it
was through sin that death began. But our precious mother,
Saint Mary, was not a sinner. The way her body died, it was
just as God wanted it. No sins reached her. Therefore she
would not have died. We die because of the beginning of
sin, called “original,” which our first father and our first
mother went along bequeathing to us. But as for Saint Mary,
[56r] God guarded her well, so that no sins reached her.
Therefore she would not have done penance, she would
104 BEFORE GUADALUPE
Ca Veil oquimopialli. yn dies. Inic atle tlatlacolli. ytechtzinco
ha9ic. heica Amo tlamacehuazquia. Amo moconcozquia. Amo
momiquillizquia. In inacayontzin. xicmomachiltica. Ca hon-
tlamatli. ypanpa. yn oquimonequiltitzino. yn dios. i momiquil-
liz yn itla^onatzin Inic. i. ynic amo mitoz Ca hamo ^ihuatl In
iuhqui hehuatin ^ihua. Ca yuhqui. homonexilti yn dios. Oquichtli
Iesx.° yn iquac omomiquillitzino. topanpa. Ca no yuhqui. huell
onez. Ca nelli cihuatl yn. S.ta ma.Hzin. Ca homomiquilli Auh
ynic ontlamatli. ynic q’nenehuilliz. yn itla90cunetzin. In topanpa
Oquimonequiltitzino. yn momiquillitzinoz. Ma9ihuih in ca
dios. yhehuatl in ca 9an tlachihualli. Cuix quipannahuizquia
Ca hamo yhuan yc itechtzinco. titochicahua yn tictotepotz-
toquillitinemi. y huel toyollocacopa. yn amo tiquimaca9ian.
yn tomiq’z yheica Ca tiemati. Ca omomiquilli. yn totla9ona-
tzin. yn. S.ta ma.“tzin. quen oc hen^'*yn titlatlaconhuani timi-
quizque. Auh yn iquac omomiquilli Amo hotonehuac Amo
otlaocox yn iuhqui tlatlaconhuanime. quichihua. Can ^an
omopaccamiquilli. ^an iuh[56v]qui yn omocochintititzino.
yxquich tiemati yn ipan omochiuh ynic omomiquillitzino. In
toda9onatzin Ca hoquicuillo yn itla90 yn dios. y. s.anct dioninsio.
yn oquitac. yn quenni omomiquillitzino. Ca yntlatzinco catca.
yhua yntla yn apostollome. Vt videnbis. I marialli sermonario
de postis. Auh in tlehin omochiuh. yn ehecanticpac yn iquac.
Oquimonnamiquillico. yn J.x”. queni mitoz. Ca quipannahuia.
yn totlacaquilliz. Ahuel mitoz yn queni cencenyacan. In ilh.*^
chanequen Oquimahuiztillique yn totla9onatzin. yn. S.ta ma.“tzi
yn 9ihuapilli. yn hehuatzin yn inacayontzin. yheilhuitica
omozcallitzino. yuh quitohua yn quilnamictinemi yn. S.tome.
yn tlein. nipa^^ omochiuh. yn macanyontzin. yn. S.tome. tiemati
Ca tlal.‘^ mopia. yn iuhqui. yn. S.tiago. yn opa. ytoca.yocan.
topostolla. etc. Auh yn inacayotzin. yn. S.ta ma.Hzin. hamo
ne9i tlal.*^ yc tiquitohuan Ca ylhuicatl itic Omocallaqui yn
inacanyonztin/ yn totIa9onatzin/:/&c.:/
[57r] In festo assuptionnis Virginis. m.“e. p.mo der secunda.
eius. exaltatione. super omnes cellos,
thema Que en ista que progreditor etc;/.
In ilh.'^tlatoque yn itlatocanvan yn dios. ynnagelloti^^ Cenca
yhuicpatzinco. hotlamahui9oque. yn. S.ta ma.Hzin yn incuic In
momoztlaye mitohua. ec Que e ista/. tec..q.n. Ac yehuatzin yn
he quihualpancahuica yn to.® yn totlatocantzin yn Iex°. Ca yn
itlanextilliztzin Ca quicenpannahuia yn ixquich. yn necentla-
nextiliztli yn cenca quipanahuia yn tonatiuh yn metztli. yhua
yn mochintin yn itla9ohua yn dios. Cenca hotlamahui9oque
yhuicpatzinco yn Sancta ma.’' yhehica yn hehuatzin Cenca
quinpanahuia yn ixquichtin yn ilh.® onoque. yhuan ayac yuh¬
qui. tlalticpac. In axca yn ipa [57v] quimotlecahuilli yn dios
yn ixq’chtin ynn agelome yc ypa mocuicaehua Axcan: Epal-
tata est sancta Dei genitrix. &c. Auh ynic ylnamicoz nohuian.
cemanahuac. yn queni yhehuatzin. sancta m.“ oquimotlato-
cantlallili yn ipalnemohuani: Axcan Cenca huey ilhuitl yn
itocan. asuption: qn. ynetlecahuiliztzin yn sancta ma.'* cece-
xiuhtica ylnamico yn nohuiya cemanahuac. xicmatican Ca
not have become sick, her body would not have died. Under¬
stand that God wanted his precious mother to die for two
reasons. The first is so that it would not be said that she is
not a woman, like those who are women. As it was clear
that God was a man, Jesus Christ, when he died for our sake,
likewise it was quite clear that Saint Mary is a true woman,
for she died. And the second is so that she would be equal to
her precious child, who made it his desire to die for our sake
even though he is God. She is just a creation. Would she,
perhaps, have surpassed him? No. And thus through her
we take strength, we go about following her quite willingly.
We do not fear our death because we know that our pre¬
cious mother, Saint Mary, died. With how much more reason
will we sinners die! And when she died she did not suffer,
she did not become sad, as sinners do. She just died joy¬
fully, just as though [56v] she were going to sleep. We
know everything that happened to our precious mother as
she died, for God’s precious one. Saint Dionysius, wrote it
down. He saw how she died. He was with her, and with
the apostles. So that you will And what happened
when Jesus Christ came on the wind to meet her, how will
it be said? It surpasses our understanding. It cannot be said,
how each of the residents of heaven honored our pre¬
cious mother. Saint Mary, the noblewoman. Her body
revived on the third day, as the saints say, they go about
remembering it. We know what happened to the bodies of
the saints. They are kept on earth, like Saint James there in
the place called Compostela. But the body of Saint Mary
does not appear on earth. Thus we say that the body of
our precious mother entered into heaven.
[57r] On the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary,
psalm of second her exaltation above all the heavens.^'-'
Theme: "Who is this who comes forth [like the rising dawn, beau¬
tiful as the moon, chosen as the sun]?” [Song of Songs 6:9f^
The heavenly rulers, God’s rulers, the angels, marveled very
much at Saint Mary. Their song is said every day: "Who is
this?" This means, “Who is this that our lord, our ruler, Jesus
Christ, is bringing joyfully? Her light completely surpasses
all light, it greatly surpasses the sun and the moon.” And all
God’s precious ones marveled very much at Saint Mary be¬
cause she greatly surpasses all who lie in heaven, and no one
is like her on earth. Today [57v] God raised her above all the
angels. Thus on her is intoned today,‘T/ze Holy Mother of
God has been exalted [above the choirs of angels to the heav¬
enly kingdom].”^’’ And so that everywhere in the world will be
remembered how he by whom one lives installed Saint Mary
as a ruler, today there is a very great festival, called “Assump¬
tion,” which means the ascent of Saint Mary. Each year it is
remembered everywhere in the world. Know that when it
reached 53 years that our precious mother had gone about
 THE ASSUMPTION 105

yn oha^ic. vmpoalxihuitl. vmmatlactli. omey yn ye ipan otla- doing penance on earth, she was greatly desiring heavenly
maceuhtine yn tlal.'^yn totla^onatzin Cenca quellehuiaya yn life. Her heart always went about attracted toward her
ilh." nemillizyotl. Ca mochipa ytech huetztineca. yn iyollotzin. precious child, who is our rescuer, Jesus Christ, her true
yn itla^oconetzin yn totemaquisticatzin yn lex", nelli yteouh god, her maker, as he is God. But he is Saint Mary’s precious
ytechiuhcatzin Inic dios Auh yn Sancta ma.^ yn itla^oconetzin. child, as he is a man. And when God was wanting her to
ynic oquichtli Auh yn iquac ye quimonequiltiya yn dios. Inic come to him, first he sent his noble, the angel whose name
yllantzinco ye mohuicaz, Cen achtopa. quihualmihuali yn ipil- is Saint Gabriel, who is very pure, from whom emerges a
lo. yn hagel yntocan. San gabriel yn cenca chipahuac yn itech very great light. He came to console Saint Mary very
qui9az, yn ceca huey tlanextilliztli In cenca quimoyollalilico. much. [58r] He knelt before her, he greeted her. He said to her,
yn sancta mariatzin [58r] hiyxpatzinco. motlanquaquetz. q’mo- “Oh be joyful, you who are the precious mother of God,
tlapalhui Quimolhuili Ximopaquiltitie. yn titlagonatzin. y who is everywhere truly all-powerful. Your divinity sent me
nohuiyan nelli mochi yhuellitzin dios. lehuantzin nech- so that you would know that now [the time] has arrived.
hualmihualli yn moteouh. ynic ticmomachiltiz Ca yhe oa9ic In three days you will joyfully come before him. And here
ynn^'^eilhuitica. yn ixpatzinco timopaccahuicaz. Auh yzcatqui is the heavenly frond, which is very shiny, by which the
yn ilh." quauhxiuhtzintli yn ceca tlanextia ynic q’tazque. In apostles will see that your precious child is now calling you.
apostollosme Ca ye mitzmonochillia yn motla90conetzin Auh And even though your body will die, you will not suffer
yntla nel momiq’lliz yn monacayotzin Ca hamo yc timotlahi- thereby because sin has never reached you. You are not like
yohuiltiz yehica Ca hayc motechtzinco hohapic yn tlatlacolli. the sinners on earth. And your spirit and your body will
Ca hamo tiuhcantzintli yn tialticpac tiatlacohuani. Auh yn mo- ascend together to heaven.” And Saint Mary thus gave
yolliatzin. yhua. yn monacayotzin. mocentlecahuiz yn ilh.*" Auh great thanks to him by whom one lives. Then she fervently
yn sancta ma.Hzin cenca yc quimotIa90canmachilti yn ipalne- beseeched him that the apostles and God’s other precious
mohuani. nima Cenca quimotlatlauhtilli. ynic yxpatzinco ones would come before her. Everywhere in the world they
huallazque. Innapostollome^* yhua yn occequmtin yn itla90- were going about scattered all around, far and wide they
hua. yn dios. y novia cemanahuac. Cenmatineca yn ceca hue- went to teach people. And the angel in a wondrous way,
hueca. motemachtilito Auh yn agel Ca tIamahui9oltica tla- with light, ascended to heaven before her. And as for Saint
nextilliztica yn ixpantzinco omotlecahui in ilh.*" Auh yn sancta Mary, it was also just in a wondrous way that the apostles
ma.“tzm Qa no tlamahui9oltica yn ixpantzinco. huallaque. yn came before her. [58v] First came Saint John the Evangelist,
apostollome [58v] yacachtopa hualla yn. S. luan Evagelista. her guardian, who is forever a youth. And he saw the very
yn itepixcantzin. yn mochipa telpochtli. Auh yn oquimondili^® pure heavenly frond. He marveled very much. In just the
yn cenca chipahuac. yn ilhuicac quauhxihuitl Cenca hotlama- same way, the rest of God’s precious ones, when they found
hui90 &c. Qa no yuhqui yn occequintin yn itIa9ohua dios. yn out that his precious mother was about to go, were weeping
oquimatque Ca ye mohuicaz yn itla9onatzin Cenca hiyxpan- before her vei7 much. And they each praised her and knelt
tzinco. mochoquilliaya Auh 9eceyacan hoquimoyectenehuil- before her. They greeted her with her salutation.”* And Saint
lique. yhixpatzinco motlanquaquetzque. yea yn inotzalloca Mary greatly consoled all of them, she encouraged them.
q’motlapalhuique Auh yn sancta ma.'tzin Mochintin Cenca Then Saint Mary knelt before our lord. Prayerfully she
quiyollali quinchicauh. nima yhixpantzinco yn to.“ omotlan- said to him, "Into your hands, oh lord. I commend my spirit.
quaquetz. yn santa ma.'‘tzin. tlatlatlauhtilliztica Oq’mitalhui- This means, “Our lord, you who made me, by your will
tzino In manos toas dne cometo spu meum. qn. to.° tehuatzin you will keep my soul, my spirit, which I entrust to you.
Otinechmochihuilitzino Ca mopaltzinco ticmopialliz y n.ala. And my body, inside of which, just by your will, you wanted
y noyollia. yn nimitznopialtillia. Auh y nonacayo. yn 9a mo¬ to become flesh, I entrust to you.” And when it had gotten a
paltzinco. otiemonequiltitzino. yn itictzinco hotimonacayoti- bit dark in Saint Mary’s house, on a cloud all the saints
tzino. Ca nimitznopialtillia. Auh yn iquac ye achi yohuac yn spread about everywhere, very delightedly. [59r] And then
ichantzinco. yn sancta ma.“ yn mixpatzinco yn ixquichtin our lord Jesus Christ and all his precious ones, the angels,
sanctome. cenca nohuian. tlahahuiyax[59r]timoma Auh nima and also some saints, came down to her. Then they gathered
yn to." yn lex", yhuan yn ixq’chtin yn itla9ohua yn agelloti. no before Saint Mary, in order joyfully to raise heavenly songs
yn cequintin yn. S.to." yn itlan hualmotemohuique Nima yix- so that the soul of Saint Mary would come forth joyfully.
pantzinco. yn. S.ta ma.“ omocetlallique. Inic quimopachehuil- And then our lord Jesus Christ was first, he began the singing
lilizque™ yn il." cuicatl ynic hualpacaqui9az yn i.ala.tzin yn. for them. He chanted, "Come, my chosen one. and / will
S.ta ma.“ Auh nima yn to.° Iex.“ yacachto. quimomopehualtil- establish my throne in you."^° This means, “Come, oh my

lilP' yn cuicatl Quicuicayto/: Veni electa mean ot posia y to teo- precious mother, oh be happy with me, for I love you dearly.
mo meum. Q.n. xihualmohuica Notla9onatzine/. Notlantzinco And Saint Mary answered him. She said to him, "My heart is
ximotlamachtitie. Ca cenca nimitznotla90tillia Auh yn. S.ta ready, oh lord, my heart is ready.”^' This means, “My lord
ma.Hzin. quimonaquillili q’molhuilli./. Eruto dne Cur meu partu and ruler, lord of the near, lord of the nigh, may it be done
cor meu Q.n. notecuiyotlatohuani. tloque nahuaque. ma yn as you wish. Before you my heart is ready. May your
106 BEFORE GUADALUPE
mochihua. yn iuh ticmoneq’ltia Ca mixpatzinco mocencauh-
tica. yn yollia.^^ ma tlacahuan yn moyollotzin Auh nima yx-
patzinco. yn ixq’chtin. S.to.' quicuicaytoque./. hec est qui neci-
puit toro in delicto tum./&c. q.n. Ca yn yehuatzin yn mochipa
ychpuchtli Aye oq’polo ynic ychpuchtli. Auh yehica. yn ipal-
ne[59v]Mohuani. yntla9onatzin. q’npanahuia yn ixq’chtin.
yn il.'^onoque yn itla9ohua yn to." dios ca ylhuicac tlatocanci-
huapilli yhua nohuia cemanahuac Auh yn S.ta ma.Hzin Oqui-
mitalhuitzino Ecce enl ex hoc beata me dice. oes. genera-
tiones. Q.n. Ca yzcatqui ypapa yn quitozqwe yn ixq’chtin.
nohuian tlaca Ca nitlacemicnopilhuiani. Axcan ye mochipa
nohuian. nimahuiztillilo. ye niyectlatlauhtillo ynic nitlapal-
lolo ninotzallo. yn hehica mochi yhuelli dios. onechmoc-
nellili; onechmahui9on Ca honechmonati. ye no cuel ceppa
yn to." quimocuicayehuilli yn icuicatzin. Oquimolhuilli.
notla9onatzine xihualmopacahuica. xicmocanhuillitzino. y
netollinilloya. ximotlecahui. y notecuiltonnoltitla. y notetla-
machtiltitlan. Ma nimitznotlallilili. Moteocuitlaycpacxo-
chitzin. nima q’molhuilli. yn. S.ta ma." to." dios. ye ninohuica.
mochipa mocializtica. honinonemiti. yn tlal." Ca no yhuan
axcan. Cenca motechtzinco. [60r] Motlamachtitica yn otic-
mochihuillitzino. y noyolliatzin. Auh nima yc hualmopac-
caquisti yn iyolliatzin. yn. S.ta ma"tzin yn atle ytech oha9ic.
yn tlaocoyalliztli. ma9ihui yn omomiquilli. yn inacayontzin.
Ca mochipa ytech catca yn papaquilliztli yehican Aye
ytechtzinco. a9ic yn tlatlacolli. Auh yn apostollome yhua yn
oceequintin Oquimotillique yn iyollotzin yn Sancta ma."tzin
Cenca chipahuac Auh yn itlanextilliztzin Cenca quipana-
huiya. yn totlatol. Ca nima hahuel mitoz Auh yn apostollome.
pampaq’lliztica. mochoq’lliayan quimocuicayehuilliaya yn
icuicatzin. yehuatl yn quimolhuillique./. Virgo prodentissima
quo progrederis. &c.. Q.n. mochipa ychpochtle. dios ynatzine
Canpa ye timohuican Cenca titlanextia. ma mopaltzinco.
xitechmotlatlauhtillilitzino yn to." y nica tlal." titlaocoxticate
Auh yn hehuatzin yn S.ta ma.“tzin. Quimhualmoteochihuilli/
nima yn ixq’chtin. yn itla9ohua yn ipalnemohuani. In ilh."
hualmotemohuique. q’mocuicatillique/ quimehui[60v]lli-
lique yn icuicatzin/. Que est ista. et.c. Q.n. Ac yehuatzin. yn
tlal." huallehua yn itech cayn ixquich. yn necenpapaq’ltilliztli.
In inahuactzinco yn itla90conetzin./&.c. nima ceq’ntin. q’cui-
cayehuillique^^ In icuicatzin/. yn q’cuicaytohuaya. yn hehuatl
yn ilh." 9ihuapilli. y nohuian tenatzin Ca temaquistiani yn
lesu x". ytla9onatzin yn inechipahualliztzin mochi quipana-
huiyan y necechipahualliztli Auh ynic 9an papaquilliztica.
yn ilhuicac cuicatica/. homocepaccatlecahuitzino yn iyollia¬
tzin yhua yn inacayotzin. yn quimotlecahuillique yn itla9ohua
yn ipalnemohuani Auh nima. tlamahui9oltica./ yehecaticpac.
hoquimonamiquillico. Cenca hualmiyectlamatitiaque. Cenca
miyeq’ntin. yn ilh." onoque. In agellome yhua yn s.to." In ilh."
chaneque In izquitlamatitoque yn inecetlalliliz yn Sanctome.
1 Inic. i.tin. yn intocan patriarcasme yn yacuican tlal." tlaca
yn omomaq’stique. yehuantin yn achto totatzin yn achto
tonatzin: yn Adam. [61r] yhua Eua. yhua yn occeq’ntin./ &c.
heart concede.” And then before her all the saints chanted,
“This is she who knew no bed in sin; [she shall have fruit in
the visitation of holy souls], This means, “She is forever
a maiden, she never lost that she is a maiden. And because
[59v] she is the precious mother of him by whom one lives,
she surpasses all who lie in heaven, our lord God’s precious
ones. She is a heavenly royal noblewoman everywhere in the
world as well.” And Saint Mary said, “For, behold, henceforth
all generations shall call me blessed. [For he that is mighty
has done great things to me, and holy is his name.J”^^ This
means, “Behold, because of this all people everywhere will
say that I am favored. Now I am already honored always and
everywhere. Already I am properly prayed to, the way 1 am
greeted and called to. It is because all-powerful God favored
me and honored me. He made me his mother.” Once again our
lord intoned his song. He said to her, “Oh my precious mother,
come joyfully! Leave the place of affliction. Ascend to my place
of contentment, to my place of happiness. May it be that I
place on you your golden chaplet of flowers.”^" Then Saint
Mary said to our lord God, “I am coming now. It was always
by your consent that I lived on earth. And now also, [60r] my
spirit, which you created, is very happy with you.”” And
thereupon Saint Mary’s spirit joyfully emerged. No sadness
reached it. Even though her body died, joy was always
with her because sin never reached her. And the apostles and
the others saw Saint Mary’s heart. It was very pure. And its
light greatly surpassed our words. In no way can it be said.
And the apostles were weeping with joy, they were intoning
her song. What they said was, “Virgin most prudent, whither
are you going, [glowing brightly as the dawn?This
means, “Oh forever a maiden, oh mother of God, where
are you now going? You shine brightly. May you, by your
will, pray for us to our lord, we who are sad here on earth.”
And Saint Mary blessed them. Then all the precious ones
of him by whom one lives ascended to heaven. They sang,
they raised [60v] her song. Who is this [who comes up from
the desert, flowing with delights and leaning upon her
beloved}?^'' This means, “Who is this who comes rising from
earth, with whom is all that is complete joyfulness, next to her
precious child?” Then some of them intoned her song. They
were chanting, “The heavenly noblewoman is the mother of
people everywhere. She is the precious mother of the rescuer,
Jesus Christ. Her purity surpasses all complete purity.” And so
just joyfully, with heavenly songs, her spirit and her body
ascended joyfully together. The precious ones of him by whom
one lives ascended. And then, in a wondrous way they came
on the wind to meet her. They came in a great many kinds. It
was a great multitude of those who lie in heaven, the angels
and the saints, the residents of heaven, as many kinds as are
the assembly of saints.
I The first ones were they who are called patriarchs, people
from when the earth was new, who were rescued. They are our
first father and our first mother, Adam [61r] and Eve, and the

Quimotlapalhuique. q’lmolhuillique./. Bndicta filia tu a
dno quia per te. et.c. Q.n. Quemach huel tehuatzin ^ihua-
pille. yn to." omitzmoteochihuilli Ca mopaltzinco. hotiquic-
nopilhuique yn yollilizxochiqualli/. an.^'* In hiellosalen
tichpochtli.
1 Auh ynic ontlamatin yn quimonamiquillico yn inecen-
tlalliliz. yn prophetas." yn itlatequisticahua yn dios. yn tlal."
tiaca yn tlal." otemachtitineque. yntencopatzinco yn
ipalnemohuani yn tley mochihuaz. yn ayamon hualtemohuia.
yn to." yn le x.° achtopa quitoque. yn ica Spu sancto.
^ Auh ynic. 3. yn quimonamiq’llico yn ixq’chti yn martyres.
et.c. yehuatin yn 9an ipaltzinco yn dios. yn ipanpa yn
neltiliztli. yn ceca quitlahiyohuiltique. yn atlaneltocanime
yn amo quimiximachillia yn dios. Auh ca yntlahiyohuilliztica
Oquimacehuique yn ylhuicacayotl yc ceca tlapanahuia. yn
itlatocanyo. Oq’momaq’lli yn dios
“Jl Auh ynic. 4. yn quimonamiquillico. [61v] yn itocan Confes-
sores yn ixquichtin. tlalticpac. omomaquistique yn oquimoc-
nellili in totecuiyo dios.
I Inic. 5. yn oquimonamiq’llico yn ixq’chtin In ilh." gihua-
pipilti yn amo Can tlapohualtin. yn intocan Virgines. yn
ichpopochti In ipapa. yn ceca huehuey. yn intlama9ehualliz.
yc q’maceuhque yn ilh" tlatocayotl.
I Inic 6. yn quimonamiquillico yn yehuatin yn ixquichtin
Angelome yn chiuhconauhtlamatitoque yn ilh." tla9opipilti
f Inic. i. Angellos f Inic. 2. archagelles *][ Inic. 3. tronos f Inic. 4.
dominanciones f Inic. 5. pricipatos. f Inic. 6. potestates 11nic. 7.
virtotes.'][ Inic^^ cheropines f Inic. 9. serapines.
1 lehuantin i yn ceca yxachintin yn ayac vel quinpohuaz./ &c.
'1 Auh yn totemaq’sticatzin lex." Comonamiq’llico yn itlaqo-
natzin
1 Ca yuhqui yn iquac. Cen huei tlatohuani yacuican. yn cen-
can. huel yaltepepa ye callaquitiuh. Ca cenca miyectlaman-
titihuitze yn quimonamiquillico ynic quimotlapal[62r]huicon
Cecentlamatin/ no ceceyaca q’motlapalhuia. q’moyectene-
huillia. q’momahuiztillilia. q’paccancellia. lehicayn imance-
hualhua. nima q’paccahuica. quicuicatitihui./.V.
1 ^an no yuhqui axcan ypatzinco omochiuh In ilh." cihuapilli.
yn sancta ma.“ In itla9onatzin yn to." yn lesu x". Ca yn iquac. qui-
hualmanilli yn ilh."tl itic. yuhqui yn ialtepepa omocallaquito
Ca yn ixq’chtin. yn ilh." onoque Cenca miyectlamatitoque
Cenca toztiqMc^* quimopaccanamiq’llico yn tlatocan9ihuapilli
Ca yntla9onatzin. yn iceltzin iihuicahuan yn to." lesu x". ynic
oquichtli. yn iceltzi nohuiya huel nelli tlatohuani. Auh yn ce-
cetlamati no ceceyacan q’momahuizyectenehuilique Cenca
quimahuiztillitihuicaque Ca hayac huel quitoz yn queni Ce-
centlamati Cecan quipapanquiltitihuicaque yn queni nohuia
cenca netlamachtilloc. Auh yn mochipa cenmichpochtli. yn
THE ASSUMPTION 107
others. They greeted her. They said to her, “You have been
blessed by the Lord, O daughter [because through you we
have shared in the fruit of life]. ”^*This means, “Fortunate are
you, oh noblewoman! Our lord blessed you. By your will we
have obtained the fruit of life, you maiden of Jerusalem.”
f And the second ones who came to meet her were the assem¬
bly of prophets, God’s spokespersons,^^ who are people of
earth. On earth they went about teaching people, by order of him
by whom one lives, what would happen, before our lord Jesus
Christ came down. They said it first, by means of the Holy Spirit.
f And the third ones who came to meet her were all the mar¬
tyrs, those whom just by the will of God, for the sake of truth,
the non-believers, those who did not know God, greatly tor¬
mented. But by means of their suffering they merited
heavenliness. Thus very surpassing is the kingdom that God
gave them.
1 And the fourth ones who came to meet her were [61 v] those
who are called confessors,“ all those who were rescued on
earth, whom our lord God favored.
f The fifth ones who came to meet her were all the heavenly
noblewomen, who are innumerable, who are called “virgins,”
maidens. Because their penance was very great, thus they
merited the kingdom of heaven.
I The sixth ones who came to meet her were all the angels,
who lie in nine kinds, the precious nobles of heaven.
First, angels. 1 Second, archangels. K Third, thrones, f Fourth,
dominations, jl Fifth, principalities, jl Sixth, powers. I Seventh,
virtues. *][ [Eighth,] cherubim. 1 Ninth, seraphim.
I They are very many in number; no one can count them.
f And our rescuer, Jesus Christ, came to meet his precious
mother.
f It was as when a great ruler is about to go and enter his'’'
great city for the first time. A great multitude comes. They
come to meet him; thus they come to greet him. [62r] They
each also, one at a time, greet him, praise him, honor him,
receive him joyfully, because they are his vassals. Then they
accompany him joyfully, they go singing to him.
j] Just like this it happened today to the heavenly noblewoman.
Saint Mary, the precious mother of our lord Jesus Christ. When
he took her into heaven, it was as if she went to enter her city.
All who lie in heaven, who lie in a great many kinds, came
joyfully to meet the royal noblewoman, the precious mother
of the sole lord of heaven, our lord Jesus Christ, as a man, who
alone is really the true ruler everywhere. And they each also,
one at a time, praised her with honor. They accompanied her
with much honor. No one can say how each one accompanied
her very joyfully, how everywhere there was great happiness.
And she who is forever entirely a maiden. Saint Mary, no one
108 BEFORE GUADALUPE
Sancta ma.“tzin. Ayac huel [62v] quitoz yn quenin Cenca ho-
tlapamnahui yn ipapaquilliztzin. yn iahahuializtzin. Auh yn
imahui9ontzin./.&.c. Nima ye ixpantzinco. yn ipalnemohuani
homocnotecatzino. hoquimoteotitzinno Cenca quimotla90-
camachilti. ypampa quimotlatilli. yn tlal."^ tlaca. yn itlachi-
hualhua dies. Auh yn to.° lesu x“. ynmayauhcapatzico
quimotlallilitzino/.t.c. Cenca tlacepanahuiya. ynic oquimo-
cuiltonnoltilli Auh yn iyolliatzin ytech a9ic. yn necepan-
paquiltilliztli. ^an no yhui yn itla9onacayontzin./.t.c.
<1 Auh ynnamehuatin^^ honpa ximotequitla9acan. yn ilh.‘^
xicmotlatlauhtillica. yn. totla9onatzin yn sancta ma.Hzin. Ma
hamopan motlatoltiz yn ixpatzinco yn dios yn itla90conetzin.
Amen./. &.c.
2. Santoral en mexicano, early seventeenth century
Biblioteca Nadonal de Mexico, MS 1476
The Jesuit Santoral'?, lengthy sermon on the Assumption of
Mary (68r-75v) tells much the same story as the text above. A
large part of it (71r-74v) is so closely cognate with the
Psalmodia Christiana (Sahagun 1993b:248-253) as to indi¬
cate that the author used the latter text as a source. I include
here two excerpts from this cognate section. They are written
in the same hand as the sermon on the birth of Mary (text 2.1),
which also resembles the Psalmodia, and, like that sermon,
are annotated with definitions of terms, apparently drawn from
Molina’s vocabulary. The first excerpt tells a part of the story
omitted from the narrative in the John Carter Brown Library
manuscript: the three-day entombment of the Virgin’s body
* #
[71v] Auh izcatqui yn oceequi tlamaui9olli yn ipantzinco
omochiuh S“ m“ ca yeuatzin in itla9onacayotzin S.“ m.” amo
yuhqui yn micqui yn inacayo muchiuh cenca chipauac cenca
tlanextia, pepetlaca
Auh yn yeuantin apostolosme tla90tilmatica oquimoqui-
milhuique*'* yn itla9onacayotzin, yuan oquimouiquilique
ceccan tepetzala itocayoca Josaphat chalchiuhtepetla-
calli vnean oquimocencauilili yn itla9oconetzin, vnean
oquimotoquilique. Yn izquiliuitl in tepetlacalco onoca yn
itla9onacayotzin yn inantzin dios niman aquen muchiuh
cenca auiaxtoca, ca amo polon amo ocuilloac'^^ yn iuhqui
oceequintin mimihque yn ynnacayo mochiua. Ca ye anqui-
momachitia. n.“ ca ti[72r]muchintin ticauhtiui yn totlalna-
cayo, tlallan mocauhtiuh oncan palani yn yaya tlalli mocuepa:
auh yn yeuatzin tt.° d. vei tlamaui9olli oquimochiuili in
ipantzinco S“. m“. ca yn manel tepetlacalco monoltito-
ya niman aquen omochiuhtzino yn itla9onacayotzin amo
palan amo ocuiloac amono tlalli mocuep, amo yhiyax
amono itlacauh, 9an occenca ahuiaxtoca ylhuicacayotica,^’
yuhqui otlachtopaito otlauecayto oquimitalhui in profeta
can [62v] say how very surpassing was her joy, her delight,
and her honor. Thereupon she humbled herself before him by
whom one lives, she worshipped him, she thanked him very
much because he hid her from the people of earth, God’s cre¬
ations.^^ And our lord Jesus Christ placed her at his right hand.
He made her extremely delighted. And her spirit achieved
utter joyfulness, likewise her precious body.
f And as for you, defend your affairs*^ there in heaven. Pray to
our precious mother. Saint Mary. May she speak for you be¬
fore God, her precious child. Amen.
while her soul was entertained in heaven. The emphasis here
is on her body’s exemption from natural processes of decay.
The flowers and shimmering light that adorn her at her As¬
sumption link her to the flower world, but the flowers are
white rather than brightly colored; the author may have been
thinking of the white lilies often associated with Mary. In
preconquest tradition white was the color of the west, which
was the direction associated with the deified women who died
in childbirth and rose into the heavens, but those associations
may no longer have been meaningful for seventeenth-century
urban Nahuas. The parallel passage in the Psalmodia does
not ascribe a color to the flowers (Sahagun 1993b:250).
# *
[71 v] And here is another marvel that happened to Saint Mary.
The precious body of Saint Mary did not become like the
body of a dead person. It was very pure, it was very shiny and
shimmery.
And the apostles wrapped her precious body in a precious
mantle, and they took it to a certain place in a valley called
Josaphat, where her precious child prepared a jade sepulcher
for it. There they buried it. As many days as the precious body
of God’s mother lay in the sepulcher, nothing at all happened
to it. It lay giving off much fragrance. It did not rot, it did not
become full of worms, as the bodies of other dead people
become. You already understand, oh my precious children,
that we [72r] all are going to leave our earthen bodies. They
are going to be left in the ground. There they rot, they stink,
they turn into earth. But our lord God performed a great mar¬
vel on Saint Mary. Even though it was lying in the sepulcher,
nothing at all happened to her precious body. It did not rot, it
did not become full of worms, nor did it turn into earth, it did
not stink, nor was it damaged. It just lay giving off an even
greater fragrance of heavenliness. It was as the prophet David

Dauid. no dabis sanctu tuu videre corruptione.** q.n. ca nel
amo palaniz amo yayaz aquen mochiuaz yn inacayotzin
motla^otzin
Yn eilhuioc oualtemoc in itlaqoanimantzin in vmpa il-
huicac, quiualmouiquilitiaque miequintin angelome yitic
ocalac in itlaqonacayotzin oyul omozcali, niman ilhuicac
tlatquitica omochichiuh omocencauh in itlaqonacayotzin
cenca tlanextia cenca pepetlaca cenca chipauac ilhuicac
xuchitica omoquimilotzino ca ynic tlanextia ynic iztac amo
qan quineneuiliia yn tonatiuh in metztli yn cicitlaltin, ca uel
yeuantin in angelome quimmocenpanauilia, amo gan
quenami ynic mauiztia. ynic tlanextia.
* *
In the second excerpt, parts of two widely used Marian
hymns, O Gloriosa Domina and Ave Maris Stella, are quoted
in Latin and translated into Nahuatl. These are passages
only: the complete text even of these sections of the hymns
IS not translated. But even these excerpts gave Nahuas some
idea of the meaning of the Latin hymns they heard. Both
hymns are in the 1567 book of hours (Incipiunt Horp Beatp
Manp 1567; lOr, 20v); Ave Maris Stella is sung for the Assump¬
tion in the 1584 Psalterium (248r-248v). I used Antonio de
[74r] Auh ynic vel tictotlaocultilizqMe in ipalnemoani
ynic techmotlaocoliliz, ynic techmocneliliz, ynic uel
tictoyolceuilizque, ynic uel techmocenchipauiliz yn itechpa
totlatlacol. ynic tiquicnopilhuizque in ihuicac necuilto-
nolli papaquiliztli cenca totech monequi tictotlaqotilizque
tictomauiztililizque, tictoyecteneuilizque, tictotlatlauh-
tilizque in totlaqonantzin SL mL itetzinco titocauazque
ynic topan motlatoltiz ixpantzinco itlaqoconetzin, ma
tictonochilican, ma tiquitocan.
O. gloriosa dna excelsa super sidera. yioyaue cenquizcaich-
puchtle tiquimmopanauilia in ixquichtin cicitlaltin ynic ueca-
pan timotlalitzinoto yuan yn impan in ixquichtin seraphines
[74v] Quod Eua tristes abstulit tu reddis almo genuine, in
tlein otechpolhui in tetlaocolti tonantzin Eua, teoatzin
otitechmixnextilili yn ica itlaquillotzin in moxillatzin
Vt intrent astra flebiles, cele fenestra facta es. Ynic uel
ticalaquizque in vmpa ilhuicatl itic, teuatzin titechmo-
tlapolhuilitica in tlatzacuilotl
Tu regis alti ianua. Yioyaue ilhuicac ciuapille yn ixquichtin
in vmpa calaquizque in itecpancaltzinco in dios tetatzin
tiquimmotlapolhuia teuatzin tiquimmoiacanilia
Solue vincla reis. profer lume cecis [mala nostra pelle™].
ciuapille dios inantzine ca tiuei ca tiuelitini, ma xiquimo-
tomili in tlatlacoltica ilpitoque in nican tlalticpac nemi.
tociuatlatocatzine, ma xitechoualmotlanextilili in tixpo-
poiome yn tixtepetlame, ma xicmotopeuili in ixquich in
taqualnemiliz yxquich in tonetoliniliz
THE ASSUMPTION 1 09
foretold, said long ago. He said. You will not allow your holy
one to see corruption [Psalm 16:10}. This means, “Truly it will
not rot, it will not stink, nothing will happen to the body of
your precious one.”
On the third day her precious soul descended from heaven.
Many angels came accompanying it. It entered into her pre¬
cious body. She came to life, she revived. Then with heavenly
garments her precious body was adorned, was arrayed. They
were very shiny, very shimmery, very pure. She was clothed
with heavenly flowers, so shiny and so white that the sun,
moon, and stars do not equal them. She surpasses the angels
themselves; they are in no way so marvelous, so shiny.
oo oo
Nebrija’s 1549 edition of liturgical hymns to reconstruct the
applicable Latin text; text that was translated into Nahuatl
but not directly quoted appears in brackets. The first four
quotations are from O Gloriosa Domina', the last two from
Ave Maris Stella.^’’ The translator avoided the metaphorical
identification of Mary as the door or window into heaven,
choosing instead to represent her in a more active manner,
opening the way. The excerpt ends with text based on the
Salve Regina prayer.
[74r] And so that we will be able to incite the compassion of
him by whom one lives, so that he will have compassion for
us, so that he will favor us, so that we will be able to appease
him, so that he will completely purify us in regard to our sins,
so that we will obtain heavenly contentment and joy, it is
essential for us that we love, that we honor, that we praise, that
we pray to our precious mother. Saint Mary, that we entrust
ourselves to her so that she will speak for us before her pre¬
cious child. Let us call to her, let us say;
Oh glorious lady, exalted above the stars. Oh! Oh perfect
maiden! You surpass all the stars, the way that you went to
place yourself on high, and above all the seraphim!’^
[74v] What sorrowful Eve lost you restore through your kind
offspring. That which the piteous one, our mother Eve, lost
for us, you acquired for us through the fruit of your womb!
That the pitiful ones may enter the stars, you have become a
window to heaven. So that we may enter into heaven, you are
opening the door for us!
You are the door for the high king. Oh! Oh heavenly noble¬
woman, all who will enter there, in the palace of God the
father, you open it for them, it is you who leads them!
Break the sinners’ fetters, bring light to the blind [drive away
our ills}. Oh noblewoman, oh mother of God, you are great,
you are powerful! May you untie those who lie tied up with
sin, who live here on earth. Oh our queen, may you shed light
for us blind ones, us sightless ones. May you push away all
our bad living, all our afflictions!
no BEFORE GUADALUPE
Monstra te esse matrem. [Sumat per te preces, qui pro nobis
natus tulit esse tuus."''] ma ye cuele ximonextitziiio ca
titotla^onantzin, ma motepantlatoltzin ixpantzinco xicmo-
manili yn yeuatzin in motlacachiualtzin omochiuh ynic
motetzinco topampa omotlacatili, mouicpatzinco tonto-
tzatzilitinemi, mouictinco tonelciciuhtinemi tichocatinemi
in choquizatlauhco, macuele totepantlatocatzine, ma touic
xiqualmotlachialtili in mote[75r]tlaocolilizixtelolotzin. yio.
icnouacatzintle, yio tlatlacatzintle, yio auiacatzintle in
ticenquizcaichpuchtli, ma xitechmocnoittili. No yuan cenca
timitztotlatlauhtilia ma tlacaua in moyollotzin ynic
titechmonextililiz in moxillantzin itlaaquillotzin yn yeuatzin
Jesus in iquac oontzonquiz tlalticpac totococa. ma imochiua^^
3. Fray Juan de Mijangos, Espejo divino en lengua mexicana, 1607
Assumed into heaven, crowned and exalted, Mary is identi¬
fied with the Woman of the Apocalypse seen by John in his
mystical tour of heaven, clothed in the sun, treading on the
moon, and crowned with twelve stars (Revelation 12:1; Vega
1569:342v-343r; Warner 1976:93-94). The Franciscan mys¬
tic Ubertino da Casale, commenting at length on the passage
in Revelation, relates it to Christ’s glorification of his mother
after her Assumption (1485:bk.4:ch.40). The following text
actually comes from a sermon on the birth of Mary. I include
it here as it deals with her post-Assumption presence in heaven
and as it illustrates that Mary’s apocalyptic image was incor¬
porated into the Nahuatl literature.
The Woman of the Apocalypse is depicted on one of the
bark-paper paintings by the indigenous artist Juan Gerson,
attached to the underchoir of the Franciscan church at Teca-
machalco, Puebla, a church dedicated to the Assumption (Camelo
Arredondo et al. 1964:107; Kubler 1982:578). The same icono¬
graphy was used for Mary as the Immaculate Conception, as
in plate 1 where she stands on the moon and has the twelve
stars circling her head. As the Guadalupe image is an Immacu¬
late Conception depicting Mary with the moon underfoot and
surrounded by sun-like rays (though not with the crown of stars),
explications of such imagery might also have provided a tex¬
tual context for that image as it became more widely known.
The Tlatelolcan scholar Agustm de la Fuente, who col¬
laborated with fray Juan Bautista on his sermonary (see texts
* *
[296] SERMO IN DIE sanctissimo natiuitatis Beat? Mari?
Virginis.
THEMA.
I Liber generationis lESV CHRISTIfilij Dauid, filij Abraham.
&c. Matthpcap. I.
TEOTLAHTOLPAN tlillotoc tlapallotoc, ca in yehuatzin tla-
cemicpnoilhuicatzltli, in toTecuiyo Dios itlapepenaltzin, in
Show yourself to be a mother. [May he who, born for us, deigned
to be your son, receive our prayers through you.J Let it be!
Show that you are our precious mother! May you lay your ad¬
vocacy before him who became your offspring, in that for our
sake he was born from you. Toward you we go about crying
out, toward you we go about sighing, we go about weeping,
in the ravine of weeping. Let it be, oh our advocate! May you
cause your compassionate eyes to look toward us.[75r] Oh!
Oh merciful one! Oh! Oh humane one! Oh! Oh fragrant one!
You who are a perfect maiden, may you have pity on us. And
also, fervently we pray to you, may your heart concede that
you show us the fruit of your womb, which is Jesus, when our
exile on earth is finished. May it so be done.
1.3, 8.5), worked principally with the Eranciscans in his home
town. But he also served as “corrector of language” (correc¬
tor dela lengva) on this work by the Augustinian Juan de
Mijangos, who was born in Antequera (Oaxaca). Sell
(1993:186-187) describes Mijangos, author of a 1624 Nahuatl
sermonary in addition to his Espejo divino, as one of the most
skilled of early colonial priestly writers in Nahuatl. and the
most skilled of his order. Mijangos’s Espejo is written in the
form of a dialogue between a father named Augustin and a son
named Juan—the names of the friar and his Nahua assistant,
who by this time must have been rather advanced in years.
Interspersed among the pair’s discussions of Christian doc¬
trine, many of which have to do with sin and the vanities of
the world, are sermons, including one for the birth of Mary
(296-312). This excerpt is from the sermon’s introductory
section. It is followed by a long section equating God’s prepa¬
ration of Mary as his mother with a great ruler’s building of a
palace. The sermon’s closing prayer is text 8.6.
Mijangos interprets the woman of John’s vision in terms
of Mary’s relationship to her human devotees. She is exalted
and granted all sorts of divine gifts, but these enable her to
bestow assistance on the people of earth. This is her enduring
role in heaven, as the prayers in chapter 8 will further attest. It
was customary to close the opening section of a sermon with
the praying of the Hail Mary; this is consistently done in, for
example, the sermons of Sahagun (1563).
*
[296] Sermon on the most holy day of the nativity of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.
Theme.
1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David,
son of Abraham, etc. Matthew, chapter 1{:1].
In the sacred words it lies in black ink, it lies in red ink, that
the fortunate one, our lord God’s chosen one, our lord God’s

toTecuiyo Dios itla^olelpotzin in Sanct loan Euangelista: ca
nel in toTecuiyo cenca quimotla90tiliaya; cenca oquimohue-
capanilhui. miectlamantli tlamahui^olli, in cenca mahui9auh-
qui, in Ilhuicac tlanextli, in teotlanezcayotiliztli oquimonexti-
lilitzino, oquimottitilitzino in oc mean Tlalticpac monemiti-
tzinohuaya, inic oquimomahui90tili, oquimotenyotili. Ca ceppa
Ilhuicacpa, ixquichcapa oquimonextililitzino ce llahtocaich-
puchtli, cenquizcachipahuacatzintli, cenca tlamahuizchi-
chiuhtzintli; auh iicxitlantzinco catca in Metztli, ipan moquet-
Izinoticatca, in maca9an ipepetzin, itla90cactzin muchiuhti-
calca: auh in icpactzinco, in itzontecompantzinco catcah,
matlactetl omume cicitlaltin. in maca9an iicpacxochitzin
pouhticatca, inic mocpacxochititzinoticatca: auh in Tonatiuh,
ica in itonameyo, in ipepellaquiliztianex quimoyahualhui-
tzinoti[297]catca. muchi in imahuiztlactzin quimotlapachil-
huililiaya in mahuiztlahtocaichpuchtli: in maca9an itlaquen-
tzin, imahuiztilmatzin muchiuhticatca in tonalmitl. yc cenca
mopepetlaquiltiaya, motlanextiliaya in cenquizcachipahuac
ichputzintli. Aquehuatl in tiahtocaichpuchtli? Inllacamo ye-
hualzin in yecmacehualecalzine, in cenquizcatlacemicnopil-
huilicecatzine itla9omahuiznantzin Dios Sancta Maria: ca in
cenquizcanecuiltonolicecatzintli toTecuiyo Dios, oquimo-
cemmaquilitzino in inecuiltonoltzin, in huey tenyotl mahui-
90tl, in ixquich netlamachtilizpahpaquiliztli, inic oquimoc-
pacxochitili, cayehuatl on quinezeayotia in matlactetl omume
cicitlaltin. inic mocpacxochititzinoticatca in nepapan qualti-
huani yectihuani, inic toTecuiyo Dios oquimocentlamachti-
litzino nican Tlalticpac: auh in Metztli, ca icxitlantzinco catca,
in maca9an ipan motlacxilitzinoticatca, quinezeayotia in Tlal-
ticpacayotl, in tlahelpaquiliztli, in nepapan ahuilnemiliztli,
in oquimocentelchihuilitzino in tla9omahuiztlahtocama-
huizichpuchtli, ca muchi oquimoxopehuilitzino, muchi oqui-
motlatzilhuilitzino in ixquich Tlalticpac tla9omacho, in mal-
huilo: auh in Tonatiuh in quimotla9oquentilitzinoticatca,
quinezeayotia in iyecyollochipahualitzin, in teotequaltililiztli.
teoteyectililiztli, teopepetlaquiliztli in oquimocennemactili-
tzino in Teotl Tlahtohuani Dios, in nepapan qualtiliztlanextli in
Gracia, inic oquimotla9oquentilitzino toTecuiyo Dios: ca nelli
ittetzinco in incihuatecuiyotzl Angelome in Sancta .Maria mo-
cemaciticatca in teoteyectililiztli in Gracia, ca in toTecuiyo Dios
oquimocentlauhtilitzino. Ipampa in itla9opillotzin toTecuiyo
Dios Sanct Gabriel yc oquimomahuiztililico, in ihquac oquimo-
yoliuhtlamachtilico: oquimolhuilico. Ma ximopaquiltitzino-
tie ttla9oCihuapille) in timotemiltitica Gracia. Auh in quenin
Tonatiuh nohuiyampa tepan quimoyahua, tepan quicemmana
in itonameyo, inic quintlanextilia in Tlalticpac tlaca: 9an no
yuhqui in tla9oCihuapilli Sancta Maria, motonameyotitzino-
hua, nohuiyan quimomoyahuilia, tepan quimocemmanilia in
itonameyotzin. Quihtoznequi, in itetlaocolilitzin. iteycnoitta-
litzin, inic Cemanahuac tlaca tlao[298)colilo, ycnoitto: auh
in quenin Tonatiuh, quimololotzinoticatca, in maca9an
tilmatli quimololotzinohuaya: 9an no yuhquin yehuatzin, in
maca9an Tonatiuh, itonameyotica: Quihtoznequi, itepantlah-
tolizticatzinco, itepalehuilizticatzinco techmotlaquentilia
THE ASSUMPTION 111
precious youth. Saint John the Evangelist, truly our lord loved
him very much. He greatly exalted him. He revealed to him,
he showed to him many very wondrous marvels, heavenly
light, sacred symbols, while he was still living here on
earth. Thus he honored him. he made him famous. Once all
the way from heaven a royal maiden appeared to him, an
utterly pure one, very wondrously adorned. And under her
feet was the moon, she was standing on it, it was just as if
it was her platform, her precious shoes. And on top of her.
on her head, were twelve stars. It was just as if they were
accounted her chaplet of flowers, with which she was gar¬
landed.’-' And the sun. with its sunbeams, its shimmering
light, was surrounding her. [297] it was covering ail of the
honored body of the honored and royal maiden. The rays
of the sun were just like her garment, her honored mantle.
Thus the perfectly pure maiden was shimmering and shining
very much. Who is this royal maiden, if not she of proper
merit, she of all good fortune, the precious and honored
mother of God, Saint Mary? He of perfect richness, our lord
God. gave her all his riches, great renown, honor, all happi¬
ness and joy, with which he garlanded her. That which the
twelve stars, with which she was garlanded, symbolize is the
various things that make one good, that make one proper,
with which our lord God enriched her here on earth. And the
moon, which was under her feet, just as if she was stomping
on it, symbolizes earthliness. foul delights, the various plea¬
surable ways of living, which the precious and honored
royal maiden denounced. She kicked it all away, she abhorred
all of it, all that on earth is considered precious, is cared for.
And the sun that was dressing her preciously symbolizes
her proper purity of heart, the sacred qualities that make
people good, the sacred qualities that make people proper,
the sacred shimmering with which the divinity, the ruler.
God, fully endowed her, the various lights of goodness,
grace, with which our lord God dressed her preciously. It is
true that with the lady of the angels. Saint Mary, the sacred
quality of making people proper, grace, was wholly achieved,
for our lord God bestowed it fully upon her. Therefore our
lord God’s precious noble. Saint Gabriel, thus came to honor
her. when he came to certify to her. he came to say to her.
“Oh may you be joyful foh precious noblewoman), you are
full of grace.” And the way that the sun everywhere disperses
its sunbeams on people, spreads them all over people, so that
they illuminate the people of earth, in just the same way
does the precious noblewoman. Saint .Mary, spread sun¬
beams. She disperses her sunbeams everywhere, she spreads
them all over people. This means her compassion, her pity,
with which the people of the world are given compassion.
[298] are pitied. And the way that the sun was wrapping it¬
self around her. just like a mantle it was wrapping itself
around her, just as if it was the sun with its sunbeams,
means that with her advocacy, with her help she dresses us.
the way she helps us, she speaks for us before her precious
and honored child, our lord Jesus Christ. Now it is essential
112 BEFORE GUADALUPE
inic lechmopalehuilia, topan motlahtoltitzinohua ixpantzinco
in itla^omahuizconetzin toTecuiyo lESV CHRISTO. In axcan
cenca totech monequi techmopalehuiliz, topan motlahtolti-
tzinoz ixpantzinco in imahuiztlagoconetzin, inic techmoma-
quiliz iteotequaltiayatzin, iteoteyectiayatzin’'* gracia: ipampa
in ma tictoyectenehuilican, ma tictomahuiztililican, ica in
mahuiztlahtolli yc oquimomahuiztlahpalhuico in itla^opil-
lotzin toTecuiyo Dios Angel. Aue Maria.
NOTES
1. Information is from Warner 1976, chapter 6; Langlinais
1967:971-975. The apocryphal Assumption gospels are reprinted in
James (1953:194-227). The argument based on the absence of a shrine
is made, for example, by Saint Antoninus in the fifteenth century,
citing Saint Bernard: if Mary’s body were on earth it would be hon¬
ored, not unknown (1959:v.4:1248). The Franciscan mystic Ubertino
da Casale links the Feast of the Assumption with the astrologists’
mid-August sign of Virgo (1485:bk.4:ch.40).
2. Now Ciudad Guzman, Jalisco, south of Guadalajara
(Horcasitas 1974:445).
3. These were small chapels located at the corners of church
atriums, or courtyards, and used as processional stations.
4. For example, a painting of the Virgin’s death by Giotto shows
her already dead, with Christ holding her baby-like soul (in the
Gemaldegalerie, Berlin).
5. At Ephesus, according to one tradition, where John’s pres¬
ence is documented. Ephesus competed with Jerusalem as the site of
Mary’s death (Warner 1976:87-88), but this and other Nahuatl texts,
when they specify a location, place the event in Jerusalem, with the
burial in the valley of Josaphat (Sahagtln 1993b:249; Santoral en
mexicano n.d.:71 v; see text 7.2). Anunciacion (1577) gives no location.
6. Pedro de la Vega (1569:335v-336r) is an exception in that he
comments at length on the dubious nature of the written sources on the
Assumption and does not mention Dionysius.
7. Rivadeneira (1669:63) considers Dionysius’s visit one of the
arguments for the Virgin having died at a later age, 71 in his calcula¬
tion, as Paul did not come to Athens until the year 52.
8. In the Vulgate: Educ de custodia animam meam ut confiteatur
nomini tuo; Me exspectant justi donee retribuas mihi (Psalm 141:8).
9. In the Vulgate: Quemadmodum desiderat cervus ad fontes
aquarum, Ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus. Fuerunt mihi lacrymae
meae panes die ac nocte, Dum dicitur mihi quotidie: Ubi est Deus
tuus? (Psalm 41:2, 4).
10. Read Qan ixquich.
11. Read Inic.
12. Read Inic.
13. Read Mic.
14. Read quimottiliznequi.
15. Read Dionisio.
16. Read quimottilitiuh.
17. Read huel iyollo.
18. Read oceequintin.
19. Read quimottilizque.
20. Read ixpantzinco.
21. Possibly to be read inin ye.
for us that she help us, that she speak for us before her
honored and precious child, so that he will give us his
sacred instrument for making people good, his sacred instru¬
ment for making people proper, grace. Therefore let us
praise her, let us honor her with the honored words with
which our lord God’s precious noble, the angel, came to greet
her honorably. Hail Mary.
22. Read tlatlacolli.
23. Read ypeuheayo.
24. Read ye. On the phrase quen oc ye, see Simeon (1977:422).
25. Read ipan.
26. Read in angeLotin.
27. Read yn eilhuitica.
28. Read in apostolome.
29. Read oquimottili.
30. Read quimopaccaehehuililizque.
31. This is a reverential, applicative form of the verb pehualtia,
with third-person-plural object and the directional prefix on-. Christ
begins the song in respect to them, the others present.
32. noyollia was probably intended here. The word -yolia is
obligatorily possessed.
33. Read quicuicaehuilique.
34. Unidentified and untranslated. It could be an abbreviation
for “antiphon.”
35. The scribe here left space for a number but did not write it in.
36. I am unable to translate the phrase cenca toztique. Toztli is a
yellow-headed parrot (see Sahagtin 1950-82:bk. 11:22-23); toztic (plu¬
ral toztiqueh) could mean “like a yellow-headed parrot.” Scenes of the
Assumption typically show small winged angels surrounding a re¬
splendent Mary. Samuel Y. Edgerton has suggested (personal
communication, 1998) that Nahua observers might think those angels
resembled a group of parrots. Manuel Aguilar notes that parrots would
be consistent with Nahua views of heaven or paradise as a place of
exuberant vegetation and precious birds (personal communication,
1998). However, to describe the angels as “very much like yellow¬
headed parrots” the author would much more likely use a construction
with iuhquin or macazan rather than the preterite verb form toztiqueh.
37. Read in amehuantin.
38. Stafford Poole (personal communication. 1998) suggests
interpreting p.mo as psalmo. Thema appears spelled out later in the
text; I have taken tha here as an abbreviation for thema but that is
uncertain.
39. That is, perhaps, all these words here will be said and not the
“many other things.” However, the translation that follows is only of
the first Latin passage. The author may be referring to his inability to
translate the second, or may simply have omitted it.
40. Usually the palm-bearing angel is not identified by name
(Rivadeneira 1669:614; Voragine 1993:v.2:78). However, Vega
(1569:338r) speculates that it must have been Gabriel, “to whom
[Mary’s] protection was especially commended.”
41. Molina defines quauhtomatl as bellota, o cosa semejante
(1970:87v).

42. Spanish word is used here.
43. That is, he is a virgin.
44. I have not identified the Marian handbook or sermonary
mentioned here in the Nahuatl, which was probably cited in the Span¬
ish original as the source for the Latin phrase. The phrase seems to be
a quotation from an account of Dionysius’s visit to Mary; this could
be Paul speaking to Dionysius. The word videnbis should be spelled
videbis.
45. This passage is difficult to decipher. Stafford Poole (per¬
sonal communication, 1998) suggests the following: the abbreviation
p.mo may, again, stand forpsalmo; der may be.de or a mistranscribed
number; secunda could refer to that number or to the second part of
the psalm; the remainder could refer to the exaltata est antiphon quoted
in the text further on.
46. On this antiphon see chapter 2, note 5. Saint Antoninus
explains that Mary illuminates sinners as the moon lights the night,
illuminates the just and pious as the sun lights the day, and is terrible
to demons (1959;v.4:1247). For Vega (1569:341v), she is beautiful
as the moon m reflecting celestial light, chosen as the sun in that the
Sun of Righteousness chose her as his mother, and terrible because
“her virtues weighed more before God than the merits of all the other
saints.”
47. From the Latin antiphon: Exaltata est sancta del genitrix
super choros angelorum ad celestia regna (Breviarium Romanum
1553; Breviarium Romanum 1961:v.2:826; Psalterium 1584:249r;
CANTUS; A Database for Gregorian Chant).
48. That is, the Flail Mary.
49. Christ’s dying words in Luke 23:46, in maims tuas com-
mendo spiritum meum. Vega (1569:339r) also uses them for Mary.
50. From the (pre-Tridentine) Latin antiphon for the Assump¬
tion, Veni electa mea et ponam in te thronum meum (Antoninus
1959:v.4:1241; Vega 1569:338v; Voragine 1993:v.2:79; CANTUS:
A Database for Gregorian Chant).
51. From Psalm 108:1, Paratum Domine cor meum, paratum
cor meum (Vega 1569:338v; Voragine 1993:v.2:79).
52. Translation from Voragine (1993:v.2:79-80). The text is
Wisdom 3:13, quae nescivit thorum in delicto, [Habebit fructum in
respectione animarum sanctarumj', Vega (1569:338v) also uses it in
this context, having it sung by the angels.
53. From the Magnificat, Ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent
omnes generationes [ Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est: Et sanc¬
tum nomen eiusj (Luke 1:48-49).
54. The source probably had the Latin text from Song of Songs
4:8. See discussion of the Epazoyucan mural (plate 13).
55. Parallel text in Voragine is “Behold I come! In the head of
the book it is written of me that 1 should do thy will, O God, because
my spirit has rejoiced in thee, God my Savior,” based on Psalm 40:8
and Luke 1:47 (1993;v,2:80),
56. From the Latin antiphon, Virgo prudentissima quo
progrederis [quasi aurora valde rutilans?] (Breviarium Romanum
1553; Breviarium Romanum 1961 :v.2:826; Psalterium 1584:249r;
CANTUS: A Database for Gregorian Chant).
THE ASSUMPTION 11 3
57. From Song of Songs 8:5, Quce est ista [quce ascendit de
deserto, deliciis affluens, Innixa super dilectum suumj, used here in
Voragine (1993:v.2:80).
58. Latin antiphon for the Feast of the Assumption, Benedicta
filia tu a Domino quia per te fructum vitce communicavimus (Breviarium
Romanum 1961 :v.2:838; Psalterium 1584:247v; CANTUS; A
Database for Gregorian Chant). The final phrase in the Nahuatl, “you
maiden of Jerusalem,” is probably taken from the phrase “daughter
of Jerusalem” in the antiphon that follows the Benedicta filia
antiphon in the reformed breviary: Pulchra es et decora, filia Jerusa¬
lem, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata (Breviarium Romanum
1961:v.2:838),
59. I am grateful to Barry Sell for pointing out that itlatequistica-
huan should be read itlatenquixticahuan.
60. In this context the term refers to people who were persecuted
for their faith but not martyred.
61. The ruler’s gender is not specified; since most Nahua
tlahtohqueh, and all of them after the Conquest, were male, 1 use male
pronouns here,
62. This probably alludes to the cloud that concealed Mary’s
corpse from the Jews who wanted to seize it and burn it when the
apostles were bringing it out for burial. This is an ancient and standard
motif in the story (James 1924:213; Voragine 1993:v.2;81). If this
interpretation is correct, however, the reverential verb should have an
additional applicative suffix.
63. The verb here, tequitlaga, can refer either to the abandon¬
ment of a task or office or to the vigorous defense of some enterprise
(Molina 1970:105v; Simeon 1977:512).
64. Marginal notation (probably from Molina’s vocabulary)
reads: nite.quimiloa amortajar vestir.
65. Marginal notation (probably from Molina) reads: ni.cuilloa
[sic], inchirse de gusanos.
66. Abbreviation for notlagopilhuane ‘oh my precious children.’
67. Superscript above this word: celestialmete (from Molina).
68. This Latin passage appears also as a marginal notation a few
lines above this point.
69. My translation is based in part on versions of the hymns in
Hours of the Divine Office (1963;v, 1:975, 978).
70. Additional line as per Nebrija 1549:24r./The text is the same
in the reformed breviary (Breviarium Romanum 1961 ;v.2:840).
71. Additional text as per Nebrija 1549:24r. Tbe text is the same
in the reformed breviary (Breviarium Romanum 1961 ;v.2:840).
72. Read iuh mochihua.
73. Seraphim are not mentioned in the original hymn (Nebrija
1549: 25r); text here follows the Psalmodia (Sahagun 1993:252-
253).
74.1 thank Barry Sell (personal communication, 1998) for point¬
ing out to me that this form is the possessed version of instrumental
nouns (Carochi 1983:50r; Karttunen 1983:295).
75. The verb typically used to denote crowning means to place
flowers on someone’s head; the association would have been more
with ritual adornments than with insignia of rulership.
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 8
T he prayer or supplication was a named and recognized
genre in Nahuatl: tlatlatlauhtiliztli ‘asking for things.’
The lengthy prayers in Book Six of the Florentine Codex
(Sahagun 1950-82) illustrate the sophisticated, highly for¬
malized, and figurative discourse with which the Mexica elite
solicited favors from their divinities. Next to these, the prayers
of the basic Christian catechism seem short and simple, but
they were also called tlatlatlauhtiliztli', the term can apply to
any kind of entreaty. Christian Nahuas were exhorted to say
these prayers regularly and repeatedly. Entreaties to sacred
powers would remain a principal vector of Nahua religiosity:
native people’s preference for supplication over contrition
vexed the eighteenth-century parish priests studied by Taylor
(1996:50). Preceding chapters have included various prayers
associated explicitly with particular Marian festivals or events
in Mary’s life. This chapter presents a broader range of more
generalized prayers and prayer cycles.
Praying to Mary was, on the one hand, a devotional
exercise aimed at spiritual transcendance and fulfillment, the
development of an empathic identification with her and,
through her, with God. On the other hand, it had the more
pragmatic end of “asking for things,” of enlisting Mary’s help
by plying her with praise and provoking her inexhaustible
pity. Because prayers speak in the first person and directly to
Mary, they model—more overtly than homiletic discourses—
how Christian Nahuas were to interact with this principal
saint. They shift voice from the “you” of sermons and didac¬
tic narratives to the “P’ of the supplicant. It is an ambivalent
“I,” for these texts are composed by certain (literate, edu¬
cated, pious) individuals, Nahuas and/or priests, who aim
to place their words not only into the ears but also into the
mouths of Nahua others. They aim to divert Nahua dialogue
with the sacred into channels analogous to those established
by centuries of European devotional discourse.
Compassionate rather than capricious, Mary was more
inclined than preconquest divinities to want to help her
devotees, but unlike her predecessors she had no power in
her own right and achieved her ends solely through her
influence on her devoted and divine son. Mary’s role as advo¬
cate, although it did not have a direct precedent in Nahua
religion, did have parallels in colonial life. The verb phrase
assigned to intercession was tepan tlahtoa ‘to speak for some¬
one’ (literally ‘to say things on someone’); someone who does
Prayers
this is a tepan tlahtoh. These terms were applied to the activi¬
ties of lawyers. Although courts existed before the conquest,
the role of attorney may not have existed as such before the
founding of the colonial courts, which were frequented by
Nahua plaintiffs.' Offner, in his analysis of the court system in
preconquest Texcoco (1983:253), finds no clear evidence
of lawyers in those courts, though he believes it is possible
that some sort of advocate existed. The tepan tlahtoh de¬
scribed in the Florentine Codex catalog of occupational
specialists does, as Offner notes, seem to possess postconquest
characteristics (Sahagun 1950-82:bk.10:32). Interestingly,
the tepan tlahtoh is included in a chapter on magicians; if
this placement was intentional it may suggest that Nahuas
ascribed superhuman abilities to lawyers who could success¬
fully manipulate the colonial legal system, just as they did to
their celestial advocate, Mary.
In her role as mediator, Mary may have helped to support
and legitimate Spanish colonial hegemony. According to
Taylor (1996:292), Spanish rule
succeeded largely because the elaborate hier¬
archy of colonial judges was, in the end, believed
to be Just or at least was widely accepted as a way
to resolve disputes. Village Indians in colonial
Mexico were inclined to take their grievances
over land and taxes to the courts, to work through
legal intermediaries, and to appeal to a higher
authority within the colonial structure, if the ver¬
dict went against them. Mary, too, was an
intermediary who would intercede with higher
authorities on behalf of the believer. Believing
in her was like having a friend in high places.
She gave country people a stake in the colonial
system. Ritually, the Virgin was approached as
the colonial governors were—humbly, hat in
hand. One had to trust in the Virgin and give her
time, just as one had to accept that justice worked
slowly in the colonial courts.
Thus, the cult of Mary encouraged native people “not to take
matters into your own hands, not to right your own wrongs”
(Taylor 1996:293). In the central Nahua area, local Marian
cults do not seem to have gone through the process of
116 BEFORE GUADALUPE
autonomization and appropriation by local elites that Megged
(1996:133) describes for Chiapas, a process that began in the
1580s and culminated in the Tzeltal revolt of 1712, which
centered around a Virgin cult at Cancuc (Gosner 1992)3 It
was not until near the end of the colonial period that the
potential of Marian devotion—in this case specifically to
Our Lady of Guadalupe—to legitimate political resistance
and rebellion began to be fully realized in Central Mexico
(Taylor 1996:293-295, 299),
Outside of the courts, the “speak for” formula appears
frequently in wills, where, as in Spain, the testators not only
plead for the intercession of Mary or, less often, another saint
on behalf of their souls (a practice more common in the seven¬
teenth than the sixteenth century) but also sometimes
designate some trusted person to “speak for” them as executor
1. Fray Pedro de Gante, Doctrina cristiana en lengua mexicana, 1553
The first works printed in Nahuatl were catechisms contain¬
ing the elements of Christian doctrine, and the first Christian
teachings Nahuas learned were the basic prayers and declara¬
tions of the catechism: the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the
sign of the cross, the Apostle’s Creed, and the Salve Regina.
These basic elements of doctrine were also disseminated
through pictorial catechisms. The two Marian prayers were,
thus, ubiquitous in Nahua Christianity and familiar even to
those Nahuas who had only the most rudimentary Christian
education. Some people knew them in both Nahuatl and
Latin. Couples were examined on their knowledge of the cat¬
echism before marriage. Repeated praying of the Our Father
and Hail Mary was also a common penance assigned to native
people, as to Old World Christians, by their confessors
(Baustista 1600:5v),
Motolinia describes how the early Franciscans set
Nahuatl translations of these texts, along with the Ten Com¬
mandments, to a graceful plainsong and taught Nahuas to
sing them. This approach was so popular “that wherever they
went, by day or night, everywhere one heard them singing
and saying all the Christian doctrine, at which the Spaniards
marveled greatly” (Motolinia 1979:25). The Augustinian
chronicler Juan de Grijalva recounts how people assembled
at night and at dawn in each neighborhood to sing the Our
Father, Creed, Hail Mary, and Salve Regina; at prime^ the
boys gathered to sing the Hail Mary (1624:72r). One should
not conclude from these enthusiastic reports that all Nahuas
could rattle off their prayers from memory, but then, neither
could all Spaniards: rural visionaries of the fifteenth and six¬
teenth centuries tended to know the Hail Mary and the Our
Father, but little else (Christian 198la: 13; Clendinnen
1987:234, 240). The parish priests who reported to Archbishop
Montufar in 1570, in connection with the visita^' of Juan de
Ovando, seem, on the whole, to be satisfied with their Nahua
of their earthly estate (Cline 1986; Cline and Leon-Portilla 1984;
Eire 1995:36, 68-71; Lockhart 1992:251; Wood 1991:264-
265). It was also used in other contexts where a person was
unable to present his or her wishes directly. In 1560 members
of the town council of Huexotzingo petitioned Philip II for
relief from their burden of tribute. They lamented Cortes’s
failure to present their case to the king and asked, “Who then
will speak for us?” (Anderson et al. 1976:186-187). Carroll
(1986:28-31) correlates the cult of Mary and other mediating
saints with political systems characterized by a large gap be¬
tween ruler and ruled, mediated by patron-client relationships.
For colonial Nahuas, dependent on priests, encomenderos,
and colonial officials to represent their interests before the
distant ruler of Spain, mediation took on a political signifi¬
cance it did not have even in the hierarchical Aztec empire.
charges’ knowledge of the basic catechism, even at consider¬
able distances from Mexico City (Garcia Pimentel 1897).
But in Montufar’s own report, in which he advocates tithing
native communities so that more priests may be engaged to
indoctrinate them, he complains that many of those who know
the prayers and articles of faith know them “like parrots,”
without true understanding; when questioned closely, they
respond with “a thousand heresies” (Garcia Pimentel
1897:426).
The Hail Mary or Ave Maria is the most popular prayer
to Mary. Its early form, a composite of Gabriel’s greeting at
the Annunciation (“Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with
you; blessed are you among women,” Luke 1:28) and
Elizabeth’s at the Visitation (“blessed is the fruit of your
womb,” Luke 1:42), dates to the sixth or seventh century.
The prayer came to be widely used in the Western Church
during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, along with the
general flowering of Marian devotion at that time, and at the
beginning of the thirteenth it joined the Our Father and the
Creed as something all the faithful were exhorted to know.
Franciscan and Dominican preachers propagated it as a poor
person’s psalter, with which the unlettered masses could pray
to Mary, repeating the prayer 150 times to parallel the 150
Psalms. The name “Jesus” was added to the end of the prayer
over the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The petition
added to the greetings took its full and final form, “pray for
us sinners now and at the hour of our death,” only in the
Tridentine reformed breviary of 1568 (Graef 1963-65:v. 1:230-
231; Warner 1976:306; Winston-Allen 1997:xi, 2, 14). Many
medieval devotees, both real and legendary, had a special
affection for the Hail Mary, and friars brought this devotion
across the Atlantic. Mendieta tells of his fellow Franciscan
Juan de Bejar, who recited the Hail Mary every time he saw an
image of the Virgin, even many times in one hour (1980:705).

In his sermon for the Feast of the Expectation, Sahagun
explains that Elizabeth’s greeting is an example of “how we
will praise the noblewoman every day with her praise, her
greeting.” He explains that the first part of the Hail Mary is
the words of the angel, the second part is the words of Saint
Elizabeth, and the third is the establishment of our mother
Holy Church. He concludes, “This prayer is very good. Every
day it is necessary that we pray to our mother, when the Hail
Mary is rung” (Sahagun 1563:94v).
The Salve Regina originated in the late eleventh or
early twelfth century and was particularly favored by the
Cistercian and Dominican orders. For Graef (1963-
65:v.l:229), it “expresses to perfection medieval men’s atti¬
tude to Mary.” In New Spain the Dominicans sang it in their
churches on Saturdays, and native people came to listen
with lighted candles that they purchased especially for
this purpose (Davila Padilla 1955:81). In the Augustinian
churches, the indigenous cantors sang the Salve at five o’clock
on Saturdays with the entire town in attendance (Grijalva
1624:72v).
* #
[79v] Niman tictotlapalhuizqwe I totlaqonatzin in seta Maria
yn ica ytetlapaloliz sant Gabriel yehuatl in Aue maria gratia
plena dns tecu. Benedicta tu in mulieribus'. Et benedictus
fructMJ vetris tui Jesus. Seta Maria virgo mater dei: ora
pro nobis peccatoribus. Amen, f Jnin latin tlatolli camo
ticcaqui/ ma tiquitocan totlatolpan. [80r] MA ximopaq’ltitie
seta Mariae timotemiltitica yn gracia. Motlatzinco moyetztica
yn tlatohuani Dios. Ynic tiyectenehualoni tiq’nmopana-
huilia yn yxq’chtin cihua. Yhua ceca yectenehualoni in
motla50tlaaq’lloxillantzin Jesus. O seta Mariae cenquizca
ychpochtle/ in tinatzin dios. Ma topan ximotlatolti in
titlatlacohuanime. ma yuh mochihua.
[81r] 1 Ynic tictotlapalhuizque yn totlagonatzi seta Maria
yehuatl tiquitozque/ yn itepalehuiliztlatlauhtilocatzin
tictolhuilizque.
SAlue regina: mater mie. Uita dulcedo: & spes nostxa salue.
Ad te clamamus exules filij Eue. Ad te suspiramus gementes
& flentes in hac lachrimarum valle. Eya ergo aduocata
nostra-, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos conuerte Et
Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui nobis post hoc exiliu
Ostende. O clemens. O pia. O dulcis virgo Maria. Ora pro
nobis seta dei genitrix. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus
xpi. Amen.
'll Jnic huel ticcaquizqwe totlatolpan monequi tiquitozque.
MA ximopaquiltitia cihuapille tonatzine tetlaocolianie
teyollalianie tonechixcayelliztzine ma ximopaquilti [81v] tia.
Timitzontotzatzililia yn tipilhuan Eua. Jn tihualtotoco-
qwe timitzontel9i9ihuililia: in titlaocoxtinemi yn tichoca-
tinemi I nica yxtlahuaca chocohuaya. Totepantlatocatzine
PRAYERS 11 7
In his doctrina (see text 4.3), fray Pedro de Gante
presents two slightly different versions of the Hail Mary
and Salve Regina prayers, both times in the context of a
dialogue between teacher and student. The versions below
are his second set, from a section of the book called
doctrina tepiton ‘little doctrine.’^ Gante first presents the
Latin text, and then the teacher translates it into “our words.”
Both prayers refer to Christ as the fruit of Mary’s womb.
Gante’s Nahuatl actually says “your-precious-fruit-womb”
{motlagotlaaquilloxillantzin), as if “womb” were the main
term modified by the other morphemes, though surely even a
slightly confused translator intended that Jesus be understood
as the fruit. This phrasing directs the praise toward Mary’s
womb rather than toward Christ.
The last part of the Salve Regina text, beginning with ora
pro nobis, is not part of the Salve proper but a separate prayer
appended to it (Stafford Poole, personal communication,
1998). It tends to be included in the Nahuatl versions (e.g.,
Gante’s other version, Juan de la Anunciacion’s version be¬
low; Domingo de la Anunciacion 1565:72v; Sahagun 1993b:25),
[79v] Then we will greet our precious mother. Saint Mary,
with Saint Gabriel’s greeting, which is: Hail Mary, full of
grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,
virgin, mother of God, pray for us sinners. Amen, f You''
do not understand these Latin words. Let us say it in our
words. [80r] May you be joyful, oh Saint Mary, you are full
of grace. The ruler, God, is with you. You are the most praise¬
worthy of all women. And very praiseworthy is your womb
of precious fruit, Jesus. Oh Saint Mary, oh perfect maiden,
you are the mother of God. May you speak for us sinners.
May it so be done.
[81r] 1 So that we may greet our precious mother. Saint
Mary, what we will say is the helpful prayer to her. We will say
to her:
Hail, Queen, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our
hope, hail. To you we exiled children of Eve call out. To you we
sigh, groaning and weeping in this vale of tears. Oh our advo¬
cate, turn those merciful eyes of yours on us. And after this exile
show us Jesus, the blessed fruit of your womb. Oh merciful one,
oh pious one, oh sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, holy mother of
God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Amen.
f So that we can understand it, it is necessary that we say it in
our words.
May you be joyful, oh noblewoman, oh our mother, oh com¬
passionate one, oh consoling one, oh our hope, may you be
joyful. [81v] We cry out to you, we children of Eve, we who
were exiled. We sigh to you, we go about sad, we go about
118 BEFORE GUADALUPE
ma mopaltzinco xitechhualmocnoyttili. Auh yn iquac
yn oontzonq’z yn tlalticpac tonemiliz ma titechhual-
mottitiliz yn motla^otlaaq’lloxillantzin Jesu xpo. Yyo
tetlaocolianie. Yyo teycnoyttanie. Yyo cenq’zcaqualli
ychpochtle dios ynantzine: ma topan ximotlatolti ynic
huel ticmacehuazque yn ilhuicac papaquiliztli. Ma yuh
mochihua.
2. Fray Juan de la Anunciacion, Doctrina Christiana may cumplida, 1575
In addition to his Sermonario, the Augustinian Anunciacion
published a bilingual catechism in 1575. Comparison of his
Hail Mary and Salve Regina with Gante’s demonstrates that
even for the most basic prayers there was no standardized
translation, as different Nahuatl versions differ slightly in
wording. Anunciacion includes two versions of each prayer,
one as below and a second with explanations of each line.
Published after the conclusion of the Council of Trent,
Anunciacidn’s Hail Mary includes the closing passage from
the reformed breviary. His versions of the prayers reverse the
morphemes in the “womb-fruit” construction, making it clear
that it is the fruit that is being praised.'' Anunciacion (236)
recommends praying the Hail Mary five times daily at the
ringing of the Angelus, one for each of the joyful mysteries (of
the rosary, see text 4, below). He declares that whoever does
this will receive many pardons for sin. The notion that pray¬
ing to Mary automatically brought one divine favors was a
popular but heterodox belief, attacked by Protestants and out
of favor in the reformed Catholic Church. In the John Carter
^ *
[232] Sancta Mariae, ma ximopaqw/ltitie, yn timotemilti-
tica yn gracia. Motlantzinco moyetztica yn tlatoani Dios. Ynic
cecatiyecteneualoni; tiquimmopanauilia yn ixqwichtin ciua.
Yua ceca yecteneualoni ym moxillantlaaquilotzin lesu christo.
Yyo sancta Mariae, ychpuchtle Dios ynantzine. Ma topan
ximotlatolti [233] yn titlatlacoanime. Yn axcan auh no yquac
ye ontzonquigaznequi tlaltipac tonemiliz. Ma ymmochiua.*
[236] Cihuapille ma ximopaquiltitie yn tinantzin tetlaoco¬
lianie, nemilizahuiacayoe (vida suaue) tonechixcayeli-
tzine, ma ximopaquiltitie timitzontotzatzililia yn tipilhuan
Eua, yn tiualtotocoque, yn nican yxtlauacan chocoay
an tichocatinemi, mouicpatzinco tonelciciuhtinemi, yyo
totepantlatocatzine ma cuel ye xitechualmocnoyttili,
auh yn iquac ye otzonquiz yn tlalticpac tonemiliz, ma titech-
ualmottitiliz yn cenca yecteneualoni ym moxillantlaaqui¬
lotzin lesu Christo. Yyo ycnohuacatzintle, Yyo tetlaocolianie.
[237] Yyo tzopelicatzintle, Sancta Mariae muchipa vel nelli
weeping here on the plain, in the place of weeping. Oh our
advocate, may you, by your will, have pity on us! And when
our life on earth has come to an end, may you show us your
womb of precious fruit, Jesus Christ. Oh! Oh compassionate
one! Oh! Oh pitying one! Oh! Oh utterly good maiden, oh
mother of God, may you speak for us so that we we will be
able to merit joyfulness in heaven. May it so be done.
Brown Library’s copy of Anunciacion’s book a reader more
scrupulous than Anunciacion crossed out this statement in
both the Spanish and Nahuatl columns.
Nahuatl versions of both prayers translate the initial word
of greeting, Ave or Salve, with an exhortation that Mary be
joyful. In the case of the Hail Mary, the Nahuatl translation
actually is closer to Luke’s original Greek than is the Latin of
Jerome’s Vulgate Bible: the Greek text had the word chaire,
which literally means “rejoice” but which was a conventional
term of greeting, equivalent in function to Latin ave (Brown
1993:321). This is not, however, a conventional Nahuatl greet¬
ing (see text 3.4). The Spanish word gracia is used in these
and other translations of the Hail Mary. Friars evidently found
no Nahuatl equivalent adequate for this concept. Luke’s Greek
here was kecharitomene ‘oh favored one,’ which could readily
have been conveyed into Nahuatl, but both the notion of
grace and the assertion that Mary was filled with it were es¬
sential to interpretations of the passage as it had passsed into
Latin (Brown 1993:325-326).
[232] Oh Saint Mary, may you be joyful, you are full of
grace. The ruler, God, is with you. You are the most praise¬
worthy of all women. And very praiseworthy is the fruit of
your womb, Jesus Christ. Oh! Oh Saint Mary, oh maiden,
oh mother of God, may you speak for [233] us sinners now
and when our life on earth is about to come to an end. May
it so be done.
[236] Oh noblewoman, may you be joyful, you who are a
mother, oh compassionate one, oh sweetness of life {sweet
life), oh our hope! May you be joyful! We cry out to you, we
children of Eve, we who were exiled. Here on the plain, in the
place of weeping, we go about weeping, toward you we
go about sighing. Oh! Oh our advocate, let it be! Have pity on
us! And when our life on earth has come to an end, may you
show us the very praiseworthy one, the fruit of your womb,
Jesus Christ. Oh! Oh merciful one! Oh! Oh compassionate
one! [237] Oh! Oh sweet one, oh Saint Mary, oh forever

ychpuchtle, Dios ynantzine. Ma topampa ximotlatlatlauhtili.
Ynic tiquicnopilhuizque yn itlacemitoltzin in totecuiyo lesu
Christo. Ma ymmochiua.''
3. Fray Pedro de Gante, Doctrina Christiana en lengua mexicana, 1553
Even in a basic doctrinal handbook such as Gante’s, the
Hail Mary and the Salve Regina were not the only prayers
to the Virgin. One section of this doctrina instructs the
novice Christian about the obligation to attend mass and
^ *
[102v] I Yoracion sancta Maria,
O Cenquizcacihuapillatohuanie o seta Mariae ychpochtle
yn titlachihualtzin/ in ticenquizcaichpochtzin dios
tetatzin in titla9onantzin yn icel in dios ypiltzl Jesu xpo;
in tiyecnemaetzin in dios spu sancto nimitznotlatlauh-
tilia [103r] yn ticenquizcayectli tichipahuac titlachihual¬
tzin yn to. dios in ixquich yhueli yn oquimonequiltitzino
yn motla^oyolliatzin yn quimacoquixtilitzino, yn inpa yn
ixquichtin in itlagohuan yn ilhuicatl iytic: ynic huel
ytlantzinco mitzmotlalilitzino, yehica yn cenca mitzmotla-
90tilia, Auh in axcan yn nehuatl y ceca nitlatlacohuanipol,
nimitznotlatlauhtilia yn ica mocenquizcatetlaocoliliz-
tzin ma mopaltzinco xinechmotlaocolilitzino. Yhuan yn
ixquichtin in nocnihuan; yn nohuayolqwe ma mopaltzinco
xitechmomaq’xtilitzino, yn inhuiepa in toyaohua inic
amo techiztlacahuizqwe yn ica tlatlacolli, ma xitechmo-
tlatlauhtilili yn to. d. ynic techmotlaocoliliz, Aue maria.
K Ma ximopaquiltitie yn titla^oychpochpiltzin dios
tetatzin.
1 Ma ximopaq’ltitie yn titla9omahuiznantzin dios
tepiltzin.
I Ma ximopaquiltitie in titla9onemactzin dios spiritu
sancto.
1 Ma ximopaquiltitie yn timahuizteo[103v]caltzin yn
sanctissima Trinidad. Pater noster. Aue maria.
^ *
Gante also provides Mary’s Nahua devotees with a prayer
cycle called the corona or crown of Mary. Plate 15 shows the
first page of this text, with its woodcut of Mary in Woman of
the Apocalypse iconography, holding the infant Christ.'“This
text is preceded in the volume by a longer corona cycle for
Christ (123r-128v). The John Carter Brown Library doctrina
contains cognates of both cycles, likely adapted from Gante’s
book (n.d.:4r-7v, 98v-99v). With its repeated Hail Marys and
Our Fathers, as well as its promise of indulgences, the corona
PRAYERS 119
really a true maiden, oh mother of God, may you pray for us so
that we may obtain the promises of our lord Jesus Christ, May
it so be done.
presents a number of model prayers to be uttered during
the visit to church, including this prayer to Mary. Two
Hail Marys and one Our Father are incorporated into the
prayer.
[102v] ‘I Saint Mary’s oration.
Oh, oh perfect noblewoman and ruler, oh Saint Mary, oh
maiden, you are the creation, you are the perfect daughter
of God the father. You are the precious mother of God’s
only child, Jesus Christ. You are the proper wife of God the
Holy Spirit. I pray to you, [103r] you who are perfectly
proper, you who are pure, you who are the creation of our
lord God, the all-powerful. He wanted your precious spirit
for himself, he raised it above all his precious ones in
heaven. So he placed you right beside him, because he
loves you dearly. And now 1, I who am a very big sinner, 1
beseech you, with your perfect compassion, may you, by
your will, have compassion for me, and all my friends, my
relatives. May you, by your will, rescue us from our en¬
emies, so that they do not deceive us with sin. May you
pray for us to our lord God so that he will have compassion
for us. Hail Mary.
May you be joyful, you who are the precious daughter of
God the father.
May you be Joyful, you who are the precious and honored
mother of God the child.
May you be joyful, you who are the precious wife of God the
Holy Spirit.
May you be joyful, you who are the honored temple of[103v]
the Most Holy Trinity. Our Father. Hail Mary.
resembles the rosary (text 4, below) but is shorter. “Crown”
was one of the terms in use for repetitive prayer cycles before
the rosary took form, and there were many different prayers
circulating with this title (Winston-Allen 1997:15). Winston-
Alien (personal communication, 1998) observes that this
particular corona seems to be related to the gaudia devo¬
tions, a type of hymn to Mary. As with the rosary, beads may
have been used to keep track of the repeated prayers in this
corona (Mulhare and Sell 2000).
120 BEFORE GUADALUPE
[128v] KYn icol-onatzin seta maria:
Yn icquac tiemopohuiliz, achtopa cruztica timomachiyotiz
niman tiquitoz yn Credo ycuepca yn neltoconi/ niman
totocompehualtiz" tiquitoz.
K Ma ximopaq’ltitia yn ticenq’zcatlapanahuicatlamatca-
tzintli yn tisancta Maria, i. Pater noster/ matlactetl. Aue marias.
<1 Ma ximopaq’ltitia yn ticenquizcatlapanahuicaichpoch-
tzintli in [129r] tiseta Maria, i. Pater noster. x. Aue.
f Ma ximopaquiltitia yn ticenquizcatlapanahuicamoc-
nomatcatzintli yn tisancta Maria, i. Pater noster. x. Aue.
I Ma ximopaquiltitia in ticenq’zcatlapanahuicatetla90-
tlacatzintli yn tisancta maria, i. Pater noster. x. Aue ma.
1 Ma ximopaquiltitia yn ticenquizcatlapanahuicachipa-
huacatlaneltocacatzintli yn tisancta Maria, i. Pater noster.
X. Aue maria.
1 Ma ximopaquiltitia yn ticenquizcatlapanahuicayollo-
po9onaliztlalnamiquiliztzintli yn tisancta Maria, i. Pater
noster. x. Aue maria.
I Ma ximopaquiltitia yn ticenquizcatlapanahuicatetla-
amatcatzintli yn tisancta Maria, i. Pater noster. x. Aue.
I Ma ximopaquiltitia yn ticenq’zcatlapanahuicaneltilica-
tzintli in tiseta Maria, i. Pater noster. iii. Aue.
f Ma ximopaquiltitia in ticenq’zcatlapanahuicayoliliztica-
motolinicatzintli yn tisancta Maria. Salue regina.
'1 Ma ximopaquiltitia yn ticenquizca [129v] tlapanahuica-
teicnoittacatetlaocolicatzintli yn tisancta Maria, mixpatzinco
nicnohufenmanilia yn moxochicoronatzin ma mopaltzinco
xinechtlatlauhtililitzino in motlaqoconetzin Jesu xpo, ynic
nechmomaquiliz in igraciatzin ynic huel nicnonemiliztiz in
iteotenahuatiltzin ynic huel nechmohuiquiliz in ichantzinco
yn ilhuicac. Amen.
K Ynin aquin quitoz yn icoronatzin yn seta Maria ca cenca
miyec q’macehuaz q’nextiz indulgecias; yehuatl I tetlatlacol-
popololiztli yntla mocemixnahauti:
As death in a properly confessed and contrite state facili¬
tated entry to heaven, spiritual attention at this time was cru¬
cial and catechistic books often contained a guide for the
dying. With death an all too frequent visitor in Nahua homes,
friars thus strove to ensure that the victims of epidemics and
exploitation might at least find refuge in heaven. Gante de¬
voted a section of his doctrina to the preparation of the sick
for death (151r-158v). Fray Martin de Leon’s 1611 Camino
del cielo contains a 28-page, bilingual (Spanish-Nahuatl) arte
de bien morir, a “grammar” for a good death (141r-154v).
These are Mexican examples of the European Ars moriendi
genre, which enjoyed great popularity in sixteenth-century
Spain (Eire 1995:24-29). The written constitutions of some
native religious confraternities specified that certain mem¬
bers would be in charge of helping dying cofrades to die well
(Gruzinski 1990:206).
[128v] K The crown of Saint Mary:
When you will count it, first you will sign yourself with
the cross, then you will say the translation of the Creed, the
things that are to be believed. Then you will begin it. You
will say:
'll May you be joyful, you who are a supremely prudent one,
you. Saint Mary. One Our Father, ten Hail Marys,
f May you be joyful, you who are a supreme maiden, [ 129r]
you. Saint Mary. One Our Father, ten Hail Marys.
I May you be joyful, you who are a supremely humble one,
you. Saint Mary. One Our Father, ten Hail Marys.
I May you be joyful, you who are a supremely loving one,
you. Saint Mary. One Our Father, ten Hail Marys.
I May you be joyful, you who are a supremely pure believer,
you. Saint Mary. One Our Father, ten Hail Marys.
^ May you be joyful, you who are a supreme remembrance
of anger,you. Saint Mary. One Our Father, ten Hail
Marys.
f May you be joyful, you who are a supremely obedient one,
you. Saint Mary. One Our Father, ten Hail Marys,
f May you be joyful, you who are a supremely true one, you.
Saint Mary. One Our Father, three Hail Marys,
f May you be joyful, you who are supremely afflicted in life,
you. Saint Mary. Salve Regina.
1 May you be joyful, you who are supremely [129v] pitying
and compassionate, you. Saint Mary. I lay your crown of
flowers before you as an offering. May you, by your will, pray
for me to your precious child, Jesus Christ, so that he will give
me his grace, so that I will be able to live according to his
sacred commands, so that he may carry me to his home in
heaven. Amen.
I Whoever will say the crown of Saint Mary will merit and
obtain a great many indulgences, which are pardons for sins,
if he or she asserts it with resolve.
* ^
Mary’s intercession at the time of death was so sought-
after that a request for it was enshrined in the post-Tridentine
Hail Mary, as seen above. She could temper God’s wrath in
judging the soul, confound the demons who were believed to
lurk about the deathbed, and demand for her devotees a place
in heaven. As Warner (1976:317-318) states, “by far her great¬
est function in the Catholic scheme of salvation is to reprieve
the sufferings of sinners after death.” Ideally, a priest would
be on the scene to administer the last rites and pray for the
person’s soul, but since death found most Nahuas without a
priest in attendance, these texts in Nahuatl provided guid¬
ance for the dying and those who cared for them.
Gante provides the following prayer for the sick or dying
person to say to Mary. Leon includes a shorter prayer to Mary,
in which the dying person asks her to seek Christ’s compas¬
sion and pardon on his or her behalf (161 l:149r).

[154v] SAncta Mariae dios ynantzine tetlaocolilliznatzintle
ma mopaltzin[155r]co xinechmomaq’xtilitzino yn inhuicpa
noyaohua in teyztlacahuani, ma mopaltzinco xicmopalehuili
xicmomaq’xtilitzino yn noyollia naniman yn nomiq’z ypa.
I O cenquizcatlapanahuiateycnoyttanie macamo xinechmo-
tlalcahuilitzino. f O cenquizcaahuiacatzopellicaychpoch-
tzintle ma mopaltzinco nicnopaccayttiliz yn motla§oconetzin
yn t5. Jesu xpo, ma nicpaccacaquiz yn intzatziliztzin Angelome,
inic quimonochilizque in noyollia naniman quimolhuilizqwe.
Xihualmohuica xihualmoquixti yn titeyollitiani in titlama-
quixtiltzin in to, Jesu xpo, totlan ximopapaquiltiqui.
I O sancta Mariae ca ye axca ca ye oncan ymoneq’yan yn
tinechmotlaocoliliz tinechmopalehuiliz ynic amo nechtoli-
nizque noyaohuan.
'll Auh yn amehuantzitzin in amixquichtin yn amitla^ohua
to. dios; ma amopaltzinco xinechmopalehuilican yn nino-
tolinia in nitlatlacohuani capa nel niaz capa nipolihuitiuh ca
ye yxq’ch ca ye oncan [155v] yn notech moneq’ anechmopa-
lehuilizque.
I Yyoyahue sancta Mariae omochiuh onotlahueliltic yn
tiacamo huel xinechmopalehuilitzino yn nitlatlacohuanipol
capa nel niyaz. ca titetlaocoliliznantzintli ca titeyollaliliznan-
tzintli xinechmoyollalilitzino. Amen,
4. Fray Domingo de la Anunciacion, Doctrina Xpiana breuey cdpendiosa
por via de dialogo entre vn maestro y vn discipulo, 1565
At the end of his sermon for the Conception of Mary, the
Franciscan Sahagiin exhorts girls to protect their virginity. To
this end they should enlist the help of Mary by counting the
rosary every day and by fasting on Saturdays and on the vig¬
ils of her feast days. If they do this, “she will help you before
God, so that you will not be dishonored” (1563;93r). The
rosary was principally associated with the Dominican order,
but Franciscans, Augustinians, and Jesuits were also devoted
to it (Canisius 1577:278-279; Graef 1963-65:v.2; 18).
Torquemada notes that the Franciscan chronicler and spokes¬
man Geronimo de Mendieta had a painting of the mysteries of
the rosary placed in the choir of churches where he was sta¬
tioned (1975-83:v.6:369).
According to legend, the Virgin charged Saint Dominic
himself (ca 1170-1221) with the preaching of the rosary
and handed him the first set of rosary beads. An early colo¬
nial relief of this scene survives in the Dominican church
in Azcapotzalco, above the entrance to the rosary chapel.
Winston-Allen’s book on the medieval rosary provides the
following information about its historical origins (1997:1-4,
14-18). In Western Christianity the use of beads or knotted
cords for counting prayers predates the emergence of the Hail
Mary prayer, as strings of beads called paternosters were used
for repetitive praying of the Our Father. The devotional prac¬
tice of repetitive Hail Marys dates back to at least the twelfth
PRAYERS 121
[154v] Oh Saint Mary, oh mother of God, oh compassionate
mother, may you, by your will, [155r] rescue me from my
enemies, those who deceive people. May you, by your will,
help and rescue my spirit, my soul, in my death.
I Oh supremely pitying one, may you not abandon me.
I Oh perfectly fragrant and sweet maiden, may it be, by your
will, that I will joyfully see your precious child, our lord Jesus
Christ. May it be that 1 will joyfully hear the cries of the
angels, as they will call out to my spirit, my soul. They will say
to it, “Come forth, come on out, you giver of life, you who are
our lord Jesus Christ’s rescued one! Come rejoice with us!”
'll Oh Saint Mary, it is now, it is the time, it is the opportune
time for you to have compassion for me, for you to help me, so
that my enemies will not afflict me.
I And all of you who are our lord God’s precious ones,
may you, by your will, help me. I am afflicted, I am a
sinner. Where, truly, will I go? Where will I disappear to?
That is all, it is time, [155v] it is necessary for me that you
help me.
jl Alas! Oh Saint Mary, how wretched am 1! If you cannot help
me, big sinner that I am, where, truly, will I go? You are the
compassionate mother, you are the consoling mother. Con¬
sole me! Amen.
century, and beads were used for this also. “Marian psalters”
featured various combinations of antiphons, verses giving
Mariological and Christological interpretations of the 150
Psalms, and repeated Hail Marys and Our Fathers; these prayers
were subdivided into three sets of fifty called chaplets. The
rosary proper began taking form in the fourteenth century,
when to these earlier practices was grafted the popular devo¬
tional exercise of contemplating events in the lives of Mary
and Christ. The version of the prayer that eventually pre¬
dominated divides the rosary’s 150 Hail Marys among fifteen
narrative events, called “mysteries” and grouped into three
sets of five; the “joyful mysteries” of Christ’s incarnation, the
“sorrowful mysteries” of the Passion, and the “glorious mys¬
teries” of Christ’s and Mary’s triumph over death.
The prayer cycle is called a “rosary” because the prayers
are conceived as symbolic roses that one strings into a chap¬
let for Mary. Associations of Mary with a garden or a rose, or
of Christ with a rose that takes root in her, abound in medieval
religious imagery, ultimately grounded in readings of the Song
of Songs, with Mary as the hortus conclusus (see text 1.3;
Winston-Allen 1997:9-10, 89-99). A popular miracle legend
dating to the thirteenth century associated the Hail Mary
with roses offered to Mary, fifty of them forming a chaplet
(Winston-Allen 1997:100-101). The rose, though, had strong
associations with sexual love, and in the fifteenth century
122 BEFORE GUADALUPE
there was some controversy over whether the growing devo¬
tion should instead be called Mary’s psaltery, following the
older tradition of substituting Hail Marys for the Psalms. But
the appeal of the sensual and emotive love imagery of the
rose, at a time when the Song of Songs was the most-quoted
book of the Bible, overcame scruples about its appropriate¬
ness as an expression of spiritual devotion (Winston-Alien
1997;8I, 109).
Winston-Allen (1997:1-5, 24-30, 76, 112-122) describes
how the devotion, propagated by fifteenth-century Carthu¬
sians and Observant Dominicans, became extremely popular,
generating a secondary literature of rosary books, songs, po¬
ems, and legends as well as many works of art. The rosary
functioned as a “layperson’s breviary” that paralleled the reli¬
gious orders’ chanting of the canonical hours and provided a
devotional text one could pray in church or at home, even
while working or traveling. The practice fit well into a social
context in which devotion was becoming increasingly priva¬
tized. The confraternity of the rosary, which the Observant
Dominican Jakob Sprenger first founded at Cologne in 1475,
quickly became the largest confraternity in Europe. Member¬
ship was free and everyone—rich, poor, men, women, chil¬
dren, even lepers and dead people—was eligible to join and
to benefit from various spiritual and temporal rewards prom¬
ised to members, not the least of which was a substantial por¬
tion of indulgences. Women often outnumbered men.
Confraternity members shared collective activities such as
public processions and the financing and use of rosary altars
and chapels, but also practiced the devotion in private and in
their own vernacular languages. Their prayers benefited their
own souls but also, collectively, the souls of fellow members
living and dead. Rosary beads were worn as ornamentation,
as a sign of piety, and for protection against evil; having them
blessed at church or keeping them near an image of Mary was
thought to increase their efficacy.
In Warner’s words (1976:307), the rosary devotion served
“to restore an element of sincerity and interior contemplation
to the prayers of the faithful, who had come to rely more and
more on external acts of piety and particularly the purchase of
indulgences to win them forgiveness.” To the Church, the
rosary was a means of educating the uneducated masses and
strengthening their faith, making them less susceptible to
heresies (Winston-Alien 1997:28). Excessive claims of indul¬
gences for the saying of the rosary would, however, eventu¬
ally threaten the devotion, subjecting it to the ridicule of
Protestant reformers, who also objected to the notion that
salvation could be achieved through a simple ritual perfor¬
mance (Winston-Allen 1997:5, 130). But Catholics remained
devoted. The rosary became an even stronger tool of the
Catholic Reformation after don Juan of Austria, brother of
Spain’s Philip II, led the forces of the Holy Roman Empire to
a decisive victory over the Turks at Lepanto, on October 7,
1571. Pope Pius V attributed the triumph to the prayers of
Rome’s rosary confraternities, and in 1573 he designated the
first Sunday in October as the feast of Our Lady of Victory
(Graef 1963-65:v.2:17; Warner 1976:308-309).
The introduction of the rosary devotion into New Spain
is associated especially with the Dominican friar Tomas de
San Juan, who came to the colony around 1535. The early
Dominican chronicler Davila Padilla devotes almost forty
pages to his story (1955:343-381). Ill upon his arrival, fray
Tomas lay in his cell awaiting death; the Virgin appeared to
him and exhorted him to preach her rosary. Finding himself
healed, the friar promptly founded a confraternity of the ro¬
sary at the Dominicans’ Mexico City establishment. Within a
few days, nearly everyone in the city had joined. A wealthy
Spanish couple donated a silver image of Our Lady of the
Rosary; this was so heavy that a second, lighter one was made
for the processions, which were held the first Sunday of every
month. Fray Tomas, who became known as fray Tomas del
Rosario, established the confraternity in Puebla (where the
Dominicans would later build the rosary chapel that is the
pinnacle of Spanish-American baroque art) and in many in¬
digenous communities. Davila Padilla claims that fray Tomas
cured many people simply by touching them with his rosary
and that he received another visit from the Virgin on his
deathbed in 1560.
Elsewhere, Davila Padilla states that nearly all the native
people belonged to the rosary confraternity (1955:81), though
this may have been true mainly in Mexico City and
in those other communities where Dominicans were active.
Davila Padilla (1955:615) credits Domingo de la Anunciacion
himself with spreading the rosary devotion to virtually the
entire population of Tepoztlan when he was vicar there. By
the late seventeenth century, when the Franciscan Agustm de
Vetancurt wrote his chronicle, rosary confraternities were
operating even at some Franciscan establishments; several of
these were Spanish sodalities but at least one, at Cholula, was
specifically for indigenous devotees (Vetancurt 1971:pt.4:52,
56, 57, 62, 63, 80).
To present-day sensibilities the rosary’s linking of quan¬
titative repetition, the procurement of indulgences, and con¬
templative spirituality may seem contradictory, but this
contradiction—so salient for Protestant reformers—apparently
did not exist in the minds of Mary’s Catholic devotees during
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (Winston-Allen 1997:6).
As I find debates over the “sincerity” versus “externality” of
Nahua Christianity similarly ethnocentric and anachronistic,
I see no reason to belabor these issues in respect to the Nahuas’
adoption of the devotion. As in Europe, the rosary may have
derived some of its appeal from its association with lay prac¬
tice. It was something in which everyone could participate,
including and perhaps especially women,without the direct
oversight of priests.
Nahuas called the beads cuentaxtli, from Spanish
cuentas', the addition of the absolutive suffix -tli to the
Spanish noun indicates that this was a very early borrowing,
thoroughly assimilated into Nahuatl (Barry Sell, personal

communication, 1998). They referred to the prayer and the
string of rosary beads in Nahuatl as Mary’s flower necklace
or flower jewel (ixochicozcatzin) rather than chaplet {icpac
xochitl ‘on-top-of-her flowers’). They would bring their
beads to the priests to be blessed (Mendieta 1980:428).
Rosaries show up occasionally in Nahuatl wills; one man in
Culhuacan had three of them, which he ordered sold to pay
for masses for his soul (Cline 1986:28). According to Mendieta
(1980:429), among the Nahuas anyone who did not carry a
rosary, as well as a scourge for self-flagellation, “does not
seem a Christian.” Writing in the 1570s, fray Diego Valades
(1989:433) observes that native people coming to church
for communion come with their rosaries in their hands. In
addition to published versions of the rosary text in Nahuatl,
Nahuas may have had access to manuscript copies and to
pictorial versions such as Mendieta favored; in Europe picto¬
rial rosaries, with illustrations of each of the mysteries, were
widely used by the unlettered (Winston-Alien 1997:32; a
Spanish example from 1488 is reproduced in Carrete Parrondo
et al. 1992:22). Many probably learned the devotion through
oral transmission. Its association with flowers fit easily into
the broader spiritual and ritual context of flower symbolism
in Nahua Christianity.
Both of the extant sixteenth-century publications of the
rosary in Nahuatl are bilingual, with Spanish and Nahuatl in
facing columns. The earliest is the Dominican Domingo de la
Anunciacion’s presented here; the other was published by the
Augustinian Juan de la Anunciacion in his 1575 doctrina
(257-263). The famed Franciscan lexicographer and gram¬
marian Alonso de Molina produced a version apparently first
published in the later sixteenth century but surviving only in
reprints from 1605 and 1699 (Garcia Icazbalceta 1954:486;
A. Leon-Portilla 1988:v.2:278; Zulaica Garate 1991:122-
123). Fray Martin de Leon lists the rosary and associated in¬
dulgences in the contents of his 1611 Camino de cielo, but a
note at the bottom of the page states that these will be pub¬
lished separately (quedan para libro proprio)\ if he indeed
published them, the imprint is unknown. The copious indul¬
gences granted to rosary cofrades were to have been publi¬
cized in Nahuatl in 1572, through fray Alonso de Molina’s
Nahuatl translation of a document enumerating these indul¬
gences and the means of obtaining them. However, the printer,
Pedro Ocharte, was arrested by the Mexican Inquisition when
Molina’s work was in press. As all that survives of the text is a
hand-written copy, it is possible that the printing was never
actually completed.''’
* *
[75r] H Teocuitlaxuchicozcatl.
1 Nican catqui centlamantli vei ytlatlauhtiloca in toma-
huiztla9onantzI ilhuicac ciuapilli sancta maria, ytoca
rosario, quitoznequi teocuitlaxuchicozcatl. Yn yehuatl hy
PRAYERS 123
Ocharte was investigated for allegedly having read
“Lutheran” books and having doubted the intercession of the
saints. He was also interrogated about a woodcut of Our Lady
of the Rosary that he printed in 1571, the caption of which read,
Estas cuentas son sin cuenta, En valor y eficacia, El pecador
que os reza. Jamas lefaltara gracia ‘These beads are without
limit in value and efficacy. The sinner who prays to you will
never lack grace.’ The attitude that praying to Mary assured
one’s salvation, without the involvement of Christ, violated
the official stance of the Church, especially after the Tridentine
reforms. However, many Spaniards in New Spain, devoted to
Mary as they were, would have seen nothing wrong with
Ocharte’s woodcut, and most Nahuas can hardly be expected
to have been more enlightened on these points.” In the
Nahuatl drama that John Cornyn titled “Tlacahuapahualiztli
(Bringing up Children),” which probably was first written
during the period under study here, Christ admits to heaven
those who pleased him by praying to his mother with the
rosary: Christ is in charge but it is the rosary that ensures
salvation (Cornyn and McAfee 1944:348).'®
Domingo de la Anunciacion gives his rosary the Nahuatl
title “golden flower necklace,” as does Molina. Color sym¬
bolism was associated with the rosary in Europe: the joyful mys¬
teries were white roses, the sorrowful ones red, and the glorious
ones golden (Winston-Allen 1997:104). Teocuitlaxochitl
‘golden flower’ is an indigenous name for a bush or small tree
with yellow flowers, described and illustrated in the Florentine
Codex’s catalog of plants (Sahagiin 1950-82:bk. 11:203).
According to a Jesuit annotator from 1640, the inside of
these flowers resembled the five wounds of Christ (dentro
tiene como las cinco llagas\ Bierhorst 1985b:309'^). The
Dominican presents brief prayers addressed to Mary, Christ,
or the Holy Spirit for each of the fifteen mysteries. In this his
version differs from that of Juan de la Anunciacion, which
does not include any prayers beyond the Hail Marys and Our
Fathers. The latter friar gives yn cozcatl Cuentastli ‘a necklace,
beads’ as his Nahuatl name for the prayer cycle (1575:255). At
the end (263) he tells of the many indulgences granted by the
pope to anyone who prays the rosary every day.'*
This particular rosary text, according to Anne Winston-
Allen, “probably was adapted from one of the many rosary
manuals that were circulating in the sixteenth century, such
as those of Alberto da Castello, Andrea Gianetti da Salo, or
Gaspar Loarte—all of which were widely circulated, trans¬
lated into several languages, and went through many editions”
(personal communication, 1998).
[75r] H Golden flower necklace.
1 Here is a great prayer to our honored and precious mother,
the heavenly noblewoman. Saint Mary. Its name is “ro¬
sary,” which means “golden flower necklace.” This is quite
124 BEFORE GUADALUPE
huellacemanahuia’’ ynic qualli ynic tla^otli ynic mahuiztic,
ypa moteneua yn huei ymahuiztica tonemaquixtiliz.
Ceca yc mahuiztililo, yc yecteneualo yua yc tlayecultilo in ye-
huatzin ilhuicac ciuapilli, ca yuhquim monextilili nican
tlalticpac, miequintin ytlagoua in vel ytech momati [75v] teuyotl
yn itetlayeculticaua. Ynhin ytlatlauhtilocatzi yc tictomaceuia
miectlamantli tetlapopolhuiliztli indulgecias, yehuatl in
techmomaq’lia tohueiteupixcauh sancto patre yn ompa roma
1 Yni rosario, q,n, teocuitlaxuchicozcatl no huel motocayotiz
psalterio, q,neq’, cuicaamoxtli, yehica ca T qwenin ypan cuicaa-
matl yn q’tlali dauid oca ypa moteneua, chicopouallomatlactli
cuicatl in psalmos, 9a no ihui yn ipa hi rosario, oncan moteneua
chicompouallommatlactli aue marias, yuan caxtoltetl pater noster.
Auh in hlin ye muchi rosario caxtolca moxeloua, ca caxtolla-
matli tlamaui9olli ypa moteneua, Macuillamatli papaq’liz90,
Macuillamatli toneuiz9o. Macuillamatli netlamachtiliz90.
'll Yn achto macuillamantli ypampa motocayotia papaqui-
liz90, yehica ca ipan motenehua ym papaquiliztli ynic
mopapaquiltia ciuapilli yn ipampa tlamaui9olli.
1 Auh in oc macuillamatli ypapa motocayotia tonehuiz90,
yeica ca ytechpa tlatoua [76r] yn itoneuiztzT yn itlayhiyohui-
liztzin totecuyo jesu xpo.
^ Auh Itlaecayotia yn oc no macuillamatli, ypampa mo¬
teneua netlamachtiliz9o, ca.ytechpa tlatoua in nezcaliliztli
yua cemicac papaq’liztli.
f Yn achto macuillamantli tlamauiz9olli yn motenehua
papaquiliz90, ca yehuatl yn nican mitoua.
Yn ipan yc centlamantli tlamaui9olli, onca tiq’tozque cetetl
pater, noster, yuan matlactetl aue marias, onca tiq’lnamiq’zque
yn itetlapaloliz agel san gabriel, yn iquac q’motlapalhuico i
ilhuicac ciuapilli, ic nima tiq’toz ThI tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
f Ciuapille ychpuchtle sancta mariae yn angel san gabriel, ca
mitzmotlapaluico, in iquac mitictzico monacayotitzinoco
dios ypiltzl jesu xpo, 9a no iuh nimitznotlapalhuia lie
nopampa ticmotlatlauhtiliz in nitlatlacouani.
jl Yn ipa yc otlamantli tlamaui9olli, Scan tiq’tozqwe occetetl
pater, noster, yua oc no matlactetl aue marias oca toyollo ica
tiq’lnamiq’zqwe yn iqwac q’moyollalilito ylhuicac ciuapilli,
yn set’a ysabel, nima tiq’toz ynhin [76v] tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
jl Ciuapille sancta mariae, ca ticmotlapaluito ticmoyollalilito
yn mahuitzin sancta ysabel, nimitznotlatlauhtilitzinoua ma
9an no iuh xinechmoyollalilitzino yn nitlatlacouani.
1 Yn ipa yc etlamatli tlamahui9olli, oncan tiquitozque
occentetl pater, noster, yua oc no matlactetl aue marias, oca
tiq’lnamiquizque yn quenin quimotlacatilili yn itla90co-
netzin jesu xpo, niman tiquitoz ynhin tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
^ Ciuapille sancta mariae, ca ticmotlacatilili in motla90co-
netzl jesu xpo, amo ic ticmopolhui yn mochpuchyotzin 9a
cemicac tichpuchtli, ma nopapa xicmotlatlauhtilitzino yn
nitlatlacouani ynic q’monequiltiz yn nanima iytic motlaca-
tilitzinoz yea in gracia.
I Yn ipa yc nauhtlamantli, tlamaui9olli, oca tiq’tozqwe occetetl
pater, noster, yua oc no matlactetl aue maria, oca tiq’lnamiq’z-
que yn quenl q’mouiq’li, ciuapilli set’a maria in itla9oconetzI
surpassingly good, precious, and wondrous. In it are told
the great wonders of our rescue.
With it the heavenly noblewoman is very much honored
and praised, and with it she is served. The way that it ap¬
peared here on earth, her many precious ones, her servants,
consider it something quite [75v] divine. With this prayer
to her we merit many pardons, indulgences, which our great
priest, the holy father there in Rome, gives to us.
jl This rosary, which means “golden flower necklace,” can
also be called a “psaltery,” which means “songbook,” be¬
cause, as in the song document that David composed, in
which there are told 150 songs, “psalms,” likewise in this
rosary there are told 150 Hail Marys, and 15 Our Fathers.
And this whole rosary is divided into 15 parts, in which are
told 15 marvels, five joyful ones, five painful ones, five
happy ones.
I The first five are called joyful because in them are told
the joys with which the noblewoman is joyful, because of
marvels.
^ And another five are called painful because they speak of
[76r] the pain, the suffering of our lord Jesus Christ.
And thirdly the other five are called happy because they
speak of the reviving and eternal joyfulness.
'll The first five marvels, which are called joyful, are
said here.
In the first marvel, there we will say one Our Father, and ten
Hail Marys. There we will remember the greeting of the
angel Saint Gabriel, when he came to greet the heavenly
noblewoman. Thereupon you will say this prayer.
1 Oh noblewoman, oh maiden, oh Saint Mary, the angel
Saint Gabriel came to greet you when God’s child, Jesus
Christ, came to become flesh inside you. Likewise I greet
you, so that you will pray to him for my sake, sinful me.
1 In the second marvel, there we will say another Our Father,
and another ten Hail Marys. There with our hearts we will
remember when the heavenly noblewoman went to console
Saint Elizabeth. Then you will say this [76v] prayer.
Oh noblewoman, oh Saint Mary, you went to greet, you
went to console your aunt. Saint Elizabeth. I beseech you,
may you likewise console sinful me.
*][ In the third marvel, there we will say another Our Father, and
another ten Hail Marys. There we will remember how she gave
birth to her precious child, Jesus Christ. Then you will say
this prayer.
jl Oh noblewoman, oh Saint Mary, you gave birth to your
precious child, Jesus Christ. You did not thereby lose your
maidenhood. You are forever a maiden. May you pray to him
for my sake, sinful me, so that he will want to be born inside
my soul through grace.
In the fourth marvel, there we will say another Our Father, and
another ten Hail Marys. There we will remember how the noble¬
woman, Saint Mary, took her precious child to the temple in

opa teupa jerusale, in q’mouechihuilito, imac quimotlalili
[77r] sancto simeon, nima tiquitoz ynhin tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
f Ciuapille tonantzine ca ticmohuiquili yn motla90conetzin
jesu christo ompa teupan Jerusalem, ticmouenchihuili yn
ixpantzinco dios tetatzi, nimitznotlatlauhtilia ma xinech-
mopalehuili ynic vel ninohuenchiuaz yuan inic vel
nicnocenmacaz yn notlatocauh dios.
I Yn ipan yc macuillamatli tlamahui^olli, Scan tiquitozque
occetetl pater, ixoster, yua oc no matlactetl aue maria, oncan
tiquilnamiquizque yn qitenin tomahuiztla^onatzl sct’a maria
quimopolhui yn itla^oconetzl, yeilhuitl yn q’motemoli teupa
q’mottilitzinoto, nima tiq’toz IhT tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
Jl Ciuapille sct’a mariae ca ticmopolhuitzino yn motla90Cone-
tzin jesu christo, yeilhuitl yn ticmotemolitzino ceca vei tlaocuya-
liztica neteq’pacholiztica. auh yeilhuitica ticmottilitzino in opa
teupa jerusale, ceca ic timopapaq’ltitzino, yn nehuatl nitlatla-
couai nimitznotlatlauhtilia ma xinechmopalehuili inic amo
nicnopoluiz tlatlacultica, [77v] auh Itla qwemma nicnopol-
huiz ma niman nicnottiliz tlamaceualiztica. Ma iuh muchiua.
Lunestica yuan jueuestica mopouaz.
j[ Yzcatq’ oc no macuillamantli, tlamaui9olli ytech poui ytech-
pa tlatoua in itlayhiyohuilitzT totecuyo jesu xpo, ca ipapa
motocayotia tlamauiijolli tonehuiz90.
Yn ipa yc cetlamatli tlamaui9olli, oca tiq’tozque centetl pater,
noster, yuan matlactetl aue maria oca tiq’lnamiq’zque ynic
q’motlatlauhtilitzino totecuyo jesu xpo, yn itla90tatzl yn opa
xuchitla, nima tiq’toz ynhin tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
I Notecuyoe Jesu xpoe, ca ticmotlatlauhtilitzino in motla90-
tatzl in opa xuchitla eztica timitonitzino ypapa notlatlacul,
nimitznotlatlauhtilia notlatocatzine ma ixq’ch xinechmo-
popolhuili in notlatlacul 9an mopaltzinco.
1 Yn ipa yc otlamatli, tlamahui9olli, oca tiq’tozqwe occetetl
pafer, noster, yua oc no matlactetl aue maria, oca tiq’lnamiq’z-
que 1 quenl q’maniliqae judiome I totecuyo jesu xpo, yua
temimiltitech q’momecahuiteq’liqMe, nima [78r] tiq’toz Ihl
tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
j[ Notecuyoe tlatouanie jesu xpoe, in moyaoua judiome mitz-
manilique mitzmomaylpilique ceca temamauhti ynic mitzmo-
mecahuiteq’liq«e temimiltitech, nimitznotlatlauhtilia ma xic-
monequilti ynic tinechmotomililiz nanima yn itechpa notlatlacul.
1 Yn ipan yc etlamantli tlamaui9olli, Scan tiquitozqwe oc-
centetl pater noster, yuan oc no matlactetl aue maria onca
tiq’lnamiq’zque yn quenin corona huitzyaualli ycpatzinco
q’momanililiqMe, niman tiquitoz ynhin tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
1 Notecuyoe tlatohuanie ypampa mocoronatzin yn huitzyaualli
yn mocpactzinco q’manque, nimitznotlatlauhtilia, ma teua
niquicnopilhuiz yn ilhuicac tlatocayotl yn yquac ninomiquiliz.
I Yn ipan yc nauhtlamantli tlamahui9olli. Scan tiquitozque
occentetl pater, noster, yuan oc no matlactetl aue maria, oncan
tiquilnamiquizque yn quenin totecuyo jesu xpo, miquiztla-
tzonteq’liloc yua q’moq’chpanoltiliqMe cruz >1* nima tiquitoz
ynhi tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
[78v] I Noteoue notlatocatzine yn moyaohua judiome
mitzmoqMechpanoltiliqMe in cruz ceca vei ceca yetic, auh
PRAYERS 125
Jerusalem. She went to make an offering of him. She placed him
in the hands of [77r] Saint Simeon. Then you will say this prayer,
f Oh noblewoman, oh our mother, you took your precious
child, Jesus Christ, to the temple in Jerusalem, You made an
offering of him before God the father. I beseech you, may you
help me so that I will be able to make an offering of myself and
so that I will be able to give myself entirely to my ruler, God.
j[ In the fifth marvel, there we will say another Our Father and
another ten Hail Marys. There we will remember how our
honored and precious mother. Saint Mary, lost her precious
child. For three days she searched for him. She went to see him
in the temple. Then you will say this prayer.
j[ Oh noblewoman, oh Saint Mary, you lost your precious
child, Jesus Christ. For three days you searched for him with
very great sadness and anguish. And on the third day you saw
him in the temple in Jerusalem. Thus you were very joyful. I,
I who am a sinner, beseech you, may you help me so that I do
not lose him through sin. [77v] But if I do lose him sometime,
may I then see him through penance. May it so be done.
*1 On Mondays and Thursdays it will be counted.
K Here are another five marvels, which pertain to, which speak
about the suffering of our lord Jesus Christ. Therefore they are
called painful marvels.
In the first marvel, there we will say one Our Father and ten
Hail Marys. There we will remember how our lord Jesus Christ
prayed to his precious father there in the garden. Then you
will say this prayer.
1 Oh our lord, oh Jesus Christ, you prayed to your precious
father there in the garden. You sweated with blood on account
of my sins. I beseech you, oh my ruler, may you pardon me all
my sins, just by your will.
j[ In the second marvel, there we will say another Our
Father and another ten Hail Marys. There we will remember
how the Jews seized our lord Jesus Christ, and flogged him
at the column. Then [78r] you will say this prayer.
*1 Oh my lord, oh ruler, oh Jesus Christ, your enemies, the
Jews, seized you, they tied you by the hands. It was very
frightening, how they flogged you at the column. I beseech
you, may you want to untie my soul from my sins for me,
j[ In the third marvel, there we will say another Our Father, and
another ten Hail Marys. There we will remember how they
laid a crown, a circle of thorns, on his head. Then you will say
this prayer.
1 Oh my lord, oh ruler, because of your crown, the circle of
thorns that they laid on your head, I beseech you, may 1 ob¬
tain with others the kingdom of heaven when I die.
1 In the fourth marvel, there we will say another Our Father
and another ten Hail Marys. There we will remember how
our lord Jesus Christ was sentenced to death and they made
him carry the cross * on his shoulders. Then you will say this
prayer.
[78v] I Oh my lord, oh my ruler, your enemies, the Jews, made
you carry the cross * on your shoulders. It was very big, very
126 BEFORE GUADALUPE
I oc ceca mitzmeticihuitiliaya, ca yehuatl yn notlatlaculla-
mamal, niinitznotlatlauhtilia ma xinechmopopolhuili ^an
mopaltzico yn tinoteouh yn tinotlatocauh.
^ Yn ipan yc macuillamatli tlamahui9olli, oncan tiq’tozque
occetetl pater, rioster, yua oc no matlactetl aue maria, Scan
tiq’lnamiq’zqwe yn qwenin cruz * titech mama^oualtiloc tote-
cuyo Jesu xpo, yua tepuztica tetetzotzoaloc ynacayotzl, nima
tiq’toz M tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
^ Noteohue notlatocatzine ca ipapa tomaq’xtiloca mitzmoma-
magoualtiliqwe cruz* titech judiome, Scan tepuztica q’tetetzo-
tzonqwe monacayotzl nimitznotlatlauhtilia ma xinechmo-
tlaoculili yn nitlatlacouani ma xinechmocnoyttilitzino, in
iuh ticmocnoyttilitzino qualli ichtecq’. Ma iuh mochiua.
f Martestica yuan viernestica mopouaz.
^ Yzcatq’ yn oc macuillamatli tlamahui^olli, yehuatl yn [79r]
tlamahui9olli, netlamachtiliz90.
Yn ipa ic cetlamatli tlamaui9olli, oncan tiquitozque centetl
pater, noster, yuan matlactetl aue maria, oncan tiquilnami-
q’zqi/e yn inezcalilittzin totecuyo jesu xpo, yn iquac mozcali-
tzino yntla mimicqwe, niman tiquitoz inhin tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
I Noteohue notlatocatzine in oiuh timomiq’litzino ytech
cruz If yn ipampa tomaq’xtiloca yeilhuitica timozcalitzino
yntlan mimicqwe, nimitznotlatlauhtilia ma xinechmozcalilili
in nanimaytechpaymiq’z yn tlatlaculli inic vel cemicac yoliz
yn 6pa ilhuicac.
I Yn ipa yc otlamatli tlamahui9olli, Scan tiq’tozqwe occetetl
pater, noster, yua matlactetl aue maria, ocan tiq’lnamiq’zqMe
yn itlecahuilittzin yn totecuyo jesu xpo, yn iquac ompohua-
lilhuitica motlecahuitzino in ilhuicac niman tiquitoz inhi
tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
1 Notecuyoe tlatouanie yn otimozcalitzino ompohualilhuitica
timotlecahuitzino in ilhuicac timotlalitzinoto ymayauhcapa
motla9otatzin dios, nimitznotlatlauhtilia [79v] ma opa tinech-
mohuiq’liliz in nanima yua nonacayo yn iquac ninozcaliz
Ma iuh mochiua
jl Yn ipan yc etlamantli, tlamahui9olli, onca tiq’tozqwe
occentetl pater, noster, yuan oc no matlactetl aue maria. Scan
tiq’lnamiq’zque in iquac hualmotemoui spiritu sancto ympan
yn apostolome niman tiq’toz ynhin tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
I Dios spu sct’oe, ca tiualmotemohuitzino, ympa yn aposto¬
lome tiq’mmoyollochicauili ceca tiq’mmoyollalilitzino yn
nehuatl nitlatlacouani nimitznotlatlauhtilia ma xinechmoyol-
loch[i]cahuilitz o^® ma xinechmoyollalili yea yn mogracia.
'll Yn ipa yc nauhtlamantli, tlamahui9olli, oca tiq’[t]ozqMe^'
occetetl pater, noster, yua oc no matlactetl aue maria, oca tiq’l-
namiq’zqwe, yn quenl motlecahui tomahuiztla9onatzin sancta
maria yn opa ilhuicac, nima tiq’toz ynhl tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
i Ciuapille set’a mariae ca mitzmotlecauilique I agelome in
opa ilhuicac ceca vei papaq’liztica aahuializtica, yn nehuatl
nitlatlacouai nimitznotlatlauhtilia I iquac ninomiq’liz [80r]
ma nocnopiltiz in nitlecoz yluicac motlatlatlauhtiliztica yuan
motepantlatoliztica.
1 Yn ipa yc macuillamantli tlatzacuya tlamahui9olli, oca
tiq’tozque oc no cetetl parer, noster, yua oc no matlactetl aue
heavy. But what was especially heavy for you was the burden
of my sins. I beseech you, may you pardon me, just by your
will, you who are my divinity, you who are my ruler,
f In the fifth marvel, there we will say another Our Father and
another ten Hail Marys. There we will remember how our lord
Jesus Christ was stretched by the hands on the cross f, and his
body was struck repeatedly with metal.^^Then you will say
this prayer.
I Oh my divinity, oh my ruler, for the sake of our rescue the
Jews stretched you by your hands on the cross There they
repeatedly struck your body with metal. I beseech you, may
you have compassion for sinful me. May you have pity on
me, as you had pity on the good thief May it so be done.
1 On Tuesdays and Fridays it will be counted.
f Here are another five marvels, which are the [79r] happy
marvels.
In the first marvel, there we will say one Our Father and ten
Hail Marys. There we will remember the reviving of our lord
Jesus Christ, when he revived among the dead. Then you will
say this prayer.
f Oh my divinity, oh my ruler, when you had thus died on the
cross * for the sake of our rescue, on the third day you revived
among the dead. I beseech you, may you revive for me my
soul from the death of sin, so that it may live forever there in
heaven.
j[ In the second marvel, there we will say another Our Father
and ten Hail Marys. There we will remember the ascent of our
lord Jesus Christ, when on the fortieth day he ascended to
heaven. Then you will say this prayer.
1 Oh my lord, oh ruler, on the fortieth day after you revived,
you ascended to heaven. You went to sit at the right hand of
your precious father, God. I beseech you, [79v] may you bring
me there, my soul, and my body when I revive. May it so be
done.
I In the third marvel, there we will say another Our Father
and another ten Hail Marys. There we will remember when
the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. Then you will say
this prayer.
f Oh God Holy Spirit, you descended on the apostles, you
strengthened their hearts, you greatly consoled them. I, I
who am a sinner, beseech you, may you strengthen my heart,
may you console me, with your grace.
11n the fourth marvel, there we will say another Our Father
and another ten Hail Marys. There we will remember how
our honored and precious mother. Saint Mary, ascended to
heaven. Then you will say this prayer.
*][ Oh noblewoman, oh Saint Mary, the angels took you up
there to heaven with very great joy and delight. I, I who
am a sinner, beseech you, when I die, [80r] may I obtain
that I ascend to heaven, through your prayers and your
advocacy.
j[ In the fifth and closing marvel, there we will say another Our
Father and another ten Hail Marys. There we will remember

maria, 5ca tiq’lnamiq’zqMe in quern icpactzinco manaloc yn
opa ilhuicac I tla^ociuapilli ! tlatocacorona yn itech poui
cemicac netlamachtilli, nima tiq’toz ynhi tlatlatlauhtiliztli.
I Yyo vey ciuapille totepatlatocatzine mocpactzinco
q’momanili in tomahuizteouh yn tlatocacorona yn ceca
mahui§auhqui, inic mitzmotlatocatlalilitzino yn opa ilhui¬
cac, nimitznotlatlauhtilia ma nopan ximotlatoltitzino ma
nopapa ximotlatlatlauhtili yn nitlatlacouani, inic noma-
ceualtiz yn niq’ttatiuh yn motlatocamahuiz90tzin yn ompa
ilhuicac cemicac netlamachtiloya. M, mochiua^^
H Miercolestica yuan sabadotica mopouaz, auh yn domin-
gotica mochi mopouaz.
5. Fray Juan Bautista with Agustin de la Fuente
Sermonario en lengua mexicana, 1606
In contrast to the relatively short and standardized prayers
included in the sixteenth-century catechisms, writers of
the late sixteenth to early seventeenth centuries developed
an elaborate and archaizing style of prayer to Mary that
made fuller use of the linguistic, poetic, and rhetorical range
of Nahuatl oratory. Several such prayers from the Jesuit
santoral have already been presented in this book. To these
I add two more. The first is a prayer from the Bautista-de la
* #
[523] [Deuota exclamacion a la sacratissima Virgen]
lyo notla9anantzine,^‘’ ma topan ximehualtitzino, ma topan
ximotlahtoltitzino in tecococan, in temamauhtican, in
tetzauhohuican titotolinitinemih. Tehuatzin timahuiztla-
9oichputzin in Dios teTtatzin. Tehuatzin timahuiztla9onantzin
in Dios Tepiltzin. Tehuatzin titla9oyecnemactzin in Dios
Spiritu sancto. Tehuatzin timahuiztla90teupancaltzin in
sanctissima Trinidad, ma xitechmomacaltili in ticnotla-
catzitzintin. Tehuatzin tixochitlaltzin, tiyectlaltzin,
tiParaysotzin in Temaquixtiani, ma xitechhualmoyol-
lalilitzino in titlacoxtinemi, in ticocoque, in titeopouhque,
in titoxonque. [somos pobres desnudos, y necessitados) in
tihua90ntinemi (idem) in titonehuatinemih, tichichina-
catinemih. Tehuatzin tinchoquiztin, titlaocoltzin in ye nechca
ommantihui in tlaachtopaihtohuanih in Prophetasme.
Tehuatzin timelcicihuitzin, tinnetemachiltzin in ye nechca
mihquiltitihui in huehuetque, in mottatzitzihuan, [524] in
mocoltzitzihuan, in tzoniztaque, in quaiztaque, in Patri-
archasme. [Vos Sehora soys Reyna del Cielo, y de la Tierra.]
Tehuatzin tincihuatlahtocatzin, tincihuapiltecuiyotzin in An-
gelotin, in Ilhuicac chaneque. Tehuatzin tincihuatlahtocatzin
in Cemanahuac tlaca, in Ilhuicac, yhuan in Tlalticpac nemih.
Tehuatzin tinteupixcatzin in Apostolosme, ma xiquimmo-
palehuilitzino in ixquichtin nepapan teupixque, in huel
PRAYERS 127
how a royal crown was laid on the head of the precious noble¬
woman there in heaven, which pertains to eternal happiness.
Then you will say this prayer.
*][ Oh! Oh great noblewoman, oh our advocate, on your head
our honored divinity laid the royal crown, which is very
marvelous, with which he installed you as ruler there in
heaven. I beseech you, may you speak for me, may you
pray for my sake, sinful me, so that 1 will merit that I go to
see your royal honor there in heaven, in the place of eter¬
nal happiness. May it so be done.
I On Wednesdays and Saturdays it will be counted, and on
Sundays it all will be counted.
Fuente sermonary. It is one of their entries for the feast of
the Conception (excerpted in text 1.3), but in content this
supplication to a valiant and compassionate Virgin does
not have any exclusive link to that festival. The Spanish
glosses in parentheses were presumably made by don An¬
tonio Valeriano, who provided these for the book as a
whole. Spanish marginal notes have been included in
brackets.
[523] [Devout exclamation to the most holy Virgin[
Oh! Oh my precious mother, may you protect us, may you
speak for us! In the place of torment, in the place of fright, in
the place of ominous danger we go about afflicted. You are
the honored and precious daughter of God the father. You are
the honored and precious mother of God the child. You are the
precious and proper wife of God the Holy Spirit, You are the
honored and precious temple of the most holy Trinity. May
you house us little poor ones with your hands. You are the
flowery land, you are the good land, you are the paradise of
the rescuer. May you console us, we who go about sad, we
who are tormented, we who are miserable, we who are flayed
(we are naked and needy poor ones). We go about needy
{same), we go about hurting, we go about aching. You are the
weeping, you are the sadness of the foretellers, the prophets,
who set forth from long ago. You are the sighing, you are the
hope of the elderly men, your fathers, [524] your grandfa¬
thers, the white-haired ones, the white-headed ones, the
patriarchs, who stand forth from long ago. [ You. Lady, are the
queen of heaven and of earth.] You are the queen, you are the
noble lady of the angels, the residents of heaven. You are the
queen of the people of the world, who live in heaven and on
the earth. You who are the priest of the apostles, may you help
all the various priests, who are indeed the images, who are
128 BEFORE GUADALUPE
ixiptlatzitzihuan, in huel ipatillotzitzihuan in motla90co-
netzin lESV CHRISTO. Tehuatzin tinnechicahualitzin,
tintopiltzin, tinnetlaquechiltzin in huehueintin tla^oma-
huiztiacahuan, in itlaneltilicatzitzihuan, in itlachicauhca-
tzitzihuan in Sancta Yglesia, ma xiquimmoyolchicahuili, ma
xiquimmoyollahpaltilili in yol^otlactoton, in yolpoxactoton,
in ahmo chicahuaque, in ahmo moyollahpaltilia, in ahmo
momapatla ihuicpa in tlahueliloc. [Vos Senora soys Exep, y
caudillo de las Virgines: y quQ viven limpiamete.] Tehuatzin
tinteyacacatzin, tintezcatzin, timoctacatzin in yollochipa-
huaque, in maca^an xochitzitzintin, in in chalchiuhtin, in
maquiztin, in ichpopuchtl in Virginesme, ma xiquimmochi-
pahuili, ma xiquimmoyectilili, ma xiquimmomalhuili in
topilhuantzitzin in ichpoputzitzintin, in mitzmotzacualtia,
mitzmotenantitzinohua. [Vos Senora soys consuelo, yfortaleza
de las pobres biudas.] Tehuatzin tinteyollalicatzin in
ycnocihuatzitzintin, in aye ahuiya, in aye huellamati in
inyollotzin, ma xiquimmoenoittili in momaeehualtzitzihuan,
ma xiquimmoeuilili in inehoquiz, in imixayo in yenohue-
huentzitzin, in yenoilamatzitzin, in quimatentihuitze,
quimaeuieuitihuitze.[Vb5 Senora soys la que consolays a los
pobres, e intercedeys por ellos.] Tehuatzin yequene
tinteyollalieatzin, tintetlatlatlauhtilieatzin in motoliniea-
tzitzintin, in ahonehuatzitzin ma xiquimmotlaoeolili, ma
xiquimmoenelilitzino in eenea mieetin in mixpantzineo
ma9ohua, in motlaitlania, in yuhqui motlatlaehuitihuitze.
Tlahtoeaiehpuehtzintle, totla9omahuiznantzine, Ilhuieae
eihuapille, ma xiteehhualmomaehititzino, ma xiteehhual-
molnamiquili, ma tlaeahua, ma yenoyohua, ma yenotlamati
in moyollotzin, ma yea in mohueiteienoittalitzin xiteehmo-
euititzino, xiteehmomaehitoeatzino inie huel timaqui9azque,
inie huel timitztoteputztoquilizque yeenemiliztiea, qualne-
miliztiea, ehipahuaeayeliztiea yea in Graeia, inie 9atepan
mohuantzineo, mopampatzineo, moeatzineo titoenelizque,
[525] mopaltzineo titotlamaehtizque, mohuantzineo
titoeuiltonozque in eenquizeapahpaquiltznetlamaehtiloyan,
in Ilhuieae neeeneuiltonoloyan in Gloria. Ma immuehihua.^^
6. Fray Juan de Mijangos, Espejo divino en lengua mexicana, 1607
Mijangos’s sermon on the birth of Mary (see text 7.3) ends
with this prayer, which was also appropriate for general use
outside of the context of her nativity. The passages in brack¬
ets are Latin side notes. The “lily among thorns” trope, from
(ifib <&>
[311] In tehuatzin in cemiheae nelli tichputzintli, in
ticenquizcachipahuacatzintli, ticenquizcayectzintli: yehica
ca mottetzinco mocemacitica in nepapan qualtihuani
yectihuani, in tehuatzin ca tichalchiuhteocaltzin in toTecuiyo
indeed the representatives of your preeious ehild, Jesus Christ.
You who are the strength, you who are the staff, you who are
the support of the great ones, the preeious and honored val¬
iant ones, the Holy Chureh’s testifiers and strengtheners, may
you strengthen the hearts, may you fortify the hearts of the
little faint-hearted ones, the little spongy-hearted ones, who
are not strong, who do not fortify their hearts, who do not
defend themselves from the wicked one. [You, Lady, are the
example and the leader of the virgins, and that they live
cleanly.] You who are the leader, you who are the mirror, you
who are the measuring stick of the pure-hearted ones, who are
just like little flowers, jades, and bracelets, the maidens, the
virgins, may you purify them, may you fix them up, may you
guard the honor of our little children, the little maidens, who
cloister themselves for you, who wall themselves up for you.
[You, Lady, are the consolation and fortitude of the poor
widows. ] You who are the consoler of the widows, whose hearts
are never glad, never content, may you have pity on your
vassals, may you take away the weeping, the tears of the poor
old men, the poor old women, with which they come filling
their hands, which they come taking in their hands.^'’ [You,
Lady, are the one who consoles the poor and intercedes for
them.]Yo\i who, moreover, are the consoler of and beseecher
for the little afflicted ones, the little deprived ones, may you
have compassion for, may you favor the great many who stretch
out their hands before you, who ask for things, as if they come
begging for alms. Oh royal maiden, oh our precious and hon¬
ored mother, oh heavenly noblewoman, may you consider us,
may you remember us, may your heart concede, may it take
pity, may it feel pity. May you, with your great pity, recognize
us and acknowledge us so that we will be able to escape, so
that we will be able to follow you through proper living,
through good living, through pure being, through grace, so
that afterwards with you, because of you, through you we will
be favored, [525] by your will we will be happy, with you we
will delight in the place of utter joy and happiness, heaven,
the place of supreme delight, glory. May it so be done.
the Song of Songs (2:2), is one of the figures for Mary’s purity
on the Huejotzingo Immaculate Conception mural (plate 1,
next to Mary’s left shoulder).
TO TO
[311] You are forever a true maiden, you are a perfectly
pure one, you are a perfectly proper one, because with
you are in their entirety the various things which make
one good, which make one proper. It is you who are the

Dios, ca mopantzinco omocehuitzino, omochantitzino in
toTecuiyo lESVCHRISTO, in momahuiztlagoconetzin, in
tehuatzin ca motlacachihualiztica oticmopohpolhui in
teoqualantli, in tlaocoyaliztli, in choquiztli, in elcicihuiliztli,
yhuan oticmotzonquixtili in neixnamiquiliztli: in tehuatzin
ca mottetzinco cenquiztoc in ixquich chipahualiztli: yehica
ca Dios Spiritu sancto mottetzinco oquimicetlalili, in ixquich
necuiltonoliztli, qualtiliztli: ca tehuatzin motechpatzico [312]
oquimihtalhuitzino in itla90tzin Dios Sanct Hieronymo:
[Quidquid in Maria gestum est, totum puritas, totum veritas
est. Hieron.] in ixquich ittetzinco ca in tlaqoCihuapilli Sancta
Maria, in incihuatecuiyotzin Angelome, muchi neltiliztli,
muchi chipahualiztli. In tehuatzin, ca motechpatzinco
quimocuicaehuilia in tonantzin Sancta Yglesia; [Sicut lilium
inter spinas, sic arnica mea inter filias Adp. Cdtic. 2.] in
ixquichtin ipilhuan Adam, huitztli, chicalotl ipan pohui, ipan
momatih, 9an iceltzin in nomahuiztla90tzin Sancta Maria, in
maca9an ahuiyac xochitl, chicalotitla huitztitlan, huel ahuiyac,
huel mahuiztic monexitia: in tehuatzin ca timahuiztla-
9onantzin in Dios, in ticenquizcayectlachichiuhtzintli,
timocenquizcapepetlaquiltia: ca yc centlami, yc tzonqui9a
in notlahtol in titetlaocoliliztenantzin, ma xitechmopale-
huili, xitechmotlaocolili, ma topan ximotlahtoltitzino in
ixpantzinco in motla90conetzin toTecuiyo lESV CHRISTO,
ma xicmotlatlauhtilitzino inic techmocpacxochitiliz, ica in
nepapan qualtihuani yectihuani, in quenin omitzmocpac-
xochitilitzino, yhuan ma xicmitlanililitzino inic techmopa-
lehuilitzinoz, inic tictelchihuazque, tictlatzilhuizque
Tlalticpacayotl, in quenin tehuatzin oticmotlayelittilitzino:
yhuan ma xicmotlatlauhtilitzino inic techmotla9oquentiliz,
ica in imahuiztilmatzin, in imahuizteotlanetzin in igraciatzin,
inic huel tictotlayecoltilizque in Tlalticpac, inic huel
titlamahcehuazque, tichocazque, titlaocoyazque in ipampa
totlahtlacol: auh inic titlaoquichhuizque, titlapaccaihiyo-
huizque, in ipan Tlalticpac tonehuiztli, chichinaquiztli
ipampatzinco in Dios. Ipampa in (tla9oCihuapille) ma
ipaltzinco in momahuiztepantlahtolitzin motepalehuili-
tzin, titlaixnextizque, timacozque in Ilhuicacayotl, in
cemmancapahpaquiliztli Gloria.
NOTES
1. On the colonial courts see Borah (1983) and Kellogg (1995).
2. However, there may be some notable instances of local au¬
tonomy, at least after the period under study here. For example,
Gruzinski (1990:209) describes the expansion of the Virgin shrine at
Tecaxic near Toluca later in the seventeenth century, carried out en¬
tirely by the locals without any official Church involvement.
3. The second of the seven canonical hours, at or near dawn.
4. A tour of inspection on behalf of the Spanish king.
5. The first set differs in that individual lines of the Latin prayer
are followed by corresponding Nahuatl text, and some additional, explan¬
atory text is added to the basic prayers. In the Hail Mary, Mary s su¬
premacy over other women is such that yn ayac yuhque yn ilhuicac yn
PRAYERS 129
jade temple of our lord God. In you our lord Jesus
Christ, your honored and precious child, rested and made
his home. You, through your childbearing, destroyed the
divine wrath, the sadness, the weeping, the sighing, and
you brought to an end the contention. With you lies
gathered all purity, because God the Holy Spirit placed
entirely with you all delight and goodness. About you [312]
God’s precious one. Saint Jerome, said: [Whatever has
been done in Mary is all purity, all truth. Jerome.
“Everything that is with the precious noblewoman.
Saint Mary, the lady of the angels, all is truth, all is purity.”
It is about you that our mother. Holy Church, intones,
[Like a lily among thorns, so is my friend among the daugh¬
ters of Adam. Song of Songs 2^*] “All the children of
Adam are considered as, are known as thorns, thistles;
just she alone, my honored and precious one. Saint Mary,
is just like a fragrant flower among the thistles, among
the thorns. Quite fragrant, quite wonderful does she ap¬
pear.” It is you who are the honored and precious mother
of God, you are perfectly properly adorned, you are
perfectly resplendent. Thus my words are finished, thus
they come to an end. You are the compassionate mother.
May you help me and have compassion for me, may you
speak for me before your precious child, our lord Jesus
Christ. May you beseech him that he garland us with
the various things that make one good, that make one
proper, the way that he garlanded you. And may you
ask him to help us, so that we will scorn and abhor earthli-
ness, the way that you despised it. And may you beseech
him that he dress us preciously, with his honored mantle,
his honored and sacred light, his grace, so that we will be
able to serve him on earth, so that we will be able to
do penance, we will weep, we will be sad on account of
our sins, and so that we will be able manfully to suffer,
patiently to endure in the pain and aching on earth, for
God’s sake. Therefore (oh precious noblewoman),
by means of your honored advocacy, your help, we
will obtain, we will be given heavenliness, utter joyful¬
ness, glory.
tlalticpac yn ayac ce yuhque yn angelome 'no one is like her on heaven
or earth, none of the angels is like her’ (21 r-21 v). Further on, the fruit of
Mary’s womb is explained as y yehuatzin yn totlagotemaq 'xticatzin
Jesu xpo yn ipiltzT dios: yn mitictzKo q 'mocuilico in itlagonacayotzin
ynic techmomaquixtilico. Ca toyecyoliliztlaqual omochiuh ynic huilohua
yn ilhuicac ‘our precious rescuer, Jesus Christ, the child of God, he took
his precious body inside of you, so he came to rescue us; he became
our food of proper life, so that people go to heaven’ (21 v). And toward
the end, the phrase “oh perfect maiden” is not included. The first ver¬
sion of the Salve differs only in that Eve is described as yn achto gihuatl
yn itechpa tiq'zque. ‘our first mother, from whom we descended' and
“oh Saint Mary” is inserted after “utterly good maiden” (22r-22v).
130 BEFORE GUADALUPE
6. Or, alternatively, “we.”
7. An even clearer construction is that used, for example, in the
Psalmodia Christiana’s ^alve Regina: in moxillantzin itlaaquillotzin
‘your womb, its fruit’ (Sahagun 1993b;24).
8. Read iuh mochihua.
9. Read iuh mochihua.
10. This combination of iconography was not uncommon. For
example, a fifteenth-century relief in the choir at the Spanish shrine of
Our Lady of Guadalupe, which has been compared to the Mexican
Guadalupe, shows the Virgin standing on the moon, surrounded by
solar rays, with 12 stars in an arc over her head, and holding the infant
Christ (Hellbom 1964:63). See also plate 9, in which she is shown
with both moon and child, and the single-leaf woodcut of Our Lady of
the Rosary printed by Pedro Ocharte in 1571 (Toussaint 1982:pl.l6).
In a painting of John’s vision by Hieronymus Bosch, the Virgin holds
her infant (Gemaldegalerie, Berlin).
11. Read ticompehualtiz.
12. Mary appeases God’s anger, but I do not understand why she
should be referred to in the terms given here. “Anger” here is, more
literally, “heart-boiling” (yollopogonaliz[tli\). Mulhare and Sell (2000)
translate this passage, tentatively, as “you who are the remembrance
of one who was consummately and surpassingly provoked to anger.”
They suggest, as a possible interpretation, that Mary was provoked to
anger but remained composed; thus this line of the prayer, like the
others, depicts her exhibiting virtues that her devotees should emulate.
13. Mendieta comments on native women’s leadership role in
religious confraternities in general (1980:420-421). A Franciscan, he
does not deal specifically with the rosary confraternity, but his obser¬
vation may be applicable to it as well. Women dominated the membership
of Tula’s confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament from its founding
in 1570, and are documented as holding formal posts in the sodality
through most of the seventeenth century (Sell 1998).
14. The copy of this document, which includes a statement that it
was translated into Nahuatl by Molina and printed by Ocharte in
1572, is in the John Carter Brown Library manuscript (Doctrina
n.d.:108v-115v; see also Schwaller 1991:315). It is probably based
on an imported edition of the Dominican Hieronimo Taix’s rosary hand¬
book, as the Mexican edition of this work, published in 1576, contains a
text cognate with the Nahuatl one (Taix 1576:227-232). Barry Sell and I
are preparing an edition of the Nahuatl text. Means of obtaining indul¬
gences included, for example, praying the rosary on specified Marian
festivals and participating in rosary processions. The document also
mentions the indulgences granted to people who pray Mary’s corona.
15. The complete Inquisition proceedings are published in
Fernandez del Castillo (1982:85-141); the woodcut is reproduced in
Toussaint (1982:pl.l6). John Frederick Schwaller (1991:313-315)
discusses the documentation regarding the rosary indulgences docu¬
ment. The text is mentioned in a letter from Ocharte to his wife written
March 4,1572, in which he states that his employees should go ahead
and print “the summaries of Our Lady of the Rosary.” He also states
in his testimony that the previous Lent (1571) he delivered copies of
the woodcut and the “summaries” to the Dominicans in Azcapotzalco,
but it is not clear that this was the Nahuatl document, which apparently
was still in press the following year and which bears the date 1572 on
the extant copy. Although Schwaller concludes that Ocharte probably
did publish the work, more recently he has suggested (personal com¬
munication, 1999) that the surviving copy may have been taken from
pinter’s proofs, the imprint never actually having been issued.
16. Because of this emphasis on the rosary, Garibay K.
(1971:v.2:138) assumed that the drama is of Dominican origin;
Horcasitas (1974:7^) claims it for the Franciscans on the (probably
mistaken) assumption that all such productions were Franciscan, but
the rosary motif does not preclude a Franciscan origin.
17. The manuscript from which Bierhorst takes this statement is
Comedias en mexicano, a Nahuatl translation of three Spanish
comedias, Mexican manuscript 462, Bancroft Library, University of
California, Berkeley.
18. In the John Carter Brown Library’s copy of this book this
statement is scribbled out, apparently by the same reader who disap¬
proved of Anunciacion’s similar claims for the Hail Mary (see above,
text 8.2).
19. Read hue I tlacempanahuia.
20. Original has blank space where i belongs.
21. Original has blank space where r belongs.
22. Read ma iuh mochihua.
23. This refers to the nails and possibly the lance as well. The
verb refers to being repeatedly beaten or stoned.
24. Read notlagonantzine.
25. Read ma iuh mochihua.
26. That is, their tears are overflowing into their hands, or they
are collecting their tears in their hands and bringing them to Mary.
27. Text used in the liturgy for the Conception of Mary (e.g.,
Breviarium Romanum 1553: 8r; used also in the Psalmodia Christiana,
Sahagun 1993b;357, with “purity” and “truth” in inverted order, as
here). Pedro de la Vega (1569:142v) quotes this line in Spanish and
attributes it to Jerome’s oft-cited sermon on the Assumption, a work
now generally assigned to the ninth-century abbot Paschasius Radbert
(Graef 1963-65: v. 1:178-179).
28. Latin antiphon based on Song of Songs 2:2, used in the
liturgy for the Conception of Mary as well as her Nativity and As¬
sumption (Breviarium Romanum 1553:8r; Sahagun 1993b:357;
CANTUS: A Database for Gregorian Chant).
9
F riars probably began telling miracle legends to Nahuas as
soon as they could speak Nahuatl, and by the 1570s this
popular medieval genre was established in Nahuatl literature.
The Nahuatl stories, adapted from European sources, include
some of the most widely known medieval narratives. In Eu¬
rope these narratives circulated in numerous compendia, used
by preachers as sources of exempla to illustrate points of doc¬
trine. Mary often appears as the “Sinner’s Friend” (Power, in
Herolt 1928:xxvii). Indiscriminate in her mercy, she helps or
intercedes with Christ on behalf of devotees who are hardly
paragons of virtue and in some cases are half-witted or down¬
right wicked. Construed as Christianity’s most vigorous ally
against the Devil (Cervantes 1994:68; Russell 1984:161,271),
she rescues many who have put themselves in his power (as in
three of the narratives below). In many other stories, she re¬
wards the virtuous for their piety. Protagonists are often
Catholic religious personnel, reflecting the context of the sto¬
ries’ production and circulation, but lay people from all walks
of life are also represented.
Like miracles themselves, the Nahuatl miracle narratives
were called tlamahuizolli ‘something to be marveled at,’ a
term that in broader indigenous usage referred to any unex¬
pected and unusual event, whether beneficial or not. Spanish
exemplo and Latin exemplum were also borrowed for these
narratives, as well as for exemplary dramas, and the term
neixcuitilli ‘example,’ more commonly applied to dramas, was
sometimes used. The link between legend and drama was more
than lexical, as miracle narratives lent themselves readily to
dramatization and both genres served didactic ends. The Do¬
minican chronicler Francisco de Burgoa reported that one of
his colleagues, fray Martin Jimenes, produced plays on the
miracles of the rosary in the Mixteca (Arroniz 1979:130-
131; Horcasitas 1974:160). Similar dramatizations were prob¬
ably staged in Nahua areas as well.
The Virgin is not the only woman with an important role
in the miracle narratives: quite a few of the stories have fe¬
male protagonists. Given that relatively few female saints,
other than Mary, had their legends told in Nahuatl (Burkhart:in
press), the miracle stories are an important additional source
of narratives modeling female behavior. What the stories model
is pious devotion, but it serves the women as a means of em¬
powerment, albeit within the confines of medieval Christian
society.
Miracle Narratives
The Nahua chronicler Chimalpahin recounts a few local,
non-Marian miracles of the early seventeenth century in his
diary (1963-65:v.2), but these are his observations rather than
independent narratives circulating in the community. Lockhart
(1992:244) states that these are the only accounts of miracles
he knows of that are authored by a Nahua. Otherwise, ac¬
counts of local miracles do not seem to appear in Nahuatl
before the 1649 publication of the Guadalupe legend, which
in addition to the apparition story included fifteen narratives
about miracles associated with the shrine, some of them in¬
volving indigenous people (Laso de la Vega 1998; Poole 1995;
Santaballa 1995; Weckmann 1984:v.l:343), A variant of the
apparition legend, found in a Jesuit manuscript that probably
predates the 1649 book, could be considered an exception,
but its date and origins are impossible to ascertain for certain;
it also lacks the specificity of the canonical version (Burkhart
1993:215; James Lockhart, personal communication, 1990).
However, according to mendicant chroniclers, indigenous
people began experiencing Marian miracles as early as 13
years after the Franciscans began their mission. It is not sur¬
prising that the miracles Mary wrought on behalf of native
devotees resemble the imported European texts. For Nahuas
to undergo miraculous visions, cures, and rescues legitimized
their Christianity. This served their own ends and also those
of the friars who wished to represent them as good Christians.
While the friars who recorded these experiences may have
molded them into more conventional narrative forms, there
seems no reason to doubt that some Nahuas believed them¬
selves the beneficiaries of Mary’s intervention.'
Motolinia (1971:61; 1979:95-96) tells of a young man
named Juan de la Cruz from Santa Ana Chiauhtempan, near
Tlaxcala. The youth was in charge of bringing children to the
church for baptism, and thus was probably one of the boys
educated by the Franciscans. In 1537 Juan became ill and,
while his mother thought him dead, he believed he was car¬
ried off by black people^ along a difficult road to a dark place
of great torments. He called out to Saint Mary, asking why he,
who had brought the children to the church, should be cast
into such a place. He asked her to free him, promising to mend
his ways, and then his spirit returned to his body. He con¬
fessed, and then died some days later of the same sickness.
According to the same chronicler, Mary also helped a girl and
a young widow avoid rape. In the widow’s case, both she and
132 BEFORE GUADALUPE
her assailant were members of a confraternity devoted to Mary;
the woman was able to convince the man that raping her would
make them both unfit to participate in the confraternity’s ritu¬
als (Motolinia 1979:183).
On October 12, 1576, during the most severe of the
sixteenth-century epidemics, an elderly Nahua man named
Miguel de San Geronimo, a church official in Xochimilco
who brought boys to their catechism classes, was canoeing
on the lake. He saw a young woman standing on the water,
dressed in indigenous clothing. She told him to go to the
guardian of the Franciscan friary, who at the time was
fray Geronimo de Mendieta, and admonish him to preach to
the town that sinners must mend their ways and do penance
so that the epidemic would abate. Otherwise the whole town
would perish. She then disappeared, leaving a whirlwind in
the air and a whirlpool in the water. Mendieta, believing that
this was an authentic vision of Mary or at least of an angel,
preached as he was asked and, he writes, “perhaps it was of
some assistance” (Mendieta 1980:453; Torquemada 1975-
83:v.5:358-359).
A noblewoman of Xuchipila,^ married to a Spaniard, was
ill for three or four months. Believing herself near death, she
confessed to fray Gaspar Rodriguez and received communion
from him. At midnight Mary came to her, surrounded by a
saintly company and preceded by a Franciscan who lit the
way with a torch. The Virgin consoled the woman and gave
her some spoonfuls of medicine, telling her she did not wish
to take her for another month. The woman recovered some¬
what, told the friar of her vision, and died a month later.
Rodriguez passed the story along to Mendieta (1980:459-
460; Torquemada 1975-83:v.5:364).
Davila Padilla (1955:146) records a similar story of a
certain Martin who, on his deathbed, said to his mother, “My
mother, move aside. Do you not see the friars who come with
the cross, and that great Lady who comes to me offering the
holy rosary?” Other Nahuas also experienced miracles associ¬
ated with the rosary. When five residents of Tepoztlan took
shelter from a thunderstorm under one of the rock outcrops
surrounding that town, the two who were not wearing rosaries
were struck by lightning and killed (Davila Padilla 1955:615).
In 1541 fray Domingo de la Anunciacion, author of the rosary
text in chapter 8, prayed the rosary in order to bring back from
death a man from Tepetlaoztoc who had passed away several
hours before the friar was able to reach the town to give him
confession. The revenant reported on his encounter with
demons, and the angel who came to drive them away. He
confessed and then promptly died again (Davila Padilla
1955:615-616).
Some indigenous healers experienced less doctrinaire vi¬
sions of Mary, rejected by Catholic churchmen because they
assumed that such practitioners were in league with the Devil.
Jacinto de la Serna tells of Juan de la Cruz, from the mines of
Zacualpan, whom he interrogated and punished in 1646. De
la Cruz began his career after Mary appeared to him under a
golden arch from which four types of medicinal herbs were
suspended, drove away the illness from which he was suffer¬
ing, and ordered him to cure people with these plants (Serna
1953:103-105). Domingo Hernandez, a healer investigated
by Hernando Ruiz de Alarcon in the early seventeenth cen¬
tury, also reported Mary’s presence in one of his curing-re¬
lated visions (Ruiz de Alarcon 1982:260; these cases are
discussed by Gruzinski 1993:201-212).
Miracle-working images of Mary abounded in the cen¬
tral Nahua area during the early colonial era. These included
those of the major shrines of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our
Lady of the Remedies at Totoltepec, and possibly Our
Lady of Ocotlan just outside Tlaxcala (the status of this
shrine before the mid-seventeenth century is uncertain), as
well as many less famous shrines such as Our Lady of the
Angels at Tecaxic in the Toluca Valley and Our Lady of the
Purification atTulantongo nearTexcoco (Lockhart 1992:244,
247; Taylor 1996:282; Weckmann 1984:v. 1:342, 348). The
image known as La Conquistadora, given to a Tlaxcalan lord
by Cortes and later installed in the city of Puebla, revived
dead children and brought rain (Weckmann 1984:v. 1:348).
As documented by Weckmann (1984:v. 1:345-347), Mexico
City alone had at least 44 miraculous Marys in action by
around 1650, including one that, much as in one of the
narratives below, handed the child in her arms to Bishop Juan
Ramirez of Guatemala one day around the end of the six¬
teenth century. Another, in the indigenous district of Coatlan,
arrived in the waters of a 1580 flood and became a protector
of the local Nahuas. The Assumption painting in Santa Marfa
la Redonda brought rain to its Nahua district. The Domini¬
cans’ image of Our Lady of the Rosary provided dowries for
many orphan girls. Our Lady of the Valley at the convent of
the Consolacion de San Cosme made the waters of a deep well
rise in order to bring up the body of a drowned girl, who came
back to life. A Mary in the convent of Santa Clara went out to
stop a flood and came home wet and muddy. These are but a
few examples from what must have been, by the later six¬
teenth century, a lively discourse on local wonders involving
persons of Spanish background and Nahuas alike. Lockhart
(1992:245) notes of Chimalpahin that “Miracles associated
with images clearly fit within the normal operation of his
world”; the same could probably be said for most Nahuas of
the central area.
I have selected one published and ten unpublished
Nahuatl miracle narratives as a sample of this genre. The pub¬
lished one is part of a sermon; the others come from two manu¬
scripts that compile miracle legends as independent texts.
The John Carter Brown Library manuscript contains eight
Marian and two non-Marian tlamahuizolli, and the Jesuit
santoml contains 29 narratives, most of them relating to Mary.
Elsewhere I summarize the Marian narratives in the John Carter
Brown Library manuscript and comment more extensively on
the genre’s format in Nahuatl and its implications in the Nahua
context (Burkhart 1999).

I have identified the sources of these narratives as far
as possible. However, these stories often passed from text
to text, with variants of the same story appearing in differ¬
ent compendia. This complicates any attempt to determine
1. Fray Juan de la Anunciacibn, Sermonario en lengua mexicana, 1577
Anunciacion closes his sermons for the Feast of the Annun¬
ciation with this story of a robber knight and his devil servant.
This version is very similar to those that Jacobus de Voragine
(1993:v. 1:201-202) and Pedro de la Vega (1569:209r) present
in the same context. Other versions include one in the very
widely used fifteenth-century collection compiled by the
Dominican Johannes Herolt (1928:96, #68) and two variants
in the early-fifteenth-century Libro de los exenplos por a.b.c.
by Clemente Sanchez de Vercial, the largest Spanish-language
collection of medieval legends (1961:9, 57 #45, 205-206
#266). That the praying of the Hail Mary is all that is needed
to secure salvation is a familiar topos in the medieval miracle
compendia. Vega (1569:209r) concludes his version of this
legend with this statement: “The angelic salutation is a dart
with which the demons are wounded, and they flee when they
* *
[147r] Auh ca cenca miec in machiotl, yuan tlamahuiijolli
omuchiuh ynic neci, in quenin cenca tla^otli yn tetlapaloliztli
in Aue Maria. Yzcatqui centlamantli, ce tlacatl oncatca pilli
cecni ohtenco yn icaya ycal, ayac niman quitlaocoliaya yn
ixquichtin oncan qui^aya, muchintin quincuicuiliaya yn
intlatqui. Auh macihui y cenca tlaueliloc catca, yece huel
ytetzinco momatia in ciuapilli sancta Maria: ca in manel cenca
ytla quitequipachoaya, aye quicauaya in quimotlapalhuiz,
cecemilhuiti quitoaya yn itiapalolocatzin Aue Maria. Auh
ceppa ypantic oncan valla ce teopixqui, quinnauati yn itian
nemi, ynic yazque tetlatlaijaltitihui. Auh yn ichtecque ypan
acito in teopixqui, quintlatlauhti, ynic yhuic quihuicazque
yn intecuiyo, yehica ca 9an ychtaca quimononochiliznequia,
yuan centlamantli quimonextililiz, y cenca [147v] ytech
monequi. Auh yn iquac oquiualmohuiquilique teopixqui yn
iyxpan Cauallero: quimotlatlauhtili, ynic motlanauatiliz
muchintin yxpantzinco vallazque mocentlalizque, yn
ixquichtin ytlan nemi, ynic quimmocaquitiliz yn itlatoltzin
totecuiyo DIOS. Auh yn iquac omochintin monechicoque,
niman quito in teopixqui, ca ayamo muchintin cenqui9a ca
9a oc aca in mocahua. Auh ceme yehuantin in oncan nemi
quito, ca 9a yyo yn mayordomo calpixqui ayac. Auh in caual¬
lero tlanauati ynic vallaz. Niman yciuhea valla in mayordomo,
auh yn iquac oquimottili teopixqui, niman quicuep yn
iyxtelolo huel temamauhti, yuhqui ahuic tlatlachiaya yuh-
qui motzonteconhuihuixoaya, yuhqui loco muchiuh, auh
MIRACLE NARRATIVES 133
precisely which of the many collections of such narratives
were actually in use in the colony. Once translated into
Nahuatl, the narratives may also have circulated in mul¬
tiple copies.
hear the holy words of the Hail Mary.” Through narratives
such as this, the popular faith in the prayer was passed along
to Nahuas.
Anunciacion’s text uses the loanwords caballero and
mayordomo (the demon is a camarero in Vega’s version) but
also gives the Nahuatl equivalents pilli ‘noble’ and calpixqui
‘steward.’ In New Spain the term mayordomo was used for
managers of Spanish estates, who were themselves usually
Spaniards but of lower social status than the landowners; some
Nahua estate-owners, emulating the Spanish system, used the
term for their own administrators (Horn 1997:173,203). Oddly,
the Spanish word loco ‘crazy,’ used in the same place in Vega’s
text, is also borrowed into the Nahuatl. The presence of these
words suggests that Anunciacion’s immediate source was in
Spanish rather than Latin.
#
[ 147r] And a great many signs and marvels occurred by which
it is evident how very precious is the greeting, the Hail Mary.
Here is one. There was a certain noble whose house used to
stand on the edge of the road in a certain place. He would
have compassion for none soever. All those who used to pass
by there, he used to take their goods from all of them. But
even though he was very wicked, nevertheless he was fond of
the noblewoman. Saint Mary. Even if he was very preoccu¬
pied with something, he would never neglect to greet her.
Every day he would say her greeting. Hail Mary. And once it
happened that a certain priest came there. [The noble] com¬
manded those who lived with him to go, to go and rob
someone. But when the thieves approached the priest, he be-
seeched them to take him to their lord, because he wanted to
advise him in secret, and show him something that was very
[147v] necessary for him. And when they brought the priest
before the knight, he beseeched him to command all who
lived with him that they all come before him, that they gather
together, so that he could cause them to hear the words of our
lord God. And when they all were assembled, then the priest
said, “They have not yet all come out together. There is still
someone left.” And one of those who lived there said, “Only
the majordomo, the steward is absent.” And the knight com¬
manded that he come. Then the majordomo came quickly.
But when he saw the priest, then he turned his eyes around. It
was quite frightening. It was as if he was looking back and
134 BEFORE GUADALUPE
amo motlapalo ynic ytlan miquaniz teopixqui. Auh in
yehuatzin teopixqui yn iquac oquimottili quimoihuili, yea
yn itocatzin totemaquixticatzin lESV CHRISTO, nimitztla-
tlania xinechilhui ac tehuatl? yuan tleyca nican otihualla?
auh in yehuatl quito. O notlahueliltic ca vel nicuitlahuiltilo,
ynic nicnocuitiz in neltiliztli. Ca ye nelli ca amo nitlacatl, ca
nitlacateculotl, ca ye caxtolxihuitl in nican ytlan ninemi yn
pilli. Auh ynic onihualla, ypampa yn iquac cemilhuitl
quicauaz in amo quimotlapalhuiz sancta MARIA, ca niman
nicmictiz, huel ytech nimayahuiz, yuan nicuicaz yciuhea
mictlan. Auh ca muchipa cenca in quitztinemi, yuan
niepixtinemi aye oquicauh in manel cemilhuitl, muchipa
quimotlapalhuia, yn ica ytlapalolocatzin Aue Maria yn DIOS
ynantzin. Ypampa y, aye onihuelit in ma nictolini yn ma
nicuica mictlan. Auh yn iquac oquicac y in cauallero, huel
cenca momauhti, niman ycxitlan mixtlapachtlaz in teopixqui,
yuan quimotlatlauhtili, ynic quiyolcuitiz niman monemiliz-
cuep quicauh in tlatlaculli, yn ipan catca yn ipan nemia, huel
qualli ynic quitzonquixti ynemiliz. Auh in tlacateculotl yn
imayordomo catca cauallero, niman poliuhtihuetz, auh yn
ixquichtin oncan catca ceca quimoyectenehuilique yuan
quimotla^ocamachitique in ciuapilli sancta MARIA. Yehica
y9a90 ac tehuatl tichristiano intlacamo tipolihuiznequi, yn
ipan yxquich motlatequipanoliz, ano^o yn ipan ixquich
monetequipachol, muchipa xiemotzatzilili yn ciuapilli sancta
MARIA: ynic mitzmopalehuiliz, yuan mopampa quimotla-
tlauhtiliz yn itla90Conetzin, maca yc xicmolcahuili, muchipa
xicmonochili, ma huel moyollo ytech ycuiliuhtie y cenca
mahuiztic ytocatzin: yuan muchipa xicmotlapalhui yea yn
itlapalolocatzin Aue MAWA, ytetzinco [148r] ximocauayuan
ytetzinco ximixeuiti yea yn inemiliztzin, yuan yn ichipaua-
liztzin, ca yc tiquicnopilhuiz yn igraciatzin totecuiyo Dios,
yua yn itetlamachtiayantzinco in gloria.
2. Doctrina, evangelios y epfstolas en nahuatl, late sixteenth century
Codex Indianorum 7, The John Carter Brown Library, Brown University
The first narrative below actually names its source: the book
Scala celi by the fourteenth-century Dominican Johannes
Gobius, an alphabetically-arranged compilation of exempla
that includes seventeen Marian miracle narratives (Gobius
1480). The translator of the text may have worked directly
from Gobius or from an intermediary source based on Gobius.
The Nahuatl narrative follows Gobius’s version closely but is
an abridged version of it. Herolt published a partial cognate
of this story, which he borrowed from Vincent of Beauvais’s
Speculum historiale (Herolt 1928:35-36, #19).
Despite its Middle Eastern setting and Jewish characters,
this tale of baptism and marital conflict between Christian
and non-Christian spouses had local resonance. Franciscans
publicized the story of Acxotecatl, the Tlaxcalan nobleman
who murdered his wife and his Christian son, the famous
forth, it was as if he was shaking his head, it was as if he had
become crazy. But he did not dare to move away from the
priest.** And the priest, when he saw him, said to him, “By the
name of our rescuer, Jesus Christ, I ask you, tell me, who are
you? And why did you come here?” And he said, “Oh how
wretched I am! For I am quite obliged to confess the truth. It
is true that I am not a person. I am a demon. For fifteen years
now I have lived here with the noble. And I came because,
when one day he neglects to greet Saint Mary, then I will kill
him, I will hurl him down, and I will whisk him off to the
place of the dead. But he is always very attentive to her.
And I go about guarding him. He has never neglected it,
not even one day. He always greets God’s mother with her
greeting. Hail Mary. Therefore I have never been able to af¬
flict him, to take him to the place of the dead.” And when the
knight heard this he was very frightened. Then he threw
himself face down at the priest’s feet, and he beseeched him
to confess him. Then he turned around his life, he abandoned
the sins in which he had been, in which he was living. He
brought his life to an end in quite a good way. And the
demon who had been the knight’s majordomo then suddenly
disappeared. And all who were there greatly praised and
gave thanks to the noblewoman. Saint Mary. Therefore,
whoever you are, you Christian, if you do not want to perish
in all your labors, or perhaps in all your anxieties, always
cry out to the noblewoman. Saint Mary, so that she will help
you, and for your sake she will pray to her precious child.
May you never forget it; always call to her. Let her very hon¬
ored name be written right on your heart. And always greet her
with her greeting. Hail Mary. Entrust yourselves to her, [ 148r]
and take her as your example, with her life and her purity.
Thus you will obtain the grace of our lord God, and his place
of happiness, glory.
Cristobal, along with the tales of other child martyrs (Mendieta
1980:236-245; Motolinia 1979:176-181; Torquemada 1975-
83:v.5:132-156). Preconquest religion had built an entire com¬
plex of belief and ritual around the occurrence of death in
childbirth. Here, Mary’s own ease in delivery is enjoyed also by
an ordinary woman who, on the verge of death, appeals to her
for help. In a preconquest setting this woman would have died
and been apotheosized. But instead she becomes a Christian
and lives: childbed conversion and painless parturition replace
death and deification (see fuller discussion in Burkhart 1999).
The main characters are not explicitly designated as Jews in
the Nahuatl, as they are in Gobius, this label being reserved for
villains in Nahuatl texts. Part of folio 68 is tom off, such that
several lines are missing from both sides. I supply the gist of the
lost text, based on Gobius.

[67r] Izcatqui Occentlamatli. tlamahui9olli Ca yuh mitohua
In ipa amostli yn itoca de scalla celli. Ca ce tlacatl ^ihuatzintli
ludea. ychan otztiticatca. Auh yn iquac ye tlacachihuazneq’ya.
Cenca tlayhiyohui ^an quichixtimotecac yn imiquiz Auh yn
iquac yn icalnahuac tlaca yn ococacque. nima huallaque.
quitlapalloque Auh quilhuique. man xicmotlatlauhtilli yn S.ta
ma.“tzin. Ca ceca tetlaocolliani Auh yn hehuatl Cenca 9a queni.
huallato. quimolhuilli. yn. S.ta ma.‘‘tzin. O 9ihuapilli sancta
ma.“tzin Ma xinechmotlaocollilitzino ma9ihui yn amo
nomacehual Ca yntechpa niq’z ynhuatin.^ yn quimoma-
ma9ohualtilIique. yn motla90Conetzin Cenca huel nicmati
Ca tiquinmotlaocollililiya yn tlatlacohuani Auh yn axca yntla
tinechmomaquistilliz Ca nelli huel niccemitohua Ca tonehua
titoquatequizque. y noconeouhui* Auh yn ixquich cahuitl.
huallacachiuh Aquen mochiuh Auh yn yoq’chhui. aya catca
hueca neca Ic nima cona yn iconeuh [67v] Auh ca y nehua
moquatequique. Auh yn iyoq’chhui yn iquac hualmocuep
nima comatico yn omoquatequi yn inamic yhuan ipiltzin.
Auh nima cocuic yn itepozmaquauh ynic quiquechhuitec. yn
piltontli Auh yn inatzin. nima ye tzatzi. Auh yn oquicacque
yn icalnahuac tlaca. nima ye hualmotlallohua Auh yn oquichtli
nima teixpapa yh ehuac Auh yn altepetl Ca nohuiya
tenametoca ynic amo huel q’z. Inic 9an occeppa hualmocuep.
Nima ye tlatemotinemi yn cani momaquistiz Auh cecni ypa
qui9ato ynglesia yn tonatzin sancta m.“ nima honca ocallac
Oncan q’nmochialtito. In canaznequi. nima Oquito Cuix
nelloc’ niqui9az. nima Conitac yn ixiptlatzin yn s..ta ma.Hzin
Cenca ytechtzinco mochicauh ytechtzinco moyollali. Quito
Ce* nechmomaquistilliz Ic nima ye quimotlatlauhtilliya. Nima
ye quimolhuilia Inyoyahue Onotlahuelliltic. Ca ceca
honitlatlaco ynic onicmicti. Nopiltzin. Inyonyahue. Mariaye
Ca cenca titetlaocolliani Ca hamo tinechmotopehuillia. Ca
huel ic nicmati Ca ceca huey y moteicnoytta[68r]liztzin Auh
yn axca. ma mopaltzinco. xinechmotlaocollilitzino. yn iuh
oquimotlaocollili. y motla90conetzin yn. s. pablo yn iquac
Cenca quitoliniaya. yn xpianome. Ca nelli huel nicneltoca ca
yehuatzin yn lesus. mitictzinco omonacayotitzino Auh
omotlacatilli Auh amo yc polliuh y mochpochyontzin No
yhua nicneltoca. Ca nelli dios. Ca yehuatzin yn ticchixtineca.
In ceca tetlaocolliani. Auh ye oncan chocaticac yn ixpatzinco
yn. s.ta ma.^tzin. nima huallaque In teteucti yn tlatoque yn
topilleque. Onca comaylpico. Auh nima ye quitohua yn
yehuatl. totecuiyonhuane. Ma nimiqui. Ca nel onitlatlaco
9an ye ixquich noconitohua ma ninoquatequi. ma anecho-
momictillizque. Ca yc noyollo pachiuhtiaz Auh yn tlacamo
[torn page]
[68v] [quauhjCalco. contlallito Auh yn inamic 9an oc
quitzticatca yn iconeuh. hiyxpan^ huetztoca. Qan ihuiyan
yn he'® mohollinitoc. nima hualmeuh. Auh nima ye
MIRACLE NARRATIVES 135
[67r] Here is another marvel, as it is told in the book called
Scala cell. A certain dear" woman, a resident of Judea, was
pregnant. And when she was about to give birth, she suffered
very much. She just lay awaiting her death. And when her
neighbors heard her, then they came, they greeted her. And
they said to her, “May you pray to Saint Mary. She is very
compassionate.” And she spoke up a bit. She said to Saint
Mary, “Oh noblewoman. Saint Mary, may you have compas¬
sion for me, even though it is not my desert. For I come from
those who stretched your precious child by the hands. Very well
do I know that you have compassion for those who sin. And
now if you will save me, I do declare it to be true that we both
will be baptized,'^ [I and] my child.” And all the time that she
was giving birth, nothing happened.'^ And her husband was
not there yet; he was living far away. So then she took her
child. [67v] And they were both baptized. And when her hus¬
band came back, then he found out that his wife was baptized,
along with his little child And then he took his sword, with
which he cut the little child’s neck. And his'"* mother there¬
upon cried out. And when her neighbors heard her, thereupon
they came running. And the man then fled. But the city was
walled everywhere, such that he could not get out.'-’ So once
again he came back. Thereupon he was going about seeking a
place to save himself. And in a certain place he went past a
church of our mother. Saint Mary. Then he entered there. There
he went to wait for those who wanted to seize him. Then he
said, “Perhaps truly I will get out yet.” Then he saw the image
of Saint Mary. He was greatly encouraged by it and consoled
by it. He said, “She will save me!” So then he was praying to
her. Thereupon he said, “Alas! Oh how wretched I am! I have
sinned greatly, for I have killed my little child. Alas! Oh Mary,
you are very compassionate. You do not push me away. Well
do I know that your pity is very great. [68r] And now, may
you, by your will, have compassion for me, as your precious
child had compassion for Saint Paul when he was greatly
afflicting the Christians. I do believe it is true that Jesus be¬
came flesh inside you. And he was born. But your maidenhood
was not destroyed by it. And I also believe that he is the true
God, whom we were going about awaiting.” He is very com¬
passionate.” And while he was standing there weeping before
Saint Mary, then the lords, the rulers, the constables came.
They came to tie him by the hands there. And thereupon he
said, “Oh our lords, may it be that I die, for I have truly sinned.
All I have to say is, may I be baptized before you kill me.'^
Thus I will be satisfied. And if not...”
[Page is torn. In Gobius, after asking the curia to allow him to
be baptized, the man states that if they deny him he will ac¬
cept Jesus Christ as the giver of baptism and be baptized in
his own blood instead of water. Dumbfounded, the authorities
permit him to be baptized and then lead him to jail.]
[68v] in the jail they went to place him. And his spouse was
still just looking at her child who lay fallen before her. He just
lay there moving a little bit, then he arose. And thereupon he
136 BEFORE GUADALUPE
quihuetzquillia yn inatzin. Auh nima conilhuico Ca homo-
quatequi y moq’chhui. Cenca papac. nima ymatitech cona-
tiqui. yn iconeuh. nima ye quimotlalochtiya. yn tecpan yn
opa catca yn teuctlatoque. Auh niman ymixpa Coquetzato.
huel neztoc yn oca quiquechhuitec yn itatzin. Auh yn ixquich-
tin tlatoque yn ocan honoca. Cenca tlamahui9oque nima
hualquistilloc. yn itatzin yn oca quauhcalco Auh yn ipiltzin
nima teyxpa moquetz cenca tzatzic. quimoyectene-
huilli. yn S.ta ma.“tzin. quito. Ca yn. S.ta ma.Hzin. Cenca
[tetlaoco?]lliani. teyollaliani. mochipa huel...
[torn page]
[69r] quimoyectenehuillique yn tonatzin .S.ta ma.“tzin
Auh yn itatzin amo quen quichiuhque Auh ceca huel
quimotlayecoltillitine yn .s.ta mariatzin. Auh ceca huel
mozcalli huel miyec quitlalli tlatolli ynic quimahuac. yn
Judiome. yn amo quineltocaznequi. yn lesu x®. Auh yn ipil¬
tzin. no ceca huel monemilti. huel mochipa. quimotlayecol¬
tillitine. yn 9ihuapilli. yn S.ta ma.Hzin.
A version of the following story is in Sanchez de
Vercial’s fifteenth-century collection (1961:217 #280).'®
Mary’s devotee gets to cuddle baby Jesus, sharing with
Mary the intimacies of motherhood: the humanizing trend
in medieval devotion is in full flower here. The Christ
child himself prays the Hail Mary along with the woman,
[71r] Quimitalhuia yn .s.to aselmo yn ipa amostli yn ocan
ycuilliuhtoc In itlamahui^olchihualiztzin yn totla9onatzin
.S.“ ma.“tzin ce tlacatl ^ivatzintli cenca Itech huetztineca [71 v]
yn iyollo yn .s.ta ma.^tzin mochipa quimotlatlauhtilliaya Auh
cetlamatli in quitlanilliaya yhehuatP" ynic quinextilliz yn
itla90conetzin yn leso xpo yn iquac ceca he huecauh yn
quimotlatlauhtillitinemi Auh ceppa omochiuh tlatlatlauh-
titicaca yn iglesia Oncan quimonextilli ynic ceca tetlaocolliani
mochi tlacatl guimotlaocollilia^' quimolhuilli yn 9ihuatzintli
mochihuaz yn tleyn ticnequi yehica Ca huel titlaneltoca Auh
yn hehuatzin yn jeso x.” nima hualmonextitzino yuhqui yn
ce piltzintli Cenca pepetlaca yuhqui yn agel Cenca quinequi
y ma quihuallana y ma quihualnapallo yn 9ihuatzintli Auh
yn hehuatl yc ceca papac. ayac huel quitoz yn queni moyollali
Niman ic conapallo Cenca quitla90cama yn to." lex." yhua yn
itla9onatzin Quimolhuilliaya O dios ynatzin .S.ta ma.Hzin.
Tley nimitznomaquilliz Tleyn ic nimitznocueppilliliz [72r]
Inic ceca otinechmocnellilitzino yn otinechmonextillilitzino
y motla9oconetzin yn lesu x°. Auh yn iquac yn he ymac ca y
piltzintli Cenca papacticatca Ceca hahahuixticatca Nima ye
laughed at his mother. And then he came to say to her, “Your
husband has been baptized.” She was very joyful. Then she
came and took her child by the hand. Thereupon she rushed
him off to the palace where the lordly rulers were. And then
she went to stand him up in front of them. It looked well,
where his father had cut his neck."* And all the rulers who were
there marveled very much. Then his father was brought out
from the jail. And his little child then stood before the people.
He cried out greatly. He praised Saint Mary. He said, “Saint
Mary is very compassionate, consoling, always quite...”
[Page is torn. In Gobius he praises Mary’s virginity and moth¬
erhood, then all praise her.]
[69r] they praised our mother. Saint Mary. And they did not do
anything to his father. And he went about serving Saint Mary
very well. And he taught himself very well, he established
many words with which he reprimanded the Jews, who do not
want to believe in Jesus Christ. And his little child also lived
very well. He always went about serving the noblewoman.
Saint Mary.
# #
reinforcing the prayer’s authority but also playing the part
of a devotee despite his identity as God. By also comment¬
ing on how he was once inside his mother’s body, he
emphasizes his own humanity and his subjection to his
mother’s authority—on which Mary’s supplicants depended
for their salvation.
* #
[71r] Saint Anselm says, in abook where the marvelous deeds
of our precious mother. Saint Mary, lie written, that a certain
dear woman’s heart was very attracted toward [71 v] Saint Mary.
She was always praying to her. And she would ask her for one
thing, that she would show her her precious child, Jesus Christ.
It was when she had gone about praying to her for a very long
time. And one time it happened. She stood praying in the
church. There she appeared to her, as she is very compassion¬
ate, she has compassion for every person. She said to her,
“Dear woman, what you want will Ijappen, because you be¬
lieve well.” And Jesus Christ then appeared. It was as if he
were a little child, very resplendent, as if he were an angel.
The dear woman longed to take him and carry him in her arms.
And so she was very joyful. No one can say how contented
she was. Thereupon she carried him in her arms. She thanked
our lord Jesus Christ and his precious mother very much. She
was saying to her, “Oh, mother of God, Saint Mary, what will
I give you, how can I return to you [72r] the great favor that you
have done me? You have shown me your precious child, Jesus
Christ.” And when the little child was in her hands she was very

quinahuatequi q’lhuia Ma xiquito yn pater noster Ca ceca yc
nipapaq’z Nima yc quitohua Auh yn ocoquisti Occeppa
quihualmolhuilli Ma oc he xiquito yn agel ytetlapalloliz nima
ye quitohua yn aue ma.“ gratia., plena Auh y piltzintli Nima
yhuicpa omocuep yn s. ma.’tzin yn tleyn conitohuaya In
cihuatzintli ^an no yehuatl conitohuaya y piltzintli Auh yn
iquac yn he conitohua Et penedictos froctos vetris toE^ &c.
Ca cenca qualli Ca cenca yectli y mitictzinco motlallitzino
yn jesu x*’. Niman quihuallito ynpiltzin Ca nehuatl. yn
mitictzinco nicatca yn oquihualmitalhui yc ceca huellic^^
pachiuh yn iyollo In cihuatzintli Scan cenca moyollali
motlamachti Niman ic opolliuh O nica vel ne9i Ca yn agel
[72v] ytetlapalloliz yn Aue ma.“ Ca ceca q’papaquiltia yn to.“
heica Ca oquimonequiltitzino Inic no hehuatl quimitalhuiz
ynic otechmomachtilli Inic toyollocacopa yuh ticchihuazque:.
Like the story of the Jewish family, this next legend is in
Gobius’s Scala cell (Gobius 1480). However, the Nahuatl ver¬
sion bears a closer resemblance to the variant published by
Herolt, which he borrowed from Vincent of Beauvais (Herolt
1928:64-65, #39). The thirteenth-century Castilian cleric and
poet Gonzalo de Berceo composed a verse version of the story
(1944:137-145). Sanchez de Vercial has a narrative in which
Mary saves a child from drowning by wrapping him in her
mantle (1961:218-219 #282).
The association of souls of the dead with birds was com¬
mon in the Old World (Warner 1976:38) and was also an in¬
digenous concept. The souls of those who died in battle or
sacrifice rose to the home of the sun and after four years re¬
turned as birds (Sahagun 1950-82:bk.3:49; Burkhart 1992b).
The souls of dead children sucked nectar from the blossoms
of a great tree, as if they were birds {Codice Vaticano Latino
3738 1964:16-17; Furst 1995:25-27). Furst documents the
widespread association of the -yoiia with birds, including
doves, and other winged creatures among contemporary
■S’ ^ *
[72v] Ca cequintin Acaltica yetihuia Span huia yn Jelosalen
Auh yn acalco Ca dean yhetihuia obApo yhua ceca mienquitin
yn pipilti Auh yn hehuatl yn atl yn iquac ye quitzayana yn
acalli Nima valmoquetztiquiz yn .obFpo. Ce onca ytic ono-
tihuia Acatontli onca omotlalli yhua yn oceequintin Auh yn
ce tlacatl In iquac le onmotlallizquia yn acalco Ca niman
atlan hdhuetz vnea pollac Aoemo hualpanhuetz Auh yn
ixquichtin Acalco Catca Oc nen ilhuicacpa otzatzian Nima
honnaten yn imacal yc mochintin opollacque Nima ye
mochoquillia yn obispo yn ipapa tlatlatlauhtiaya yn anima-
me Auh yn ocan atlan Nima qui[73r]mitac yuhquima
huillotzitzinti patlantihui tlecotihui tlecotihui yn ilhuicac
MIRACLE NARRATIVES 137
joyful, she was very delighted. Thereupon she embraced him. He
said to her, “May you say the Our Father. Thus I will be very
joyful.” Thereupon she said it. And when she had dispatched it,
he said to her again, “May you yet say the angel’s greeting.”
Thereupon she said. Hail Mary full of grace. And the little
child then turned toward Saint Mary. What the dear woman
was saying the little child was saying too. And when she was
saying. And blessed is the fruit of your womb, “very good,
very proper is that which was placed inside you, Jesus Christ,”
then her little child said, “It is I, I was inside you.” When he
said this, thus the dear woman was very well satisfied, she was
very contented and happy there. Thereupon he disappeared.
Oh, here it is quite evident that the angel’s [72v] greeting, the
Hail Mary, pleases our lord very much, because he wanted to
say it too. Thus he taught us, so that we will do it willingly.
Nahuatl-speakers, and suggests that such beliefs may have
facilitated the adoption of angel iconography into native art
(1995:27-32).
The motif of Mary’s mantle or cloak was popularized
through fourteenth- and fifteenth-century iconography of the
Madonna of Mercy, which showed a large figure of Mary shel¬
tering her devotees under her cloak. This image was banned
by the Council of Trent because it seemed to imply Mary’s
sovereignty independent of her intercession with Christ
(Warner 1976:327-328). Mary is also associated with tilmahtli,
garments that in New Spain marked their wearers as indig¬
enous, in texts 7.2 and 7.3. In the Guadalupe legend Mary of
course chooses one of these garments as the medium for her
miraculous image. The John Carter Brown Library manuscript
also contains a text called Mary’s mantle, although here the
loanword imantotzin is used. The devotee is advised to cre¬
ate, by making offerings, fasting, attending mass, and praying
Mary’s corona, the mantle in which Mary will wrap his or her
soul at death (98r-98v).
^
[72v] Some people were traveling by ship. They were going
to Jerusalem. And in the ship there were traveling a bishop
and a great many nobles. And when the water was breaking
the ship, then the bishop got up and came out. He got into a
little boat that they had along,“ along with some of the oth¬
ers. But one person, when he^’ was about to get into the boat,
then he fell into the water. There he was submerged; he no
longer came to the surface. And all those who were still in the
ship were crying out in vain to heaven. Then their ship filled
with water; thus they were all submerged. Thereupon the
bishop wept. He was praying on behalf of their^* souls. And
there in the water, then [73r] he saw what were like little doves^^
138 BEFORE GUADALUPE
nima huel quima Ca yehuatin yn animame In icnihua In
atlan; omomiquillique Ic cenca mochoquilliaya quitohua-
yan Tleyca yn amo yhua onimic i nocnihuan ynic no yhua
honitlecozquia yn ilhuicac Auh yn iquac yn ohualquiz-
que In ateco Nima quittaque yn imicniuh yn lancachto
Onhuetzcayn atlan. yoltican Acaque mochihuaAuh yn iquac
yn oq’.ttaque Cenca yuhqui mi^ahuique. Nima he quitla-
tlania In tleyn ipa omochiuh Nima quite Ca yn iquac yn he
nohuetzi yn atlan Nima nictzatzilli In tonatzin yn itocatzin
yn .S.ta ma.Hzin In iquac ye tla ninohuetzin. Niq’lnamictia
yn itocatzin. Ca yn hehuatzin Amo quimolcahuillia yn
itla^ohuan yn huellitechtzinco^"' motemachiya yn he oca
In atlan Nopa hualmotemohui tilmatica nechtlapachoco.
[73v] Niman ic nica Antenco nechtlapachotia ynic nechhual-
mohuiquilli Auh yn iquac yn oyuh conito hi. Nima cenca
quimoyectenehuillique In .S.ta maHzin ^a no yuh yehuatzin
yn tonatzin .S.ta matre yglesia quicuicayhehua^^ yn iquac
mitohua Conpletas tonatzine Cihuapille ychpochtle ma
xitechmomaq’xtilli Inic amo tipollihuizque &.
3. Sermones y santoral en mexicano, early seventeenth century
Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley
Mexican manuscript 464 (continuation of Biblioteca Nacional manuscript 1476)
The miracle narratives in the Bancroft Library’s portion of
this Jesuit manuscript are written in indigenous scribal hands,
similar to that of the oration cycle, and annotated in the same
hand that transcribed the sermons on Mary’s birth (text 2.1)
and Assumption (text 7.2). Most are grouped into sets and
numbered in sequence. Of the seven narratives presented here,
the first five are from one series, the “Musa” story is from
another, and the final story is from a set of rosary miracle
narratives.
The story of Theophilus is one of the oldest and most
popular of all miracle legends, with versions in nearly all
European languages. It is the source of the Faust story and of
the concept of the demonic pact, and thus indirectly contrib¬
uted to the witch craze of Renaissance Europe (Russell
1984:80-81). It concerns a clergyman of Cilicia, in Asia
Minor, who turns down a bishopric only to be ousted from
his administrative post by the new bishop; he then seeks
redress from the Devil. Some versions of the story have
somewhat different accounts of Theophilus’s employment
history, but all agree that he promised himself to the Devil in
return for worldly position and signed a written contract
that, once he repents of his error, Mary retrieves from hell.
As most versions cast a Jew in the role of intermediary with
the Devil, the story reflected and fomented European anti-
Semitism (Russell 1984:81).
The legend originated in Anatolia and was first written in
Greek in the sixth century. The Greek version survives in two
later copies, one of which bears a note that purports to have
go flying, go ascending, go ascending to heaven. Then he
was certain that they were the souls of his friends who had
died in the water. Thus he was weeping profusely, he was
saying, “Why did I not die with my friends, so that 1 too could
have ascended to heaven with them?” And when [those in the
lifeboat] came out on the shore, then they saw their friend
who had fallen in the water first. He was alive; he was not hurt
anywhere. And when they saw him they were thus very aston¬
ished. Thereupon they asked him what happened to him. Then
he said, “When I was falling in the water, then I cried out our
mother’s name. Saint Mary. When I was falling I remembered
her name. She does not forget her precious ones, who really
have confidence in her. Right then she descended upon me in
the water, she came to cover me with a mantle. [73v] Thereupon
here to the shore she went covering me, in this way she carried
me.” And when he had said this, then they greatly praised
Saint Mary, just like our mother. Holy Mother Church, intones
when compline^® is said, “Oh our mother, oh noblewoman,
oh maiden, may you rescue us so that we will not perish.”
been written by one Eutychianos, a member of Theophilus’s
household who witnessed the events (Boyd 1964:128; Plenzat
1967:16-17; Russell 1984:80). It was translated into Latin
around 840 by Paul the Deacon, a learned monk from Naples,
and circulated widely after the tenth-century abbess and play¬
wright Hroswitha of Gandersheim wrote a poetic adaptation
of Paul’s text (Boyd 1964:128; Graef 1963-65:v. 1:170-171,
204; Plenzat 1967:17-20, 26-30; Russell 1984:81 n40).
Voragine put it in the Golden Legend under Mary’s nativity
(1993:v.2:157) and Herolt placed it in his collection of Marian
miracles (1928:68-69 #42). Of all Marian miracle narratives,
this is the one most often adapted into verse and drama (Boyd
1964:6). Spanish tellings include Sanchez de Vercial’s narra¬
tive version (1961:201-202 #261) and poetic treatments in
Alfonso X’s Cantigas (Alfonso X 1986—89:v. 1:61-62#3) and
by Gonzalo de Berceo (1944:162-192 #24). Pictorial ver¬
sions survive in illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, and
sculpture. On the north portal of Notre Dame in Paris, Mary
holds the devil down with a sword while she yanks
Theophilus’s contract from his claw (Warner 1976:324).
Graef (1963-65:v.l:171) calls the story “one of the most
powerful influences in the spread of an ever-increasing belief
in the never-failing efficacy of Mary’s intercession.” It sur¬
vived the Catholic Reformation: Canisius included it in his
anti-Protestant treatise on the Virgin (1577:680), Pedro de
Rivadeneira placed a short version at the end of his biogra¬
phy of Mary (1669:65), and Jesuits were still dramatizing it
in the seventeenth century (Plenzat 1967:211-213).

The Nahuatl version cites two sources. In the right-
hand margin at the beginning of the text is the name of
Simeon (Simon in the Nahuatl) Metaphrastes, author of a
tenth-century collection of saints’ legends in Greek and a
saint in the Eastern Church (Delaney and Tobin 1961:1061).
At the end is the phrase “Surio recounts it.” This is, presum¬
ably, Laurentius Surius, a sixteenth-century German
Carthusian who authored 36 volumes on the saints and other
matters of religion (DuMoustier 1967:820-821 ).^'This
post-Tridentine version of the story does not show Mary
actually vanquishing the devil or pardoning Theophilus. She
goes away, presumably to talk to Christ, although this is not
explained, and then returns with the news that Theophilus is
forgiven. And the contract appears mysteriously on his chest
[28 Ir] [nuestvdi s^ vuelve a teofilo la cedula q«e avia hecho al
demonio p”. ser obispo]
[Theofilo]
[simon metafrastes]
Ce itoca catca Teofilo ytlapixcauh ytlatlaticauh catca
ce obispo. Auh yn itlatqui quinxexelhuiaia yn motolini-
catzitzintin, auh yn iquac mic yn obispo in quitoqwe
altepeuaque ayoc ac in teyacancauh, quitoque yn oncan
altepehuaqwe ma toteyacancauh ma toobispo mochi-
hua yn teofilo yuh quinec yn obispo Electo Auh ypan
quitlatocatlali yn obispo yn teofilo yn ipan teopixcatequitl
obispoyotl Auh 9atepan quicahualtiqwe in teofilo yn
obispotequitl yn ipanpa ahuel quichihuaya yn itequiuh auh
yn yehuatl vel pappac huel moyollali ynic auctle itequiuh
yn 9a quixcahuiz quimononochiliz quimotlatlauhtiliz
in Tot“ Dios/. Auh 9atepan occeppa ye quilnamiqui ye
quitztimotlalia ye quitohua quenin aocmo nimahuiz-
tililo yhuan aocmo nitequipane auctle notequiuh
niman oceppa oquinec oquelehui yn tlatocatequitl ynic
teyaca[281 v]naz oya quitato ce Judio Tetlachihuiani na-
hualli ynic occepa quicuepaz yn ipa itlatocatequiuh nima
quito yn Judio ca ye qualli nicchihuaz yea moztla tihuallaz yo-
huatzinco/. Auh in imoztlayoc oya ixpan niman quito yn
Judio ce nica^^ notlatocauh yntla ticchihuaz Tien mitzilhuiz
yehuatl occeppa mitztlatocacuepaz mitzmahuiz90tiz/. Auh
in teofilo niman quito yn ca quichihuaz niman quilhui yn
Judio amo mixquac xicchihua yn cruz niman quicalaqui
cecni oztoc/. auh yn iquac ompa ocalac niman oncan
quimitac miequintin moyaochichiuhtimanca, auh ce tlacatl
tlanepantla euaticatca niman yn Judio yacatiquiz yxpa
ya yn tlanepantla euaticatca quilhui yn tlen yc ixpan
huia niman quihualnanquili yn tlacatecolotl quilhui xiyauh
amo tiemati yn ca quimotlaecoltilia Totecuio Dios. Auh
9atepan nixpan hualmocnoitohua niman quinanquili yn
Judio quilhui ca moch quichihuaz yn tlen tiemonahuatiliz
Theofilo, Auh in tlacatecolotl niman quinotz in teofiloquilhui
MIRACLE NARRATIVES 1 39
one morning. Although the title states so, the story does not
explicitly claim that Mary herself returns the contract, as is
the case, for example, in Sanchez de Vercial and Voragine.
The Jewish sorcerer’s characterization as a nahualU who
takes Theophilus to meet the Devil in a cave fits well with
Catholic priests’ views of surviving native religious practices:
these were secret rites conducted in caves at night by practi¬
tioners in league with the Devil. Ruiz de Alarcon, investigating
Nahua nanahualtin in early-seventeenth-century Guerrero,
assumed that the men and women he interrogated had pacts
with Satan (1982). The identification of the episcopate with
“rulership” (tlahtohcayotl) may seem odd, but bishops and
popes were referred to in Nahuatl as teoyotica tlahtohqueh ‘in
a sacred way rulers.’
[28 Ir] [Our Lady returns to Theophilus the decree that he
had made for the demon in order to be bishop]
[Theophilus]
[Simeon Metaphrastes]
A certain one whose name was Theophilus was the steward,
the guard,of a certain bishop. And he divided his goods
with the afflicted. And when the bishop died, the townspeople
said, “There is no longer anyone who is the leader.” Then the
citizens said, “May Theophilus become our leader, our bishop,
as the bishop-elect wanted.” And the bishop installed
Theophilus as ruler, in the priestly work, the bishopric. But
later they made Theophilus leave the bishop work because he
was not able to do his work. But he was quite joyful, he was
quite contented that he no longer had any work. He wilf'^just
devote himself to addressing and praying to our lord God.
But later, again he was remembering it, he was considering it,
he was saying, “How is it that I am no longer honored? And
that I no longer have a job, I no longer have any work?” Then
he once again wanted and desired royal work, so that he would
lead people. [28 Iv] He went to see a certain Jew, who was an
enchanter, a shape-changing sorcerer, so that he would once
again restore him to his royal work. Then the Jew said, “All
right. I will do it. You will come tomorrow morning.” And the
next day he went before him. Then the Jew said, “If you will
do what my ruler tells you, he will turn you into a ruler again,
he will make you honored.” And Theophilus then said that he
would do it. Then the Jew said, “Do not make the cross on
your forehead.Then he made him enter a cave in a certain
place. And when he had entered there, then he saw many there
who were spread all around armed for warfare. And one person
was sitting in the middle. Then the Jew went ahead. He went
before the one who was sitting in the middle. He told him why
he had come before him. Then the demon answered him. He
said to him, “Go away! Do you not know that he serves our
lord God? And afterwards he comes before me begging.” Then
the Jew answered him. He said to him, “Theophilus will do
140 BEFORE GUADALUPE
intla ticcentelchiuaz yn Jesu X“. yhuan yn inantzin,
auh tiquicuiloz yn quenin ticcentelchihua in J.x“. yhuan
ynantzin auh tiquicuiloz tinechmacaz ynic nicpiez ynic
noyollo pachiuhtiez, Auh nehuatl nimitztlatocatlaliz
nimitzmahui90tiz oc achi tihuecapanihuiz timahui90-
huaz [282r] yn ipanpa nican otihualla nixpan, Auh in
teofilo niman iuh quichiuh Niman hualmocuep in ichan,
auh in ye oacito ychan niman quimonequilti yn Dios,
acitihuetzico yn ichan ce titlantli ynic quihualnotzaya
yn obispo yn quicuilica ytlatocayo yn quicahualtica
yteopixcatequiuh. Auh in obispo niman quitlatlauhti ynic
quitlapopolhuiz inic oquicuilica yn itlatocatequiuh
niman quimac quicuepili yn teofilo yn ipan tlatocayotl.
Auh in teofilo ye ipan nemi yn tlatocayotl ye mahuiz-
tililo yuh momatia a90 yehuatl yuh quichihuaya in
tlacatecolotl ynie cenca ye mahuiztililoz. Auh 9atepan
ye quitztimotlalia ye quimolhuia O teofiloe tie tiez
acmo” itetzinco tipohui yn. J.x'* yn manel itla9onan-
tzin accoc^'* motepantlatocatzin yauhyez can tiaz can
tipolihuitiuh Etc. Auh niman omotlatlalili omonetolti
ynic cecni teopan mocaltzaquaz oncan mo9ahuaz
oncan tlamacehuaz oncan tlatlatlauhtiz ompohualil-
huitl auh in itlamian ompohuallilhuitl quimotititzino
yn tlatocacihuapilli yn icnohuacatzintli Sancta Maria
ynic neztihuitza yn itla90xayacatzin yuhquinma mo-
qualanaltitihuitz quimolhuili in theofilo Tlahueliloc yn
oticmoyolitlacalhui y notla90conetzin Auh timotequi-
matica ynic tinechtlatlauhtia yn tinetzatzilitica auh yn
ye[282v]huatl niman quimocnotlatlauhtili yn tlatocacihua¬
pilli s:‘“ Maria conmolhuili macamo xinechmotelchihuili
ca ipanpa onca tlamacehualiztli yhuan in iuh otlapopolhui-
\oque yn iuhqui. dd. yhuan occequintin p^^ Auh in tlatocaci¬
huapilli. s.‘“ Maria yn tla9oicnohuacatzintli oquimolhuili
yn theofilo xinechie niman nihualnocuepaz/ niman
hualmocueptzino yn tlatocacihuapilli. s.'^ m.“ quimolhuili
yn quenin ye otlapopolhuiloc. Auh in theofilo conmolhuili
quimotlatlauhtili ynic quinequia quittaz y amatlacuilolli.
Auh ceppa yohuatzinco omeuh yelpan oquittac niman
conan ya yn teopan yn canin mitohuaya missa oncan
quimocuiti yn itlatlacol yhuan yn ixquich ipan omochiuh yn
ixpan obispo yhuan mochin altepehuaque quinec yn-
namatP* mopohuaz teixpan auh yn iquac omopouh niman
quitlatique auh in teofilo momiquili qualachihualiztli ypan
quipohua Surio
In the next story, the Devil tries to take a man’s wife
in return for riches. This image of Lucifer fits well with the
conceptions of present-day Nahuas, who associate the Devil
with wealthy Hispanic gentlemen who seduce local women
(Taggart 1983, 1997). But the story is medieval, one of many
everything that you command him.” And the demon then called
to Theophilus. He said to him, “If you will denounce Jesus Christ
and his mother, and you will write down how you denounce
Jesus Christ and his mother, and you will give me what you write
so that I may keep it, thus I will be satisfied. And I will install you
as ruler, I will make you honored. You will be still more exalted
and more honored, [282r] because you came here before me.”
And Theophilus then did this. Then he came back to his home.
And when he had gone to arrive at his home, then God wanted
a certain messenger suddenly to come to arrive at his home, as
the bishop who had taken from him his rulership, who had
made him leave his priestly work, was calling for him. And the
bishop then beseeched him to pardon him for having taken away
his royal work. Then he gave it back, he restored Theophilus to
the rulership. And Theophilus, when he was living in the ruler-
ship and was honored, was wondering if perhaps it was the demon
who had done this, so that he would now be greatly honored.
And afterwards he was considering it, he was saying to himself,
“Oh Theophilus, what will you be? You no longer belong to
Jesus Christ. Even his precious mother will no longer be your
advocate! Where will you go? Where will you disappear to?” And
then he resolved and vowed that he would shut himself up in a
temple in a certain place. There he would fast, there he would do
penance, there he would pray for forty days. And at the end of the
forty days, the royal noblewoman, the merciful one. Saint Mary,
showed herself to him. The way her precious face came to appear,
it was as if she came angrily. She said to Theophilus, “Wicked
one! You have offended my precious child. And you are presum-
ing^ to pray to me, you are crying out to me!” And he [282v] then
implored the royal noblewoman. Saint Mary. He said to her,
“May you not scorn me! For this reason there is penance, and
thus it is as how David and the other patriarchs'*' were par¬
doned.” And the royal noblewoman. Saint Mary, the precious
and merciful one, said to Theophilus, “Wait for me. Then I
will come back.” Then the royal noblewoman. Saint Mary,
came back. She told him that he had now been pardoned. And
Theophilus said to her, beseeched her that he wanted to see
.the document. And one time in the morning when he got up
he saw it on his chest. Then he seized it and went to the temple
where mass was being said. There he confessed his sins and all
that had happened to him in front of the bishop and all the
townspeople. He wanted the paper to be read in front of the
townspeople. And when it had been read, then they burned it.
And Theophilus died in good deed's. Surio recounts it.
legends of hidden treasure the Devil reveals to persons who
are willing to follow him. Mary’s impersonation of her devo¬
tee, like her retrieval of Theophilus’s contract, shows the
lengths to which the Virgin was willing to go in order to pro¬
tect her followers. Voragine included this tale in his chapter

on the Assumption of Mary (1993:v.2:85-86). A similar ver¬
sion is in Sanchez de Vercial (1961:207-208 #268); the leg¬
end is also in Alfonso X’s Cantigas (1986-89:v.2:275-277
#216)7^ In the version adapted into Nahuatl, the teller tem¬
pers the contrast between moral woman and immoral man by
indicating that the man is not in his right mind. But the
woman’s piety is nonetheless exemplary, and her moral au¬
thority is such that her huband, even en route to a rendezvous
with Satan, obeys her when she demands to stop and pray.
[284v] [nuestra S." toma la figura de vna muger que entro a
rezar en su Iglesia. va c6 su marido. y librale del demonio a
quie el se auia dado]
Ce tlacatl oncatca motlacamatini yn itlatqui Moch quipo-
polo yn itlatqui tecohuanotzalizpan. Auh in iquac yn ye
oquipopolo yn ye motolima: niman ixtlahuacan quiz 9a iuh-
qui yolmiqui Niman quinamic yn tlacatecolotl quitlatlani
quilhui tleica yn huel titlaocoye. Auh in yehuatl niman
quimelahuili quipohuili yn tlen ipan mochiuh. Auh in
tlacatecolotl quilhui yntla tinechaluiquiliz in monamic ipan
in cauitl yhuan in canin nimitznahuatiz. auh nehuatl
nimitzmacaz miec teocuitlatl. Auh in tlacatl iuh monetolti
ixpan Niman in tlacatecolotl quilhui xiauh xitlatataca
Ompa in Niman iuh quichiuh yn tlacatl auh in oacic
ypan cahuitl yn quihuicaz inamic niman conan in in
amic ycahuayopan contlali/ auh ynin cihuatzintli ytla-
teomatcatzin yn totla9onatzin yhuan huel quimotlapo-
tiliaya. auh yn ye quihuicatiuh yn inamic. Auh in otli
quitocaya oncan hotenco icaya ce teocalli yteopantzin yn
tlatocacihuapilli. sancta Maria, auh in iquac quitac in
cihuatzintli, quinahuati in inamic ynic yaz moteochi-
huatiuh. Niman ya in cihuatzintli calaquito yn teopan
niman peuh in moteochihua iuhquin oncoch yuhquin mictia
y [285r] ynic moteochiuh, Auh in tlatocacihuapilli in
teicNoitacatzintli yn inechichihual cihuatl ypan quimo-
cuepili auh in ixayac cihuatl ypan mixeuhtzino niman
hualmoquixtitzino auh in tlacatl iuh moma a90 yehuatl
yn inamic Nima dmotlecahui yn tlatoca9ihuapilli sancta
maria ypan in caballo Niman quimohuiquilli yn tlalt/cpflc
tlacatontli. auh in oacito in canin quichixticatca yn
tlacatecolotl. auh in tlacatecolotl niman peuh ye tza-
tzatzi ye quichicoitohua yn tlacatl ye quilhuia tleica yn
onoca timocayauh tleican amo tiqualhuica yn monamic
auh in yehuatl iuh moma apo yehuatl yn icahuayopan
hualhuia/. quito ca nechca ca yn tlacatecolotl./ Niman
quito in tlacatecolotl, ca in tiqualhuica ca yehuatl yn
inantzin Dios ynic quimotlatzacuiltiliz ynic quimoto-
liniliz Auh in iquac oquittac in in tlacatl niman mocui-
tihuetz mozcalli maca9an cochia quitelchiuh yn
tlacatecolotl yhuan yn tlatquitl nima mopoliuiti yn
tla909ihuapilli yhuan yn. tlacatecolotl./ Auh yn yehuatl
MIRACLE NARRATIVES 141
Festive eating and drinking were an important part of
colonial Nahua ritual and social life. Church and government
officials frequently criticized native religious confraternities
for squandering their funds on this activity, which struck ob¬
servers as sinfully gluttonous as well as extravagant (Gruzinski
1990:214). To Nahuas, a man who spent all his money enter¬
taining others might have seemed a generous redistributor of
wealth rather than a profligate fool, even if they disapproved
of his subsequent bargain with the demon.
# *
[284v] [Our lady takes the form of a woman who came into
her church to pray; she goes with her husband and frees him
from the demon to whom he had given himself]
There was a certain person who was well-to-do. He consumed
all his goods in entertaining people. And when he had con¬
sumed them, when he was afflicted, then he went out in the
plains. It was just as though he was swooning. Then he met
the demon. He questioned him. He said to him, “Why are you
so sad?” And he then explained to him, he recounted to him
what had happened to him. And the demon said to him, “If
you will bring me your spouse at the time and the place that I
command you, then I will give you much gold,” And the per¬
son made this vow before him. Then the demon said to him,
“Go! Dig there.” Then the person did this. And then the time
arrived for him to bring his spouse. Then he took his spouse
and put her on his horse. And this dear woman was a devotee
of our precious mother and she loved her well. And her spouse
was going along bringing her. And the road they were follow¬
ing, there by the side of the road stood a temple. It was a
temple of the royal noblewoman. Saint Mary, And when the
dear woman saw it, she commanded her spouse that she would
go, she would go and bless herself. Thereupon the dear woman
went to enter the temple. Then she began to bless herself. It
was as if she went to sleep, it was as if she was near death,
[285r] as she blessed herself. And the royal noblewoman, the
merciful one, changed into the woman’s garments. And she
made herself resemble the woman’s face. Then she came forth.
And what the person thought, perhaps, was that she was his
spouse. Then the royal noblewoman. Saint Mary, got up on
the horse. Then the little person of earth conveyed her. And he
went to arrive where the demon was waiting for him. And the
demon then began crying out and speaking ill of the person.
He was saying to him, “Why have you mocked me? Why are
you not bringing your spouse?” And what he thought, per¬
haps, was that it was she who came on his horse. He said, “The
demon is over there!” Then the demon said, “You are bringing
the mother of God, so that she will punish me, so that she will
afflict me!’”*^ And when the person saw this, then he came around,
he roused himself. It was just as if he had been sleeping. He
scorned the demon and the goods. Then the precious noble¬
woman disappeared, and the demon. And he then came back.
142 BEFORE GUADALUPE
niman hualmocuep quittaco yn canin oquicauh yn
inamic yhuan quipohuilli yn tlen ipan Omochiuhca ca
iz neci in ca amo motexicahuilia yn tlatocacihuapilli .s*^. M“.
# *
In versions of the following legend told by Clemente
Sanchez de Vercial (1961:204-205 #265) and Pedro de la
Vega (1569:184v-185r), the protagonist is a noble lady (a
widow in Sanchez de Vercial) and the story is set on the Feast
of the Purification, as is appropriate given the importance of
the candles (see chap. 5). This lady had her own chapel to
Mary, but her chaplain was absent on business one Feast of
the Purification, and the lady could not attend mass at an¬
other church because she had given her cloak to the poor. In
her vision she finds herself in a beautiful church, into which
comes a great company of virgins, one of them crowned and
especially lovely, followed by a group of youths (mangebos).
Someone comes with a great armload of candles and passes
[285v] [X.“ n. S. Dize missa a vna deuota de la Virge. que tenia
deuocion de oyrla]
Ce ichpochtzintli catca ytlateomatcatzin yn. sancta m“.
mochipa ichpochtli. auh ynin ychpochtzintli huel ic
motequipachohuaya yn tlacamo quitaz in imisatzin in
totla9onantzin ylhuice yn iquac ilhuitzin. auh ce teopixqui
mochipa quititiaya in misa. Auh cepa oncatca itequiuh in
iqua'*'* ilhuitzin totla9onantzin auh yn iquac ye yohuac yn ye
motecaz yacato'*^ quimotlatlauhtili yn Sancta Maria qui-
molhuili notla5onantzin Macamo xinechmoxicahuili yn
moztla yn itechpa missa. Auh iuhquin mictia noce can'**
iuhquin oncoch quimitac huel miequin hualotlatocati-
huia hualtecpantihuia Sanctosme yhuan ichpochtzitzintin
auh in intepotzco sanctosme hualmiquiltitihuia'*’ yn sanct
Loren5o/ auh in oc no centlapal yehuatzin sanct Esteuan
Tlapalehuiani/. auh yn totecuio Jesu X°. hualmohuica-
ya ynic misa quimitalhuiz/ auh in totla^onantzin sancta
Maria quinhualmotoquilitihuia yn ichpopochtin/ auh in ich¬
pochtzintli amo quimatia yn tlen quitaya/. auh quilhuique yn
aquiqwe onca hualmohuicaya yn iuh onmito. auh in ye
pehuazquia in missa quimacaque ce candela ynic quitzitzquiz
in .oquic mitoz missa. auh niman mito in misa auh in iquac
itzonquizyan"** in misa niman quimotlatlauhtili quimoc-
nelilmachiti yn itetlaocoliltzin in iuhqui oquimotitili yn cenca
mahuiztic misa/ auh yaque quitlanilito yn candela amo quinec
quitemacaz auh ynin expa oilotP’ yn motitlanqui [286r] Auh
nahuatilo yn motitlanqui ynic quicuicuilitiuh yn manel amo
quinequiz. Auhn^® ichpochtzintli ytech mopilo in candela
auh tlacopoztec auh in cen tlacotl quihuicac in motitlanqui
auh in oc no cen tlacotl ymac mocauhtiquiz yn ichpochtzintli.
he went to see where he had left his spouse, and he recounted
to her what had happened to him. Here it is evident that the
royal noblewoman. Saint Mary, does not neglect people.
■S’ ^
them out first to Mary, then to all the virgins and youths,
and lastly to the protagonist. Two youths carrying candles
approach through the choir, appearing to the lady to be
Saints Vincent and Lawrence, along with angels as deacon
and subdeacon, and Christ as the priest, who officiates in the
mass. Then all the others give their candles to the priest but
the woman will not do so. Mary sends three messengers,
not described as doves, to her, the first with orders to tell her
that it was discourteous to keep such a great priest waiting
and the third with orders to take it by force. The feisty heroine
holds on with both hands and the candle breaks in two. She
keeps the broken candle as a great relic and it has power to
heal the sick.
■S’ ’is
[285v] [Christ our Lord says mass to a devotee of the Virgin
who was devoted to hearing it. ]
A certain dear maiden was a devotee of Saint Mary, who is
forever a maiden. And this dear maiden used to be quite dis¬
tressed if she did not see^' the mass of our precious mother,
especially when it was her festival. And a certain priest would
always make sure that she saw mass. But one time he was busy
when it was the festival of our precious mother. And when it
was dark, when she was about to lie down, first she prayed to
Saint Mary. She said to her, “My precious mother, may you
not neglect me tomorrow in regard to mass.” And it was as if
she was near death, or perhaps as if she went to sleep. She saw
many saints and maidens coming along the way, coming in
order. And behind the saints came standing Saint Lawrence,
and on the other side Saint Steven the helper. And our lord
Jesus Christ came in order to say mass. And our precious
mother. Saint Mary, came following the maidens. And the
dear maiden did not know what she was seeing. And they told
her who they were who were coming there. Thus it was said.
And when mass was about to begin they gave her a candle to
hold while mass was being said. And then mass was said. And
at the end of the mass, then she prayed to her,^- she acknowl¬
edged her for her compassion, for showing her such a very
marvelous mass. And they went, they went to ask her for the
candle. She did not want to give it away. And this: three times
a dove” was the messenger. [286r] And the messenger was
ordered to go and take it from her even if she did not want [to
give it up]. And the dear maiden clung to the candle. And it
broke in half. And the messenger took one half. And the other
half remained in the hand of the dear maiden. And then the

Auh inquac in niman i9atiquiz yn ichpochtzintli yn maca9an
cochia ymac onoya in cen tiacotl ocotl ynic quineltocac yn
ca melahuac yn oquitac yhuan in ipan mochiuh, Auh ipanpa
in monequi huel anquimocuitlahuizque in imisatzin
tlatocacihuapilli yn aic anquixicahuazque Etc.
Like the indigenous rain deities, the personified light¬
ning bolts in the next story select whom they will kill. But
by calling on Mary, the protagonist is able to escape this
fate. The antiphon he recites was used for the Assumption
and other Marian feasts and in the Little Office of the Virgin
Mary (CANTUS: A Database for Gregorian Chant;
Graef 1963-65:v.l:307; Stafford Poole, personal communi¬
cation, 1998). It is actually one of the oldest prayers to Mary,
as it can be traced back to a Greek-language papyrus
probably dating to the fourth century (Graef 1963-65:v. 1:48).
DO DO
[286r] [Vn hf se libra del rayo llamando a la Virge diziendo.
sub tuu presidium.]
Auh cepa otlatocatihuia yeintin teopixque niman impan
peuh ye tlatlatlatzini niman quicaque ce acopa hualtlatzic^^
quihualito nictlaliliz/ niman quito occe quema niman
tlatlatzin quimicti yn ce tlacatl/ auh niman tzatzic occepa
quito nictlaliliz quito yn occe quema Nima tlatlatzin
quimicti yn ceme omen catca Niman occepa tzatzic quito
nictlaliliz. Auh yn iquac oquicac yn ce tlacatl mocahuaya
quimotlatlauhtili y Sancta maria yea in iantiphonatzin/.
yn quitohua ~ Sub Tuum praesidium Confugimus et.
niman tlananquili yn occe quito amo xitlalili^" ca ye
oquimotlatlauhtili yn sancta maria mochipa huel ich-
pochtli auh ypanpa in monequi huel itetzinco titocahuazqMC
y s.'^ mf etc.
DO
cSb
The next legend is a rosary-related variant of a narra¬
tive known as “Dainties in a Foul Dish,” which dates back at
least as far as the thirteenth century (Anne Winston-Allen,
personal communication, 1998). In Europe, rosary confra¬
ternities produced handbooks directed at guiding the devo¬
tions of members and attracting new recruits. Much of their
content consisted of narratives attesting to the wonders
wrought by the praying of the rosary and even the mere
wearing of the rosary beads (Winston-Allen 1997:122-127).
In 1576 the Dominican Hieronimo Taix’s rosary hand¬
book, which contains a series of miracles, was published
in Mexico, but none of these Spanish narratives is cognate
MIRACLE NARRATIVES 143
dear maiden suddenly awoke. It was just as if she had been
sleeping. In her hand lay the one half of the torch. Thus she
believed that what she had seen was correct, and that it hap¬
pened to her. And therefore it is necessary that you attend well
to the mass of the royal noblewoman. You will never neglect it.
* *
Its Latin translation was in use in the Western Church as of
the ninth century (Graef 1963-65:v. 1:168; Warner 1976:
388 n 4). The full text in English is, “Under your protection
we flee. Holy Mother of God; do not spurn our prayers in
our needs, but deliver us always away from all dangers. O
glorious and blessed Virgin.”'^'*
Personified lightning bolts are powerful forces in present-
day Nahua belief, acting as community protectors, symbols
of ethnic identity, and mediators between sun and earth and
between humans and animals (Taggart 1983:73-74, 88).
^
Do
(jb
(TO
[286r] /I man frees himself from lightning calling to the
Virgin saying "under your protection"
And one time three priests were coming along the road. Then
lightning began to strike them. Then they heard one cry out
from on high. It said, “I will strike” him!” Then another said,
“Yes!” Then the lightning struck. It killed one person. And
then it cried out. Again it said, “I will strike him!” Another one
said, “Yes!” Then the lightning struck. It killed one of the
two. Then again it cried out. It said, “I will strike him!” And
when the one person who remained heard it, he prayed to
Saint Mary with her antiphon that says. Under your protec¬
tion we flee. etc. Then the other one answered. It said, “Do not
strike, for he has prayed to Saint Mary who is forever really a
maiden.” And therefore it is necessary that we really entrust
ourselves to Saint Mary.
* *
with any of the Nahuatl ones in the Bancroft Library manu¬
script (Taix 1576).
The European story distinguishes between the dirty plate
and the delectable food, the plate being comparable to the
sinful priest and the fine food to the prayers, tainted by their
vessel. The Nahua translator may not have understood the
source very well; in any case this distinction is not made clear
in the Nahuatl version. However, a different and longer vari¬
ant of the same story appears later in the same manuscript
(329v-331r). Here the corrupt young cleric, who had learned
to pray the rosary from his now-deceased mother, meets Mary
carrying a bowl of wonderful food fit for nobles {mahuiztic
144 BEFORE GUADALUPE
tlaqualli tecpillaqualli), but the bowl (caxitl) was “quite re¬
volting, quite putrid, quite stinking” (huel tetlayelti, huel
vhvac, huel potoni). Both versions depict a Virgin who, be¬
cause the cleric prays her rosary, cares enough about him that
she contrives to reform his behavior.
The narrative below follows five other brief rosary narra¬
tives. In one, a priest is walking through the mountains
reciting the rosary; thieves refrain from attacking him be¬
cause they are frightened by the sight of Mary walking beside
[287v] [La Virge trae el manjar a su deuoto en vn plato suzio
y c6 esto le covierte]
Ey libro ypan mitoa yn rosario ce clerigo mochipa quipohuaya
yn rosario. auh ipan huetz temictiani tlatlacolli auh ceppa
oquincohuanotz yn imecahuan, auh yn oquic mochichihuaya
yn tlaqualli quipohuaya yn irosariotzin tlatocacihuapilli auh
quimotititzino yn tla90cihuapilli quihualmohuiquiliaya ce
plato onca hualyetihuia huel yyac tlaqualli quimoluili xiqua
ynin tlaquali auh yn iquac oquineuc niman quimolhuili ca
huel noyollocacopa nicchihuazquia ypampa ca tehuatzin
tinechmonahuatilia yece ca huel tinechtlayeltia ynic yyaya
huel nechi90tlaltia Niman quimonanquilili yn tlatocaci¬
huapilli sancta maria [288r] ca iuhqui in yn motlatlatlauhtili^*
macihui huel nictzopelicamati yece yn ica maquallachihual
camo nechpactia ypampa ca catzahuac yn manima niman
mopolihuiti yn tla90cihuapilli auh yn clerigo niman iqua’^
oquittac huel quimotla^otiliaya yn tla90cihuapilli niman
monemilizcuep auh yn ixquich cauitl nen huel chipahua-
liztica quimotlayecoltili ynic 9atepan quimomacehui yn
itetlaocolilitzin.
* #
The next narrative names Saint Gregory as its source, and
it appears in his Dialogues, written in 593 while he was pope
(Gregory 1911:xix, 198-199). Gregory does not single out
talkativeness as the girl’s particular vice, nor does Sanchez de
[315r] [nuestTd. s.™ reprehende a Musa de la parleria y despues
la lleua al cielo]
Quimopohuilia, tixpan quimotlalilia ynl machiotlatolli.
s. Greg.", oncatca 9e ichpotzintli ytoca catca, Musa, huel
mopieya, Macihui huel mopieya ye9e huel amo quipieya
yn icamac huel tequitlatohuaya, auh 9eppa quimottititzino
yn tlatocacihuapilli. Sancta Maria yhuan centecpantli
ychpopochtin yuhquin tlanexmimillolli yc omotecpanque.
huel pepetlacatihuitze, auh yn tla9oichpochtli. S.'” maria
him (286v). Another priest stays dry in a rainstorm because
he places his rosary on his head (286v). In another story, a
variant of an older story about the Hail Mary, the prayers of a
friar who is counting the rosary turn into flowers, which an¬
gels weave into a chaplet and place on Mary’s head
(286v-287r). In the fourth, Mary and some angels carry to his
bed a friar who falls asleep praying the rosary (287r); in the
fifth, Mary appears to a nun to advise her on the praying of the
rosary (287r-287v).
# *
[287v] [The Virgin brings food to her devotee on a dirty- plate
and with this she converts him]
In three books of the rosary it is told that a certain cleric
always used to count the rosary. But he fell into mortal sin.
And once he invited his lovers to eat. And while the food was
being prepared he was counting the rosary of the royal noble¬
woman. And the precious noblewoman showed herself to him.
She was carrying a plate bearing"’ quite putrid food. She said
to him, “Eat this food!” But when he had smelled it, then he
said to her, “Quite willingly would I do it because it is you
who commands me. However, it really repulses me, the way it
stinks. It really makes me vomit.” Then the royal noblewoman.
Saint Mary, answered him, [288r] “Like this are your prayers,
even though I consider them quite sweet. However, with your
bad deeds they do not please me, because your soul is dirty.”
Then the precious noblewoman disappeared. And the cleric
then saw how well the precious noblewoman loved him. Then
he turned around his life. And all the time that he lived he
served her quite purely, such that afterwards he merited her
compassion.
■S' #
Vercial in his version of the story (1961:84 #85); she is sim¬
ply cautioned away from laughter and games and other
girlish frivolities. Gregory identifies Musa as the little sister
of Probus, an acquaintance of his.
[315r] [Our Lady reprehends Musa for talkativeness and af¬
terwards lakes her to heaven]
Saint Gregory recounts it, he places before us these signifying
words. There was a certain dear maiden whose name was Musa,
who was quite chaste. Even though she was quite chaste, nev¬
ertheless she was not able to guard her mouth. She talked far
too much. And one time the royal noblewoman. Saint Mary,
showed herself to her, along with a row of maidens, who were
in a row like a column of light. They came shimmering brightly.

quimolhuili cuix ticnequi totlan tiaz. auh in ichpotzintli
quimonaquilili quihto, ca quemaca: auh quimolhuili®'
yn tlaqoichpochtli, sancta m“ yntla totlan tiaz monequi
oc achi timihmatcanemiz; auh intla ticchihuaz y; (^an cen-
pohuallilhuitl on mahtlactli nimitzanaquiuh, auh no
niquinhualnohuiquiliz ynin ychpopochtin auh y yehuatl
huellic®^ opac niman omonemilizcuep; auh in ye onacitiuh
cempohualli omatlactli niman peuh yc mococohua; auh in
oacic ypan cahuitl yn quimonemactili I quimolhuili ynic
[315v] quimaniliquiuh; auh in ipan cahuitl quimottiti-
tzino yn tlaqoichpochtli. S.“ maria quihualmonochili; auh
yn yehuatl ychpotzintli quihtotoca ye ompa niauh ye ompa
niauh nocihuatecuiyotzin: auh iuh momiquili yn ichpotzintli.
Yn axcan cemicac mopaquiltitica yn ilhuicac &"*
oo c?>
Another series of rosary miracles in the manuscript in¬
cludes the text below. One of the others is the story of a maiden
who, with a companion, is attacked by starving wolves while
en route to a festival of Mary. Her friend is killed but the
heroine, because she is a confraternity member, survives long
enough to confess and receive the last rites (322v). Another
tells of a poor and devout shepherdess who prays the rosary at
a run-down country chapel. As she lies dying, Mary and a
great company of heavenly maidens come to her bedside.
When her soul leaves her body, Mary lays a chaplet of flow¬
ers, jades, and pearls on her head and she rises to heaven
accompanied by the maidens and angels (324v-328v). There
is also a lengthy telling of the legend of Saint Dominic and
Benedicta, a noblewoman-turned-courtesan who, with the
saint’s encouragement and after repeated lapses, eventually
mends her ways thanks to the rosary devotion and Mary’s
intervention {331r—345r; Winston-Allen 1997:124—125).
The following narrative about a drowned rosary cofrade
may have been one of the rosary legends circulated by the
European confraternities, but it was not a particularly popu¬
lar one: Anne Winston-Allen, an expert on the devotion,
did not recognize it (personal communication, 1998). The re¬
ference to the mother’s name not being written down means
[323r] [nuestTdi S” requcita a vna deuota del rosario]
Quimopohuilia qe sancto, ytoca Alberto quimiximachili
ce ychpotzintli, cofrade pouhqui yn iteopantzinco tlatocaci-
huapilli yn itechcopa rosario; auh ynin ichpotzintli ceppa,
yntlan nehnentinenca ycihuapohua atentitech, auh oncan
huetz yn atlan mic, (no ce Elaquiloc) auh yn occequintin
ycihuapohuan huel momauhtique, mi9ahuique. auh yn iquac
oquima yn inantzin yn ichpotzintli, nima tlanahuati ynic
quitemolizque yn iconeuh, ypampa huel yttic ahcia yn
MIRACLE NARRATIVES 145
And the precious noblewoman. Saint Mary, said to her, “Per¬
haps you want to go with us?” And the dear maiden answered
her. She said, “Yes!” And the precious noblewoman. Saint
Mary, said to her, “If you will go with us, it is necessary that
you live more prudently. And if you do this, in just 30 days I
will come to take you, and I will also bring these maidens.”
And she was thus quite joyful. Then she turned around her
life. And when 25 days had passed, then she began to be sick.
And the time arrived that she had granted her, that she had
told her that [315v] she would come to take her. And when it
was time, the precious maiden. Saint Mary, showed herself to
her, called to her. And the dear maiden lay saying, “Now I am
going there, now I am going there, my lady.” And thus the
dear maiden died. Now she is rejoicing forever in heaven.
oo ro
that she was not yet a member of the confraternity: her name
was not inscribed in the membership book. The narrative,
adhering to doctrinal correctness, does state that Mary acts
through her influence on Christ and is not directly respon¬
sible for bringing the girl back to life, but this message is not
without ambivalence, as twice the mother refers to Mary do¬
ing it herself. The mother’s vow models the kind of quid pro
quo arrangement—the devotee promises something to a saint
contingent on receiving a favor—common in Spanish prac¬
tice (Christian 1981b).
According to Sahagun’s informants, people who drowned,
like those struck by lightning, were sacred to the rain gods
and went to their paradise, Tlalocan (Sahagun 1950-
82:bk.3:47). Here, as in the narratives about the shipwrecked
bishop and the priest who escapes the lightning, as well as
many of the miracles attributed to the colony’s Marian im¬
ages, devotion to Mary overcomes the forces of rain or water.
It also ensures entry into what Christianity taught was the
only paradise for the dead.
Plate 16 depicts the first page of this narrative. The
inscription at the top reads: “Marvels that occurred; where
it is told how our precious mother helps whoever counts
her rosary.”
* #
[323r] [Our iMdy resuscitates a devotee of the rosary]
A certain saint, whose name is Albert,®® recounts that he knew
a certain dear maiden who was a cofrade belonging to the
temple of the royal noblewoman in respect to the rosary.
And this dear maiden once was wandering about with her
women companions at the edge of the water. And there she
fell; she died in the water (or she was submerged®’). And the
others, her women companions, were quite frightened and
afraid. And when the dear maiden’s mother found out, then
146 BEFORE GUADALUPE
tlaocolli ynic omic yn iconeuh, yn gan oc ychpotzintli,
yn gan oc conetzintli yn omomiquili, niman quihualquix-
tilique yn iconeuh yn ahmo quitocaz, ga ye oconantiq’z
oquihuicac gecni teopan, yxpantzinco ya yn tlahtoca-
cihuapilli sancta Maria, huel chocatiuh [323v] huel-
laocoxtiuh,“ yc oconmolhuilia yn titzopelicatzintli, yn
tahuiacatzintli, yn tincihuatecuiyotzin yn angelosme, yn
ilhuicac. ticihuapilli, yhuan tlalticpac yuhquin tiquin-
mopielia yn motlagotzitzinhua, yn motlateomatcatzitzinhua,
yn iuhqui ocatca noconeton y nican nixpan huetztoc yye
omic, Ca ye ticmomachiltia yn quenin huel iyollocacopa
yn mitzmotlatlauhtiliaya, auh y notlaelehuiliz ynic
nimitznotlatlauhtiliaya ynic ticmopieliz auh quen oquihiyo-
hui yn motetlagotlalitzin ynic omic y noconeuh, auh yne*’''
onicpolo y nonecuiltonol y noneyollaliliz yhua nechte-
quipachoa ynic amo moyolcuiti yn gan iuh omic, quimatia
yn yehuatl Ca in tlatocacihuapilli, ynic huei tetlaocolliani
ahmo quimonequiltia y ma iuh miquican yn itlagotzitzinhua,
yn itlateomatcatzitzinhuan, auh ipampa i genca nimitz-
notlatlauhtilia, ycnohuacatzintli totetlaocoliliznantzin,
toyoliliz; Ca ic maha^^ tiquiminayaltili, otiquimotlatilili y
motetlagotlalitzin, yn motetlaocolilitzin; auh ipanpa in ma
xinechmocnoittili ma xicmozcalili y noconeuh, ma xicmo-
tlatlauhtili yn motlagoconetzin Jesu X“. ynic quimozcaliliz,
ma tla [324r] cahua y moyollotzin, ma nitlacnopilhui, yn iuh
oquicnopilhuique cequintin yn motetlaocoliltzin yn iuhqui
yc tetlatlauhtia tenahuan gan no iuhqui yc oquimotlatlauhtili
yn tlagoichpochtli Sancta Maria; auh in itlatlatlauhtiliz huel
ixpantzinco agia in tlatocacihuapilli 83“ maria, auh ynin
cihuatzintli amo ycuiliuhticatca yn ompa icuiliuhtoque y
motenehua cofrades yn ipan Rosariotzin tlatocacihuapilli
sancta maria, niman monechtolti yxpantzinco yn cemihcac
ichpochtli S3“ Maria, auh inic monehtolti quihto notlago-
nantzin ca intla ticmozcaliliz yn noconeuh, ca ninonehtoltia
ynic nicofrade niez yntlan yn occequintin mocofrades-
tzitzinhuan yhuan nicpohuaz morosariotzin: auh inic ycno¬
huacatzintli, ynic tetlaocoliani yn tlagoichpochtli .s.‘“ M“.
ay amo huel monehtolti aoc uel e mozcali yn ichpotzintli; auh ye
concaqui yn quenin ye quimoyectenehuilia yn tlagoich¬
pochtli Santa maria yn yehuatzin ypan omotlatolti yn ixpa-
tzinco yn itlagoconetzin Jesu Xpo, auh iuhquin yn occeppa
nen in ichpotzintli auh in inantzin moyollali caxilti yn inehtol
she commanded that they look for her child, because sadness
was reaching deep within her, as her child had died. She who
died was still just a girl, still just a little child. Then they
brought her child out. She would not bury her. She just went
out holding her; she took her to a temple in a certain place.
She went before the royal noblewoman, Saint Mary. She went
really weeping, [323v] she went really sorrowing, as she said
to her, “You sweet one, you fragrant one, you who are the lady
of the angels, you who are the noblewoman in heaven and on
earth, this is how you guard your precious ones, your devo¬
tees, as my little child was, who lies fallen here before me,
already dead! You already know how wholeheartedly she
used to pray to you. And it was my desire, as I used to pray to
you, that you guard her. And how has my child suffered for
your love, as she has died? And now I have lost my delight,
my consolation. And it worries me that she did not confess;
she just died like this. She used to think that the royal noble¬
woman, as she is very compassionate, did not want her
precious ones, her devotees to die like this. And therefore 1
fervently beseech you, merciful one, our compassionate
mother, our life, thus may you not conceal, not hide your
love, your compassion. And therefore may you have pity
on me, may you revive my child. May you beseech your
precious child, Jesus Christ, that he revive her. May [324r]
your heart concede, may I be favored, the way that some have
obtained your compassion.” Like other mothers pray, just
like this she prayed to the precious maiden. Saint Mary.
And her prayer arrived right before the royal noblewoman.
Saint Mary. And this dear woman was not written where
they who are called cofrades of the rosary of the royal noble¬
woman, Saint Mary, are written down. Then she made a
vow before her who is forever a maiden. Saint Mary. And
thus she made a vow, she said, “My precious mother, if
you will revive my child, I vow that I will become a
cofrade along with your other cofrades, and 1 will count
your rosary.” But how merciful, how compassionate is the
precious maiden. Saint Mary. Before she made her vow the
dear maiden had not yet revived.^* But when she heard how
she was praising the precious maiden. Saint Mary, she
spoke for her before her precious child, Jesus Christ. And
thus the dear maiden lived again. And her dear mother was
contented; she fulfilled her vow.

NOTES
1. On local Marian miracle stories in late-sixteenth- and seven¬
teenth-century Chiapa, associated particularly with the rosary, see
Megged (1996:134—136).
2. These beings may have been suggested by the friars’ associa¬
tion of blackness with sin and the Devil (Burkhart 1989:124), or by
Juan’s encounters with Africans, whom Nahuas called tliltiqueh ‘black
ones’ (Lockhart 1992:509 n97).
3. In present-day Jalisco. The woman’s ethnic and linguistic
affiliation is not stated; she may not have been Nahua.
4. In Vega, comego a reboluer los ojos espatosamente y a menear
la cabega a manera de loco, y no osaua llegarse acerca ‘he began to
roll his eyes frightfully and shake his head in the manner of a crazy
person, and did not dare to come near’ (1569:209r).
5. Rend yehuaniin.
6. Read noconeuh.
7. Read nel oc.
8. Read ca.
9. Read ixpan or in ixpan.
10. Read ye.
11. Miracle narratives sometimes use the -tzintli suffix for fe¬
male characters. As these seem to be diminutives or endearments
rather than reverential terms, 1 translate them as “dear woman” or
“dear maiden.”
12. Or, in the more graphic Nahuatl term, “throw water on our
heads.”
13. That is, she did not suffer any pain or harm.
14. Gender is unspecified in the Nahuatl; in Gobius the child is
a boy.
15. Gobius; et quia locum refugii iudeus inuenire non poterat:
eo guod clausa esset ciuitas ‘and because the Jew could not find a
place of refuge, in that the city would have been closed.’
16. Gobius; que veraciter credo esse deum verum et horninem
proniissum in lege ‘whom I truly believe to be true God and the man
promised in (Hebrew] law.’
17. More literally, “May it be that 1 am baptized. May it be that
you will kill me.” Shift in tense indicates that the killing is to come
after the baptism.
18. In Gobius he has a scar; puero viuo cu cicatrice in collo ‘the
boy, alive, with a scar on his neck.’
19. 1 have not identified any link to Saint Anselm.
20. Read in yehuatl.
21. Read quimotlaocolilia.
22. That is, et benedictusfructus ventris tui.
23. Read huel ic.
24. Read huel itechtzinco.
25. Read quicuicaehua.
26. More literally, “that was going lying”; i.e., the lifeboat was
along on the trip.
27. This person’s gender is not specified in the Nahuatl; it is a
man in European versions.
28. The Nahuatl has yn animame rather than ynanimahuan, which
would be expected if “their” souls, rather than “the” souls, is intended.
However, the same construction is used below, as “the souls his
friends,” where one would certainly expect “souls” to be possessed. I
have translated both occurrences as if the noun is possessed.
29. Mourning doves (huilomeh).
30. The seventh and last of the canonical hours. Gante’s 1553
doctrina includes a Nahuatl prayer to Mary to be said at compline
MIRACLE NARRATIVES 147
which asks for her protection from demons at the time of death
(1981:143v).
31. The Theophilus story is not included among the materials
for Marian festivals in his massive hagiographic treatise (Surius 1875-
80). 1 have not had an opportunity to examine his total corpus.
32. ce nica: tentative transcription of illegible text; not trans¬
lated.
33. Read aoc/Tjo.
34. To be read aoc, or possibly aoc ac or aocquic.
35. The character here appears to be a p with added flourishes.
36. Read ynamatl.
37. ytlatlaticauh ‘his hider of things’; Molina defines tlatlati (of
which this is the possessed form) as “he who guards something”
(1970:139r). In Sanchez de Vercial, Theophilus is the ministrador de
los bienes for a cathedral (1961:201); in Voragme, as in Hroswitha,
he is a bishop’s administrator, Latin vicedominus (Boyd 1964:128;
Voragine 1965:593).
38. Text shifts into future tense, denoting what Theophilus is
planning to do.
39. That is, do not make the sign of the cross.
40. Tentative interpretation of timotequimatica. 1 am unsure
whether tequi is functioning here as an intensifier (i.e., “you are think¬
ing too much (of yourself?]”) or with the meaning of “work” or
“duty” (i.e., “you are thinking it is your business”). In either case, the
sense seems to be that Theophilus is overstepping the bounds of
propriety.
41. 1 have interpreted dd (with line across upper part of letters)
as an abbreviation for “David.” Because of his repentance for having
committed adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel, chapters 11 and 12),
David symbolized the repentant sinner (Stafford Poole, personal com¬
munication, 1998). What seems to be an elaborate p after the word
occequintin is probably an abbreviation for patriarchasme, although
it could also stand for prophetasnie. Both categories are Old Testa¬
ment personages who were included in Christ’s redemption.
42. A Middle English version from ca 1300 is published in
Boyd (1964:11-14).
43. The Nahuatl has “him” rather than “me” as object for these
two verbs, but the demon seems to be speaking here and these verbs
should apply to him.
44. Read iquac.
45. Read yacachto.
46. Read gan.
47. A partially excised passage here reads: yn totlago-
temaquixticatzin Jesu X“ centlapal hualmiquiltitihuia ‘our precious
rescuer, Jesus Christ, came standing to one side.’ The excised section
runs from the last syllable of totlagotemaquixticatzin through the first
seven letters of hualmiquiltitihuia. The writer apparently began to put
Christ in here, then corrected himself in order to mention the saints
first, as is done in the Spanish versions.
48. In the manuscript, the word otzonquiz ‘it ended’ has a box
drawn around it and the replacement term itzonquizyan ‘at its time of
ending’ is written in the margin.
49. Read huilotl.
50. Read Auh in.
51. In Nahuatl, mass is typically “seen” rather than “heard.”
This does not indicate that Nahuas watched without understanding,
but rather that the concept of “seeing” entailed a broader sense of
“experiencing,” applicable as well to sexual experience, as seen in
148 BEFORE GUADALUPE
chapters 2 and 3 in reference to the virginity of Mary and Joseph
(Stafford Poole, personal communication, 1998).
52. Alternatively, “him,” in reference to Christ.
53. Mourning dove (huilotl).
54. Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genetrix:
nostras deprecationes ne despicas in necessilatibus, sed a periculis
cinctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. 1 thank Stafford
Poole for supplying me with the Latin text and translation.
55. Read hualtzatzic.
56. Probably to be read xictlalili.
57. The lightning uses the verb ilalilia, the applicative form of
tlalia ‘place down or set down.’ A more literal rendering would be “I
will place it down in regard to him,” which could imply something like
”1 will put down my lightning bolt at him.” I have translated the verb
as “strike,” as that is the common English term for what they are
doing.
58. Read motlatlatlauhtiliz.
59. Read iquac.
60. More literally, “there it [the food] was traveling.”
61. In the manuscript the word quimondquilili ‘she answered
her’ is overwritten by quimolhuili ‘she said to her.’
62. Read huel ic.
63. Read huel tlaocoxtiuh.
64. Read yn ye.
65. Read niaca or ma ahmo.
66. This Albert may be interpreted as Albertus Magnus, but any
actual link to his works is unlikely. The saint, whose writings on the
Virgin show considerable theological restraint, died in 1280, long
before the rosary devotion took shape, and even the more pro-Marian
Mariale Super Missus Esi. incorrectly attributed to Albert until 1952,
probably dates to the later thirteenth century (Graef 1963-65:v. 1:270-
271,274-277).
67. Read ilaquiloc, from ilaqui. 1 am grateful to Una Ganger for
her identification of this term (personal communication, 1999).
68. I thank Barry Sell for his suggestions on the word division
and translation of this passage.
 Afterword

T he most striking aspect of the texts in this volume may be

the sheer extent to which medieval European Mananism,
here and now. Nahuas could fit Mary into their this-worldly
orientation. She is a nexus for divine presence in the world,

expressed in narrative, liturgy, and prayer, found its way into for links between the human and the divine, for the sacralizing

Nahua hands. This was not a cult stripped down to its rudi¬ of human life. Yet she is not, herself, a god, and her cult, like

ments for the benefit of ignorant neophytes, nor was it fully those of other saints, worked to take divinity a step away from

purged of elements that, to Catholic as well as Protestant re¬ humanity, inserting a level of intermediaries between the ulti¬

formers, represented an excessive reliance on Mary. Nahuas mate power and the now-colonized Nahuas. Furthermore, the

were entrusted with many of the same texts and practices that literature pays much attention to her exceptional nature; she

were available to Catholics throughout Europe. Exactly what is indeed human, but she is not like other people.

they made of them is, as I emphasized in the introduction, not Mary is linked to sacrifice and penitence. She herself is

something that can be readily determined, and I do not here offered at the temple as a child and grows up there. She leads

present firm conclusions. It should be clear, however, that Mary a pious life through which she merits divine favor, becoming

did not simply take the place of one or more preconquest divin¬ pregnant by divine means. She, in turn, offers her son, first as

ities. She was in many ways a new and unprecedented sacred an infant when she presents him at the temple, along with a bird

figure that can be better understood as part of the colonial sacrifice, and secondly through the Passion, when she yields

milieu than through a search for preconquest parallels. But, him up as a sacrificial offering for the benefit of humanity.

having emphasized the Nahuatl texts’ European background She suffers through the Passion along with him, having already

through much of this work, I would like to close by emphasiz¬ suffered other sorrows, such as the flight to Egypt. She main¬

ing five features of these texts that may have particularly tains lifelong sexual abstinence, living like a priest in service

stood out to the Nahuas who used them, serving as significant to divinity. In Nahuatl, the quality that most defines her rela¬

links between their own religiosity and the imported cult. Each tionship to other humans is not mercy but compassion, tetlao-

of these features, however, did not simply reinforce preexist¬ coyaliztli ‘feeling sad on behalf of someone.’ Her sadness for

ing belief or practice but drew Nahua devotees toward new people can in itself be seen as a kind of ongoing penitential

modes of conceptualizing and interacting with the sacred. exercise through which she gains divine favor for her devo¬

Mary, a human woman of earth, is conceived in a won¬ tees, not just because she gets her son to feel sorry for her but
because she actually earns the favor through her penitential
drous manner. Angels visit her and feed her. She becomes
pregnant through a divine marvel and gives birth to a divine behavior. In devotional practice she receives offerings:
candles are burned for her, symbolic flowers are offered through
child. She returns from death and rises into the heavens, but
the praying of the rosary. In these ways her cult was consistent
there she devotes her attention to events on earth. She appears
with indigenous views of the contract between humanity and
to her devotees and works marvels on their behalf. Her images
divinity: one must offer sacrifices and perform penances in
abound and act to help their devotees. In her festivals, which
account for a substantial part of the yearly ritual cycle, sacred order to remain in the gods’ good graces. Mary, a consecrated
one who acts as intermediary between humanity and divinity,
spaces were adorned with flowers, her elaborately dressed
receives offerings but also performs sacrifices and penances
images were carried about in processions, and events of her
on behalf of her devotees. Yet in written texts the principal and
life were dramatized. She is “our mother.” Thus, Mary’s cult is
oft-stated goal of these penances is not abundant harvests,
replete with manifestations of sacred power operating in the
weather control, improved health, or other aspects of earthly
earthly realm. One of the points of conflict between indig¬
well-being. Rather, they are directed at redemption; pardon of
enous religiosity and Christianity was the incompatibility
sin and liberation from demons, which in the Christian scheme
between Christian dualism and Nahua monism (Burkhart
of things bring reward not on earth but in the afterlife.
1989). Christianity separated spirituality from the material
Penitential acts are not enough, for divine powers must
world, with a concomitant splitting of the person into soul
be supplicated, and thus manipulated, through the effective
and body. Nahuas perceived sacred forces as inhering in and
use of language. In the Quiche Maya Popol Vuh, people are
acting through created nature, manifesting themselves in the
150 BEFORE GUADALUPE
created because the gods want to have articulate beings who
will please them by speaking their names and praying to them
(Tedlock 1985). Nahuas may not have stated this obligation
quite so directly, but oral invocation was a constant in their de¬
votional practice as well. One humbles oneself, praises the
power and honor of the prayer’s recipient, and begs for favor.
Mary is the addressee in many prayers, and she in turn entreats
her son on behalf of those who pray to her. Some of the prayers
to Mary are sophisticated literary compositions, but Nahuas
seem to have accepted the notion that repetitive praying of
even so short and simple a prayer as the Hail Mary was an ef¬
fective means of communicating with her. For most of Mary’s
Nahua devotees, supplication of their heavenly noblewoman
probably remained a means of pleasing her and “asking for
things” rather than a route to mystical experience. But, however
closely Nahuas kept to the written models in their actual prayers,
praying to Mary helped to maintain the flow of discourse
from earth to heaven. Indeed, the brevity of the catechistic
prayers facilitated the maintenance of this link while Nahuas
replaced or supplemented their traditional prayers with Marian
ones, for they were not so difficult to learn. The model prayers,
though, drew attention to redemption and the afterlife.
Mary’s associations with flowers, gardens, and light brought
her into the Nahua “flower-world” and bound her to the life-
giving creative force of the sun, whose heat brings forth flowers
and sustenance and who in turn was associated with Christ,
the “sun of righteousness” who manifests himself in the mass
in the shape of a tortilla. She also bore associations with water,
derived from interpretations of the Song of Songs and Ezekiel
and from both local and imported miracle legends in which
she brings rain, stops floods, or rescues the drowned. Less an
“earth mother” figure than a celestial numen of water and
light, Mary in these texts is in many ways compatible with Na¬
hua views of sacred power. But these sacred manifestations
are sometimes reduced from identity to metaphor, when prayers
stand in for real flowers, or when Mary is said to be “like” or
“considered as” the dawn or the divine garden. And they are re¬
moved from earth to heaven, where Mary is enthroned in glory.
They are also removed from the present to the past, as her life,
though often dramatized in the present, was narrated as a story
of long ago, and to the future, with the promises of heavenly
delight to be enjoyed by her devotees in the afterlife.
Mary is a noblewoman, a queen, in one text the daughter
of an earthly ruler. She is literate and prescient. A priest-like
girl, she stands up to the older male priests who want to marry
her off. She is chosen for a great mission and she exercises free
choice in accepting it. She ends up enthroned at Christ’s right
hand in the highest part of heaven. The efficacy of her inter¬
ventions depends on Christ’s indulgence of her wishes, but
she acts independently in appearing to her devotees and seek¬
ing out Christ’s cooperation. In these ways, she is a model of
female power and empowerment, and may be seen as provid¬
ing something of the gender complementarity or male-female
dualism of traditional Mesoamerican cosmology, with a con¬
comitant upholding of women’s status. Yet, Mary’s cult does
not simply affirm female status and power. While some early
colonial Nahua women enjoyed the privileges of noblewomen,
none were queens or priests and, as far as is known, none
learned to read and write. For most women, Mary more effec¬
tively modeled the submission to patriarchal and colonial
norms that they themselves experienced. Kicked out of the
temple, she marries at 14, against her stated wishes, and comes
under the protection of a husband chosen not by her or her
family but by God acting through a male priest. She is de¬
scribed as her husband’s “ward” (piyalli), and she forms a
nuclear family with him and her son. Thus, in addition to
modeling the chastity so precious to Catholic priests, she
models the early marriage and the emphasis on conjugal over
consanguineal ties which, over the early colonial period, fur¬
thered the disempowerment of Nahua women (Kellogg 1995,
1997). However, the parallels between her life course and their
own may have contributed to the bond between her and fe¬
male Nahuas. The use of the affectionate or diminutive terms
cihuatzintli ‘dear (or little) woman’ and ichpochtzintli ‘dear
(or little) maiden’ for the female protagonists of miracle narra¬
tives may also reflect a perceived closeness between these
characters and Mary; as females, they bear a special relation¬
ship to her and are, thus, “dear.” There remains something of a
female domain within the sacred, however reduced or altered.
The Marian literature pulled Nahuas toward Christian
views of death, sin, and redemption. God and the Devil lay
not so much in the details of prayers and stories, processions
and offerings, images and marvels as in the big picture, the
overarching narrative of Adam’s fall and Christ’s redemption.
Mary’s role in this story is to give Christ his humanity so that
he can suffer death and thereby redeem all humankind. Ever
after, she is able to secure his mercy by provoking his human
feelings and reminding him of his debt to her. Texts attesting
to her boundless compassion tempered the threats of fearsome
damnation issuing from the friars’ pulpits, but both discourses
cast Nahuas in a moral drama centering on the fate of their
souls. They could ignore the larger message and focus on the
details, recasting them into their own stories and preferen¬
tially adopting those aspects of the cult that most appealed to
them. But because so many aspects of the cult did appeal to
them, in contrast to more strictly moralistic aspects of Chris¬
tian indoctrination, participation in Marian devotions may
have furthered the acceptance of European views of salvation
and heavenly reward among at least some Nahuas.
In the mid-seventeenth century a story began to circulate
about events of 1531. It told how Mary walked at Tepeyacac
and talked with a Nahua named Juan Diego. Her presence
illuminated the local cactus plants and brought forth the dry-
season flowers that he gathered into his mantle, on which her
image miraculously appeared. Indoctrinated as they had been
over the preceding century in the Marian traditions repre¬
sented by this volume, Mary’s Nahua devotees may have found
the legend of Our Lady of Guadalupe less a startling revela¬
tion than a confirmation of Mary’s already well-established
place in their devotional lives.

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1997 The Virgin Mary in the Mixtec Kingdom of Heaven.
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 Index

Anunciacion, Domingo de la, 59, 122,132; Doctrina of, 11,59 60,

Aaron, 18, 23
121-127 _
Abel, 10 Anunciacion, Juan de la, 13; Doctrina of, 59,118-119, 123,130nl7,
Abraham, 92, 94, 110 Sermonario of, 10, 11, 13-14, 25, 33, 47^8, 52n36, 64-67, 68,
Absalom, 92
112n5,133-134
Acolman, 87 Apocalypse, Woman of the, 110-112, 119, 130nl0
Actopan, 21 n3, 99 Apocryphal gospels, 10, 25, 34,37,38,99, \\2n\. See also Gospel
Acts, Book of, 101 of the Birth of Mary; Protoevangelium jacobi
Adam, 9, 10, 16-17, 18, 25, 26, 27-28, 38, 45, 46, 51, 102, 103,
Apostles, 100—105, 108, 113n62, 126, 127
106, 129, 150
Apostles’ Creed, 53, 58, 116, 120
Adultery, 25, 27, 34, 53, 147n41
Aquinas, Thomas, Saint, 9-10, 21n2
Advent, 14, 40, 53, 54, 92
Ark of the Covenant, 17, 18
Advocacy: in courts, 115; of Mary, 44, 101, 115-116, 131, 150,
Articles of faith, 38—40, 53, 58—60, 99, 116
of Mary, in Nahuatl texts, 15, 20, 26, 30, 89, 96, 108, 109, 110,
Assumption, 17,25,48,99-112, 112nl, 112n6, 112n36, 113n50,
111-112, 117-121, 126-129,134, 140, 146; in wills, 116
126, 130n27, 132, 138, 141, 149, plate 12, plate 14; churches
Aesop, 19 dedicated to, 99,100,110; confraternities devoted to, 8n9; dra¬
Aguilar, Manuel, 112n36 matizations of, 100; feast of, 3, 17,21n21,25,30, 36nl6, 36nl7,
Albertus Magnus, 52nl3, 145, 148n66
99, 104, 113n58, 130n28, 143
Alegre, Francisco Javier, 25, 99
Atemoztli, 53
Alfonso X, 15, 138, 141
Athens, 101, 103, 112n7
Alva, don Bartolome de, 10, 21n5
Atl cahualo, 63
Alva Ixtlilxochitl, don Fernando de, 21n5
Augustine, Saint, 24
Ambrose, Saint, 20, 24, 47,48
Augustinians, 2, 8n9, 9, 10, 13, 53, 117, 121
Amith, Jonathan, 36n25, 52nl2
Augustodunensis, Honorius, 48
Anatolia, 138 Azcapotzalco, 121,130nl5
Anderson, Arthur J. O., 7, 36n23, 52n44, 88, 97nl Aztecs, 7nl, 34,116; conquest of, 2-3. See also preconquest religion
Andrew, Saint, 14
Angel(s): announce Mary’s birth, 26; appears to Hebrew pnests, 33;
Bakhtin, Mikhail, 5
appears to Joachim, 11,13,14; associated with Mary m iconog¬
Baptism, 131, 134—136, 147nl7
raphy, 10,100,112n36, plate 12, plate 13; as birds, 56, 57,61nl 1,
Bathsheba, 147n41
137; call to soul at death, 121; Christ feeding, 18; hierarchy of,
Bautista Viseo, Juan, 14, 21nl3, 33, 53; Advertencias para los con-
102 107; in Joseph’s dream, 38; at Mary’s death and Assumption,
fessores de los naturales of, 25; Huehuetlatolli of, 17; Marial of,
lOl’, 103! 105,106,107,109,113n52,126; in miracle narratives,
14; Sermonario of, 11, 13, 1^18, 20, 25, 110. 127-128, plate 3
144 145- saves Nahua from demons, 132; surpassed by Mary, 17,
Beauvais, Vincent of, 134, 137
29,45^, 57, 99, 102, 104, 109, 127,129; visit Mary, 23, 34, 39,
Bejar, Juan de, 116
43,149; want people to go to heaven, 45. See also Gabriel; Michael
Berceo, Gonzalo de, 137,138
Angels, Our Lady of the, 132 . kt u 0
BeristSin de Souza, Jose Mariano, 38
AnL Saint, 9, 10, 23, 34, 37, 52n48, 53, 61nl, 70nl; m Nahuatl
Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint, 34, 37, 112nl
texts, 12-14, 16-17,30,34-35
Bestul, Thomas H., 5, 87
Annunciation, 10, 23, 32, 36n20, 37-47, 52nl3, 124; confraterni¬
Bethany, 91,93
ties devoted to, 8n9, 38; dramatization of, 38,44, feast of, 3, 37,
Bethlehem, 56,58
51n3, 53, 54, 133; iconography of, 37, 100, plate 5
Bierhorst, John, 19, 130nl7
Anselm, Saint, 29, 36nl8, 136, 147nl9 or n n 40 Birds: angels as, 56, 57, 61 nl 1; associated with flower-world sym¬
Antiphons, 17, 21nl9, 21n21, 23, 25, 36n4, 36nl6 ’,07 bolism, 34,42, 112n36; Gabriel as quetzal, 42^3; as offerings,
48,52n38, 54, 67-70, 70n7,70nl0, 70nll, 101, 105, 106, 107,
63. 64, 65-66, 68, 69, 70nl, 149; souls as, 137; as symbols of
112n34, 113n45, 113n46, 113n47, 113n50, 113n56, 113n58,
night and day, 27. See also Dove
130n28, 143, 148n54 Birth, of Mary, see Nativity
52nl3, 54, 61n2,
Antoninus, Saint, 5, 17, 21nl, 36nl9, 37, 49,
Borah, Woodrow, 129nl
112nl,113n46
160 INDEX

Bosch, Hieronymus, 130nl0 Confessors (of the Church), 107, 113n60

Bourdieu, Pierre, 5 Confraternities, 3, 8n9, 33,38,87,91, 120, 130nl3, 132, 141; of
Breviarium Romanum (reformed breviary), 36nl7,48,52n38,70n7, the rosary, 8n9, 33, 122, 123, I30nl3, 130nl4
113n58, 113n70, 113n71, 116, 118 Conquistadora, La, statue of Mary, 3, 132
Brindisi, Lawrence of, 52n47 Contemplation, 19-20, 87, 115, 121, 122, 150; Mary’s practice of,
Brown, Raymond E., 23-24, 36n3, 63 37,44
Burgoa, Francisco de, 131 Cordoba, Pedro de, 59
Comyn, John, 123
Cain, 10 Cort6s, Hernando, 2-3, 116, 132
Calmecac, 24 Council of Basel, 9, 38
Calpan, 99,100, plate 12 Council of Constantinople, 24
Candlemas, see Purification Council of Trent, 3,9, 116, 118, 123, 137, 138
Canger, Una, 148n67 Coyolxauhqui, 87
Canisius, 138 Cristobal, of Tlaxcala, 99, 134
Cantares mexicanos, 6, 19 Cross, 93, 94, 95-96, 125-126; sign of, 116, 139, 147n39
Carochi, Horacio, 19 Cruz, Juan de la, Nahua youth, 131, 147n2
Carroll, Michael P., 116 Cruz, Juan de la, native healer, 132
Carthusians, 122, 139 Culhuacan, 123
Casale, Ubertino da, 48, 110, 112nl
Castello, Alberto da, 123 Daniel, 42
Catherine of Siena, Saint, 53 David, 11,20, 23,32,33,37,41,92, 102, 108-109, 110, 124, 140,
Caves, 15, 56, 139 147n41
Celibacy, 19; of Joseph, 23, 24, 32, 33,44; of Mary, 44,149; Nahuatl Davila Padilla, Augustin, 8n6, 59, 122, 132
term for, 30. See also Chastity; Virginity Dawn, associated with Mary, 25, 26-29, 104, 150
Cervantes de Salazar, Francisco, 3 Death: desired by virtuous, 66; human fate after, 17, 150; of Jesus
Chaleo, 88 Christ, 91-96, 101, 102, 104, 113n49, 125-126; Jesus Christ’s
Chalchiuhtlicue, 54 victory over, 28, 121; of Mary, 99-106, 108-109, 112n4, 112n5,
Chastity, 34,48,52n37, 144, 150; of girls in calmecac, 24; of Mary, 113n49, 113n62, 149, plate 13; Mary’s intercession at, 116,
in Nahuatl texts, 15,30,31,32; of Nahua women, 24-25; Nahuatl 118, 120-121, 126, 137, 147n30; Mary’s victory over, 4, 121;
term for, 30. See also Celibacy; Virginity Nahua views of, 88, 99, 134; preparation for, 120. See also
Chiapas, 116, 147nl Assumption
Chicomecoatl, 23 Deer, 26, 28,49, 52n43,91, 102
Childbirth, 11, 65, 134-135; Mary’s, 39,44, 53-60, 65, 66, 91,124, Demons, 25, 26, 45, 102, 103, 120, 132, 133, 134,
129, 134, 149 139-141, 147n30, 149
Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, Domingo de San Anton Munon, Denis, Saint, 101
87-88,91, 131, 132 Despedimiento, 91-95
Cholula, 122 Devil, 43, 44, 52nl9, 131, 132, 133, 138-140, 147n2, 150.
Christ, see Jesus Christ See also Demons
Christian, William A., 2,10 Di'az del Castillo, Bernal, 3
Christmas, 53, 56, 63. See also Jesus Christ, birth of Dibble, Charles E., 36n23, 52n44
Cihuacoatl, 11 Dionysius the Areopagite, 101, 103, 104, 112n6, 112n7, 113n44
Cihuapilli, title for Mary, 6, 7, 53, passim in Nahuatl texts Doctrina, evangelios y epistolas en nahuatl, 11,21 n21,32-34,43-
Cihuapipiltin, 53 44,48-49, 100-108, 119, 130nl4, 130nl5, 132, 134-138
Cilicia, Asia Minor, 138 Dominic, Saint, 53, 121, 145
Cistercians, 117 Dominicans, 2, 8n9, 53, 58-60, 116, 117, 132; Doctrina cristiana
Ciudad Real, Antonio de, 24,100 of, 7,58-59; oppose doctrine of Immaculate Conception, 9,61 n2;
Clendinnen, Inga, 3,10 and rosary, 121-123, 130nl5, 130nl6.
Coatlicue, 87 Door of heaven {porta cceli), Mary as, 54—55, 68, 70n8, 95, 109,
Colegio de Santa Cruz, 31, 33, 40, 91 plate 1
Cologne, 122 Dormition, 99, 101. See also Assumption
Compassion: of God, 12, 14, 17, 26, 36nl0, 45, 70, 109; of Jesus Dove(s), 49, 52n44, 52n45, 52n46, 142, 148n53; Holy Spirit as,
Christ, 16, 92, 120, 126, 135; of Mary, 7, 15, 19, 20, 55, 57, 87, 34, 35, 37; Mary as, 30, 36n23; offered at Purification, 63, 64,
110, 111, 115,117-118, 119, 120, 121, 127-128, 129, 135-136, 65-66, 68, 69, 70nl, 70n9; souls as, 137-138, 147n29
142,144, 146,149; for poor, 12, 14 Dramas, 3, 38, 53, 91-92, 99, 100, 123, 130nl6, 131, 149
Conception, Nahua and European views of, 9 Duns Scotus, John, 9, 10
Conception of Mary, 149; debate over immaculate nature of, 9; Durdn, Diego, 23, 24, 53
feast of, 9, 16-17, 21nl9, 127, 130n27,130n28; Nahuatl texts
on, 10-21, 121; terms for, in Nahuatl, 9. 5ee a/so Immaculate Easter, 51n3, 56, 88
Conception Ecclesiasticus, Old Testament book, 17,21 n22,48
Confession, 25,38,66, 116, 120, 131, 140, 146 Eden,15-16
 INDEX 161

Gospel of James. See Protoevangelium jacobi

Edgerton, Samuel Y., 36n27, 97nl9, 112n36
Egypt. 88-90,91, 149
Elisabeth of Schonau, 99
Elizabeth, Saint, 37-38,40,42,47,48,49, 5(^51,52n42, 61nl. 116,
117, 124
Elijah. 99
Enoch, 99
Epazoyucan, 87, 100,113n54, plate 13
Ephesus, 103, 112n5
Epiphany, 53, 63
Escalona, Alonso de, 95
Eucharist, 54
Evangelists, 102. See also John, Luke, Mark, Matthew
Eve, 10, 25, 26, 27-28, 38, 45, 46, 53, 54, 102, 103, 106, 109; in
Salve Regina prayer (or quotations of it), 55, 117,118,129n5
Expectation of the Childbirth of Our Lady, 40, 53-54,117; Nahuatl
text for, 53-56
Ezekiel, 54, 55, 150
Fasting, 3, 121, 140
Februa, 63
Fernandez del Castillo, Francisco, 130nl5
Ferro, Juan, 99 .
Flowers, 3,19, 20, 23,113n75, 149, 150; associated with Christ, 34;
associated with Mary in iconography, 10, 100, plate 12; associ¬
ated with Mary in Nahuatl texts, 15, 20, 49, 54-56, 57, 90, 106,
108-109, 111, 120,123-124,127,129; associated with Nazareth,
34, 36, 44; flowering of Joseph’s staff, 32, 34, 35; Nahua sym¬
bolism of, 20,150; offered to Mary, 23,121; rosary as, 121, 123-
124, 144. See also Lily; Rosary; Rose
Flynn, Maureen, 91
Francis, Saint, 18
Franciscans. 2, 3, 8n6,19,38,43,91,99,100,110, 116,121, 130nl6,
131, 132, 134; confraternities sponsored by, 8n9, 38; devotion
to Immaculate Conception, 9,10
Fuensalida, Luis de, 38
Fuente, Agusti'n de la, 14, 110, 127
Fulton, Rachel, 25
Furst, Jill Leslie, 137
Gabriel archangel; announces Elizabeth’s pregnancy, 38; appears
to Hebrew priests, 34, 35; appears to Joachim. 11, 12;m Gospel
of Luke, 32,40-43; greeting to Mary (in Hail Mary prayer),
29-30 37 41 42^3,44,45,94,95,111-112,116,117,124,
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. See Gospel of the Birth of Mary
Grace, 96, 126; granted to Adam and Eve, 27; granted to Mary, 9,
29130,41,42-43,99, 111, 117, 118; granted to people, 28, 112,
124, 128, 129; Spanish term used in Nahuatl texts, 118
Graef, Hilda, 52n47, 117, 138
Great Temple, 3
Gregory, Saint, 144
Grijalva, Juan de, 8n6, 13, 116
Gruzinski, Serge, 129
Guadalupe, Our Lady of, 1-2.116,130nl0; foundation legend, 1-2,
131, 137,150; image on subway tile, 1; miracle narratives asso¬
ciated with, 131;Tepeyacac shrine, 1; shrine image, 1,9,110,132
Guaman Poma de Ayala, Felipe, 3
Guerrero, 139
Hagar, 92 ^ ,c m
Hail Mary: bell-ringing (Angelus), 43, 117, 118; prayer, 6, 15,30,
36n20, 37, 38, 43, 105, 110, 112, 113n48, 116-120, 121-126,
129n5! 130nl8, 133-134, 136-137, 144, 150
Hanks, William F., 5
Healers, indigenous, 13,14, 132
Hell, 25, 138. See also Mictlan
Hernandez, Domingo, native healer, 132
Herod, 88, 90, 91
Herolt, Johannes, 133, 134, 137, 138
Hill, Jane, 20
Holy Spirit, 15, 17, 18,21n22, 29,49, 56, 69,93, 101, 102, 107,
126, 129; prayed to in rosary, 123,126; represented by dove, 34,
35; role in conception of Jesus, 23, 37, 38, 41-42, 44, 46, 47,
58, 65, 66, 93; as spouse of Mary, 50, 51,52n47, 119, 127
“Holy Wednesday,” Nahuatl drama, 4,7, 91-92
Holy Week, 91,92, 97nll
Horcasitas, Fernando, 38, 130nl6
Hortus conclusus (“enclosed garden”), 15, 54, 121. See also Garden,
Mary as
Hours, canonical, 3, 43, 116, 122, 129n3, 138, 147n30; Dominican
book of, 70n7, 109; Nahuatl book of, 3
Hroswitha of Gandersheim, 138, 147n37
Huaquechula, 100
Huejotzingo, 116; Immaculate Conception mural at, 9-10,15, 17,
36n5, 36nl6, 54, 128, plate 1
Huitzilopochtli, 3,24, 37, 50
Hymns, 26, 30, 109—110, 113n69, 119

heralds Mary’s death, 103, 105, 112n40; role in Annunciation,

Ichpochtli, as term for Mary as virgin, 6. 7, 24, passim in Nahuatl
10, 37, 39-47, 52n31. See also Angel(s), Hail Mary
texts
Galilee, 37, 40 f11 ss iifi-i 18 Idolatry, 5. 11, 13,26, 28,38,68,69,88,89.90
Game, Pedro de, 58; Doctrina chnstiana of, 7,11,33, 58, 110-118,
Ignatius of Loyola, Saint, 21n25
119-121, 137n30
Ildefonsus, Saint, 53-54
Garden, Mary as, 15-16, 20, 29, 54-55, 121, 127, 150, Immaculate Conception: confraternities devoted to, 8n9; debates
Mary’s Nazareth home as, 34, 35 over, 9,61n2; devotion to, in Spain, 9; dogma of, 9; Franciscan
Garibay K., Angel Maria, 130nl6 establishments dedicated to, 10; Guadalupe image as, 1,9, 110;
Genesis, Book of, 36n22 hospitals dedicated to, 9; iconography of, 9-10, 15, 17,36n5,
Gerson, Juan, 110 36nl6,54, 100, 110-112, 128, plate 1, plate 2; promulgated by
Gethsemane, 101 Franciscans and Augustinians, 9. See also Conception of Mary
Gianetti da Salo, Andrea, 123 Incarnation, see Annunciation
Giotto, 112n4 Indulgences, 33, 119, 120, 122, 123, 124, 130nl4, 130nl5
Gillespie, Susan D., 50 lyn^iR Innocent IV, Pope, 23
Gobius, Johannes, 13^136, 137, 147nl4, 147nl5. 147nl6, 147nl8
Inquisition, Mexican, 40,123,130nl5
Gospel of the Birth of Mary, 10, 23, 37
162 INDEX

Inquisition, Spanish, 24 Karttunen, Frances, 21n24, 52n52, 97n20

Isaac, 92,94 Kellogg, Susan, 129n 1
Isaiah, 20, 23, 33, 34, 36n28, 37,44 Klapisch-Zuber, Christiane, 36n27
Kline, Fred R., 21n4
Jacob, 92
Jacobita, Martin, 40 Langlinais, J. W., 112nl
Jacobsen, Jerome V., 19 Las Casas, Bartolom6 de, 100
Jade, 40, 52nll, 54, 55, 88, 96, 108, 128, 129 Laso de la Vega, Luis, 2, 8n4
James, Saint, 58,61nl8,101,104; appearing in battle, 2,3 Laureate liturgy, 9
James the Less, Saint, 10 Lawrence, Saint, 142
Jeremiah, 9 Lent, 51n3,53
Jerome, Saint, 10, 20, 23,24, 29, 36nl9,118,129,130n27 Leon, Martin de, 38, 123; Camino del cielo of, 38—40, 60, 63,
Jerusalem, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 88, 91,92, 95, 101, 102, 120, 123; Sermonario of, 11, 38, 92-95
107, 112n5, 113n58, 125, 137 Lepanto, 122
Jesse, 20, 23, 36n28 Leviticus, 65
Jesuits, 2, 19, 21n25, 99, 121, 131, 138 Light, 25-29, 37, 51, 55, 57, 59, 60, 65, 67, 69, 104, 109,
Jesus Christ: appears to Apostles after Resurrection, 59-60; 111, 113n46, 129, 144, 150
appears to Mary’s devotees, 136-137,142; Ascension of, 101, Lightning, 63, 132, 143, 145, 148n57
102; at Assumption, 104—108; birth of, 12, 39,42,44, 53- Lily, 20, 37, 51, 55, 56, 108, 128, 129
60,91,124,149; circumcision of, 63; coming of announced to Limbo, 92,102
Adam and Eve, 10; conception of, 9,23-24, 36n3, 37,38,39- Loarte, Caspar, 123
42,58; contemplative devotion to, 19,87; deeds recorded Lockhart, James, 1, 2, 8n4, 11,21n24, 50, 52n52, 131, 132
by apostles, 102; depictions of, 53, 61nl, plate 3, plate 7, Lope de Vega Carpio, F61ix, 10
plate 8, plate 9, plate 10, plate 11, plate 13, plate 15; disputation Lord’s Prayer. See Our Father
with elders in temple, 88, 89, 91,125; flight into Egypt, 89,91; Lorenzo, don, 19, 21n25
as fruit borne by Mary, 15, 16, 96, 109, 110, 116-117, 129n5, Lucifer, 140. See also Demons; Devil
130n7, 137; genealogy of, 20, 36n28, 110; greeted by John Luke, Saint, 101; gospel of, 23, 24, 32, 37, 38, 40-43, 47, 50,
the Baptist in utero, 38; humanity of, derived from Mary, 3, 63, 64, 66, 67, 88, 97n24, 105, 106, 113n49, 113n53, 113n55,
37, 101,136, 150; as instrument of salvation, 70n3; in Marian 116, 118
prayers, 116-129; Mary chosen or prepared as mother of, 9,14,
29; Mary’s intercession with, see Advocacy, of Mary; Melchi- Macehualtin, term for commoners or native people, 11,44,54; in
sedec as type for, 30,31; in miracle narratives, 136-137,140, Nahuatl texts, 12,13,45-46,56
142, 146, 147n47; Passion and death of, 15, 19, 54, 87,91-96, Magnificat, 37,40,106,113n53
97nl9, 101, 102, 104, 113n49, 121, 125-126, 135, 149, 150; Malachi, 54
recognized as Messiah by Simeon, 63, 66, 69-70; relationship Malinalco, 87, plate 11
to Joseph, 32, 36n24; Resurrection of, 17, 42, 59-60, 99, 126; Manichaeans, 101
rosary pleasing to, 123; siblings of, 36n2; sin pardoned by, Manna, 18
28, 109, 120, 139; solar associations of, 25, 28,54, 55, 59, 68, Mantle, Jesus Christ’s 129; Mary’s, 111, 137-138; Mary’s body
113n46, 150; Solomon as type for, 20; Song of Songs associ¬ wrapped in, 108
ated with, 25,48,100; as tortilla, 54,55,150; water associated Marriage: examination for, 116; of Mary and Holy Spirit, 50, 51,
with, 54-55 52n47, 119, 127; of Mary and Joseph, 23-24, 32-33, 34, 35-36,
Jews, 63, 88, 95-96, 103, 113n62, 125, 134, 138, 139, 147nl5; as 36n3, 50,150; Nahua practice of, 24—25, 150; Nahuatl terms for
“children of Israel ,’’65 spouses, 50
Jimenes, Martin, 131 Mark, gospel of, 97nl5
Joachim, Saint, 9,10, 23, 37, 52n48, 70nl; characterized as ruler, Mars, 63
10-11, 12; in Nahuatl texts, 12-14, 30, 34-35 Martyr(s), 99, 101, 102, 107, 134
John the Baptist, Saint, 9, 23, 37-38, 40, 42, 51,61nl, plate 6 Mary Magdalene, 91,93
John the Evangelist, Saint, 67, 99, 101, 103, 105, 110-111,112n5, Mass, 3, 8n8, 99, 119, 123, 142-143, 147n51, 150
130nl0; Gospel of, 101. See also Revelation, Book of Matter, E. Ann, 25, 36nl6,49, 61n3
Josaphat (Jehosaphat), 108, 112n5 Matthew, Saint: apocryphal gospel attributed to, 10; gospel of, 23,
Joseph, patriarch, 92 24, 36n3, 38, 67, 88, 93, 97nl5, 99,110
Joseph, Saint, 53,56,70nl, 88; age of, 23, 24, 36n2; and flight to Megged, Amos, 116, 147nl
Egypt, 89; marriage to Mary, 23-24,32-33,34,35-36,36n3,50, Melchisedec, 30,31
52n47,150; Mary’s purity revealed to, 38; participates in Purifi¬ Mendieta, Gerdnimode, 8n6, 24,116, 121,123, 130nl3,132
cation, 63-65, 68-69; relationship to Jesus, 32; relationship to Metaphrastes, Simeon, 139
Mary at time of Annunciation, 41 Metztitlan, 10
Juan of Austria, don, 122 Mexico City, 1, 2, 8n9, 10, 24, 33, 43, 58, 88, 91,99, 116, 122,132
Juan Diego, 1,2, 8n2, 150 Michael, archangel, 10,11,12
Judea, 26, 37,47, 50,135 Mictlan (place of the dead), 28, 66,134
Judgment Day, 54,99 Midwives, 11, 53
 INDEX 163

Mijangos, Juan de, 17, WO, Espejo divino of, 11,110-112,128-129 Pius XII, Pope, 99
Pluto, 63
Miller, Mary, 21 n4
Poole, Stafford, C.M., 1, 2, 8n4, 21nl7, 36n22, 52n36, 112n38,
Milpa Alta, 100
113n45,117, 148n54
Mimouni, Simon Claude, 101
Miracles, 149; experienced by Nahuas, 131-132; images working, Posadas, 53
Prayers, 32, 38,115-129,130nl4, 150; of characters in miracle
132, 149; narratives of, 32, 54,131-146, 150; term for, 6, 7, 131
narratives, 134, 135, 136-137. 140-146; of Hebrew priests in
Mixtecs, 11
temple, 33, 35; of Mary, 13, 31, 33. 34, 35, 37, 39. 44-46. 57,
Molina, Alonso de, 3, 123, 130nl4; Vocabulario of, 11,25, 50,
96, 102; as Nahuatl genre, 6, 19, 115; Nahuatl texts of, 19-20,
52n39, 59, 97nl,97n2, 97nl0, 108, 112n41, 113n64, 113n65,
30^31,50-51, 54-58, 88-90, 95-96, 117-129. See also Advo¬
113n67,147n37
cacy, of Mary; Hail Mary; Rosary; Salve Regina
Montufar, Alonso de, 116
Preconquest religion, of Nahuas; agricultural focus, 15, 23, caves
Moon, 10, 25,29, 36n5, 100, 104, 109, 110, 111, 113n46, 130nl0
in, 56; centrality in, 90; continuity with colonial period, 4,149-
Moreno, Roberto, 19
150; dedication of children to temples, 24; female deities in, 11,
Moses, 17, 18, 63, 64, 69, 99
23, 50, 53, 54, 87, 100, 108, 134; flowers in, 10, 20, 23, 108;
Motecuhzoma, 3,19 gender complementarity in, 4, 150; use of images in', 3; kinship
Motolinia (Toribiode Benavente), 8n6,24,50,51 n3,63,99,116,131
roles in, 50; impersonation of deities in, 87; magical conception
Mulhare, Eileen M., 130nl2
in, 37; maize deities in, 10; moral concepts in, 26,100;offenng
Musa, miracle legend of, 138, 144-146
and sacrifice in, 23,54,63, 87,92,149; practitioners. 26, 27, 33,
132,139; prayer in, 115; rain gods, 145; represented as idolatry,
NahualU (shape-changing sorcerer), 26, 139
26, 68, 88; sexuality in, 25, 53; soul, views of. 20, 30, 88, 99;
Nativity, of Mary, 36n5,110, 138; confraternities devoted to, 8n9;
tree symbolism in, 15; view of upperworld, 102; water and ram
feast of, 3,17, 23, 25, 26, 36n9, 36nl4, 36nl6, 53, 128, 130n28;
deities in, 10,63, 145
narratives of, 10; in Nahuatl texts, 12,25—30
Presentation, of Jesus. See Purification
Nazareth, 34, 35, 36n28, 38. 40, 42, 43, 44-45,47, 89
Presentation, of Mary at temple, 10, 23, 30, 38, 51n4, 63, 149; in
Nebrija, Elio Antonio de, 109,113n70, 113n71
Nahuatl texts, 12-13, 14, 30-31
Noah, 10, 21nl7
Processions, 3, 10, 122, 130nl4, 149, 150
Nuns, 24, 25 Prophets, 107,127,\AlnA\.See also David; Ezekiel; Isaiah;
Jeremiah
110
Proserpine, 63
Ocharte, Pedro, 70n7, 123, 130nl0. 130nl4, 130nl5
Protestantism, 24,91, 118, 122, 138, 149
Ocotlan, Our Lady of, 132
Protoevangelium jacobi, 10, 23, 37, 56
Offner, Jerome A., 115
Proverbs, Book of, 48, 52n36
Old Testament, 15, 17, 20, 23, 30, 54, 92, 99, 101, 147
Psalms, Book of, 40, 101, 112n8, 112n9, 113n51, 113n55, 121,
Olmos, Andres de, 17
122, 124; quoted in Nahuatl texts, 29, 64, 70nl0, 70nl 1, 102,
Original sin, 16, 39, 44, 46, 103; Mary’s freedom from, 9, 10, 13,
103, 105, 106
15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21n22, 28, 29, 53, 103. See also Sin
Psalterium, 23. 36nl, 37, 70n7, 109, plate 4, plate 5
Oroz, Pedro, 14
Pseudo-Dionysius, 101
Ottman, Jennifer, 36n25
Puebla, 122,132
Our Father (Lord’s Prayer), 116, 119, 120, 121, 123-126, 137
Purification, 51,63-70,97n24, 124-125,149, plate 10; confraterni¬
Ovando, Juan de, 116 ties devoted to, 8n9; feast of, 3, 63, 65,142; iconography of, 38
Owens, L. G., 24
Purification, Our Lady of the, 132
Purity, of Mary, 9, 10, 17, 18, 20, 25, 37, 63; in Nahuatl texts, 20,
Paris, 101, 138 29,30, 31,32, 48,54, 59,65,66, 106, 111, \ 28-\29. See also
iPass.on, Mary’s role in, 87, 91-96. 97nll. 97nl9. 97n24, 149.
Virginity, of Mary
also Jesus Christ, Passion of
Passover, 88, 92, 93 Quetzalcoatl, 15, 24, 30, 37,43
Patriarchs, 106, 127, 139, 147n41
Quilaztli, 11
Patzcuaro, 99 Quiroga, Vasco de, 99
Paul, Saint, 101, 103, 112n7, 113n44, 135
Paul the Deacon, 138 Radbert, Paschasius, 130n27
Paul IV, Pope, 24 Rain, associated with Mary, 54, 143, 145, 150
Pentecost, 101, 126 Ramirez, Juan, bishop of Guatemala, 132
Perez de Ribas, Andres, 19 Rape, Mary saves women from, 131-132
Peter, Saint, 101 Reconquista, 2
Peterson, Jeanette, 21n4 Remedies, Our Lady of the, 132
Philip II, 116, 122 Revelation, Book of, 67, 70n6, 110
Phillips, Richard England, 10,100 Reyes-Valerio, Constantino, 100
Pius II, Pope, 23 Rincdn, Antonio del, 19
Pius V, Pope, 122 Rivadeneira, Pedro de, 5,9, 25, 38,43,47, 56,70nl, 101,112n7,138
Pius IX, Pope, 9
164 INDEX

Rodriguez, Caspar, 132 Solomon, 20, 21n27

Rome, 63,124 Song of Songs, 9, 15, 17, 25, 36n5, 48^9, 52n41,52n42, 54,
Rosary, 19, 118, 119, 121-127, 130nl0, 130nl4, 148n66, 149; 100, 113n54, 113n57, 121, 122, 130n28, 150; quoted in
confraternity of, 8n9, 33, 122, 123, 130nl3, 130nl4, 130nl5, Nahuatl texts, 26, 29, 49, 104, 129
130nl6,143, 145-146; miracles associated with, 132, 138, Sorcerers, indigenous, 26, 27, 132, 139
143-144, 145-146 Soul, 16, 25, 31,52n20, 57,65,67, 121, 122, 147n28, 150; of Anne,
Rose, associated with Mary, 17, 20, 30, 121-122, plate 3 goes to heaven, 14; Christ as sun or life of, 28, 29; European
Ruiz de Alarcon, Hernando, 132, 139 views of, 9, 44, 99, 137; of Jesus, 38, 39, 44; of Mary, 9. 16,
18, 21n27, 31,41, 61n2, 96, 102, 105, 119; Nahua views of, 20,
Sacraments, 15-16, 50, 54 30, 88, 99, 102, 137
Sahagun, Bernardino de, 3, 11, 14, 17, 19,31-32,38,63; Sousa, Lisa, 2, 8n4
Exercicio of, 7, 87-90; Florentine Codex of, 3, 11, 24, 30, 34, Sprenger, Jakob, 122
36n23, 53, 59, 115, 123, 145; Psalmodia Christiana of, 7, 13, Steven, Saint, 142
15, 17-18, 25, 38, 40-43, 50, 53, 56, 61nl, 67-70, 70n7, 108, Sun, 25, 28, 29, 36n5, 39, 43, 53, 68, 99, 104, 109, 110,
113n73, 129n7, plate 7, plate 8; sermons of, 11, 31-32, 33, 111, 113n46, 130nl0, 137, 143, 150. See also Jesus Christ,
110, 117, 121 solar associations of
Saints, 4, 13,21n22, 99, 113n46, 116, 123, 131, 139, 145, 149; in Surius, Laurentius, 36n5, 54, 139, 140, 147n31
Nahuatl texts, 16, 29, 96, 104, 105-106, 142, 147n47
Salve Regina, 54, 99, 109, 110, 116-119, 120, 129n5, 130n7 Taggart, James, 11
Samuel, 63, 147n41 Taix, Hieronimo, 130nl4, 143
San Buenaventura, Pedro de, 40 Tamoanchan, 15
San Geronimo, Miguel de, Nahua visionary, 132 Taylor, William B., 1,4,115
San Jose de los Naturales, chapel of, 58, 91 Tecamachalco, 110
San Juan, Tomds de (Tomds del Rosario), 122 Tecaxic, 129,132
Sanchez, Miguel, 2 Telpochcalli, 24
Sanchez de Vercial, Clemente, 133, 136,137, 138, 139, 141, 142, Ten Commandments, 64, 116
147n37 Tenochtitlan, 3,99. See also Mexico City
Santa Ana Chiauhtempan, 131 Tepeapulco, 87
Santa Marfa la Redonda, 99, 132 Tepetlaoztoc, 132
Santoral en mexicano, 11,19-21, 25-31, 38, 48, 50-51, 53-58, 90, Tepeyacac, 1,150
95-96, 108-110, 127, 132 Tepotzotlan, 8n8,19, 25,99
Sarah, 92 Tepoztlan, 53,122,132
Satan, 139, 141. See also Demons, Devil Texcoco, 115,132
Schwaller, John Frederick, 130nl5 Tezcatlipoca, 15, 24
Scott, James C., 4 Theophilus, 88, 138-140, 147n31, 147n37, 147n38, 147n40
Sell, Barry D., 13, 21n5, 21nl3, 38, 52nl0, 52n52, 110, 113n59, Theotokos, 37
113n74, 130nl2, 130nl4, 148n68 Thomas, Saint, 100
Sergius I, Pope, 63 Timothy, Saint, 101
Sermones en mexicano, 10-13 Titus, bishop of Crete, 101
Sermones y santoral en mexicano, 138-146 Tlacatecolotl, as native sorcerer, 26. See also Demons
Serna, Jacinto de la, 132 Tlahuipochtin (fire-spitting witches), 26
Simeon, 63, 66-70, 70n3, 70n7, 94, 97n24, 97n28, 125 Tlalmanalco, 24
Simeon, Remi, 50, 97nl0, 112n24 Tlalocan, 145
Sin: associated with color black, 147n2; David as model of Tlatelolco, 14,53,91, WO. See also Mexico City
repentance for, 147n41; displeasing to Mary and Jesus Christ, Tlayacapan, 10,38, 87
65; Hebrew purification rite for, 63; Holy Spirit calling people Tlaxcala, 3, 38,100,131,132, 134
from, 49; Jesus Christ atoning for, 46, 95, 126; Jesus Christ free Tocih, 23,50
of, 24; Jesus Christ’s persecutors as sinners, 93, 97nl5; keeps Toledo, 53-54
people from entering heaven, 67; Mary as model for avoidance Toluca, 129,132
of, 35,47,48; Mary’s devotees as sinners seeking help, 21, Tonantzin: Catholic church as, 11, 17; Eve as, 109; Mary as, 6,11,
51,57, 89,90, 96, 109, 113n46, 117-121, 126-127, 131, 135, 12, 34,46, 67,102, 135, 149; Our Lady of Guadalupe as, 11
149; Mary’s freedom from venial sin or from sin in general, 4, Torquemada, Juan de, 3, 8n6,121
16, 29, 87, 88, 89,99, 103, 104, 105,106; Mary reforms sinful Tota pulchra, 9, plate 1
devotee, 144; mortal, 64,65,66,70n2,144; mortal. Saint Anne’s Totol tepee, 132
freedom from, 14; Nahua feasting seen as, 141; Nahua views Toussaint, Manuel, 130nl5
of, 24, 25; pardoned by Jesus Christ, 28, 109, 140; pardoned Tovar, Juan de, 19
through prayer, 120; sinners unfit for Purification procession, Townsend, Camilla, 36n25
67; world as sinful, before Mary and Jesus, 25, 55. Transit, of Mary, 8n9. See also Assumption
See also Original sin Trees, symbolism of, 15-18, 20, 21n21, 21n22, 50, plate 3
Solitude, Our Lady of, 8n9,91 Trexler, Richard C., 36n27
 INDEX 165

Voragine, Jacobus de, 5, 10, 100, 101, 113n52, 113n55, 113n57,

Trimty,4, 38, 51,56. 99, 100, 102, 119, 127
133, 138, 139, 140, 147n37
Tula. 130nl3
Warner, Marina, 91, 112nl, 120, 122
Tulantongo, 132
Water, associated with Mary, 29, 54-55, 132, 145-146, 150
Turtledove, see Dove
Typology (hermeneutic device), 15, 17, 20, 30 Weckmann, Luis, 132
Weeping; of disciples, 93; ended by Mary, 129; of Jesus, 93;
of Joachim, 14; of Mary, 89, 96, 103; plain or ravine of,
Urban VI, Pope, 38
from Salve Regina. 55. 110, 117-118; of supplicants, 96, 110,
117-118, 128, 129, 130n26, 146
Valades. Diego, 123
Weismann, Elizabeth Wilder, 100
Valeriano, Antonio, 1,14, 25, 40, 127
Vega, Pedro de la, 5, 17, 36nl8, 37, 44, 47, 51,54, 61 nl, 63, 101, Wills, 1,4,38, 116, 123
102, 112n6, 112n40, 113n46, 113n49, 113n52, 133, 142, 147n4 Winston-Allen, Anne, 119, 121, 122, 123, 145
Wisdom, Book of, 106, 113n52
Vegerano, Alonso, 40
Vetancurt, Agustin de, 8n9, 122 Wood, Stephanie, 1
Wright, Elizabeth R., 21
Victory, Our Lady of, 122
Villegas Selvago, Alonso, 5, 21n27, 23, 38, 43, 56, 99, 101
Xochicalco, 44
Vincent, Saint, 142
Virginity: associated with Aztec goddessses, 37; Hebrew and Xochimilco, 132
Greek terms for, 23, 24; of John the Evangelist, 103, 105, 111, Xochitepec, 44
113n43; of Joseph, 23, 24, 36, 148n5T, of Mary, 15, 23-24, 31, Xuchipila, 132
33,34, 35,36,42, 44, 46,47-48,53-60, 70, 106, 124, 148n51;
Nahua attitudes toward, 25, 58-59; Nahuatl terms for, 6, 24, Yolloxochitl. 20, 57
passim in Nahuatl texts; Nahua women maintaining, 24-25; pro¬
Zacharias: Hebrew high priest, 23; husband of Saint Elizabeth, 37,
tected by devotion to Mary, 121, 128; virgins’ bodies preserved
from decay, 99-100; virgins appear in miracle legends, 142,144- 38, 42, 47-48
Zacualpan, 132
145; virgins in heaven, 107
Zapotlan (Ciudad Guzman, Jalisco), 100, 112n2
Virgo, zodiacal sign, 99, 112nl
Zumarraga, Juan de, 1
Visitation, 37-38, 47-51. 116, 124
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IMS Monograph 13

Before (ruacialupe:
The Virgin Is/i^iry in B3.rly Colonial NaKuatl Literature
By Louise M. Burkhart

The predominance of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexican history and

religion tends to overshadow the existence of other forms of Marian devotion
in Mexico. Both before and after the Guadalupe event there has been a rich
variety in the devotion to the one who is regarded as both the Mother of
God and the Mother of the Mexican people. Louise Burkhart has written a
penetrating study of Marian devotion as it was preached to the natives of
New Spain in their own tongue, Nahuatl or the Aztec language, prior to
1648, the year in which the story of Guadalupe first became known.

The author demonstrates the continuity of the missionaries’ preaching

with Medieval European devotion, together with the adaptations that they
made to the native language and outlook. At the same time she shows the
convergence between Spanish and indigenous popular religion. This work
provides an insight into the everyday religion of the natives as well as a
deep understanding of the nature of Marian devotion. Professor Burkhart,
the author of The Slippery Earth, a pioneering examination of European-
native theological dialogue in the sixteenth century, explains clearly the
differences between the Spanish and Nahua worlds and the missionaries’
attempts to bridge the cultural and linguistic gap between diverse peoples
and religious outlooks. Finally, the author goes beyond the written word
to show how devotion to the Virgin Mary was preached through art and
iconography and how these related to the written word.

This is an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of mission methods,

preaching, and popular religion in colonial Mexico. It will be of interest to
historians, anthropologists, students of religion, and everyone interested
in the complex interplay of ideas between two disparate cultures.

Stafford Poole, C. M., author of Our Lady of Guadalupe:

The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531-1797

Institute for Mesoamerican Studies

University at Albany
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

ISBN 0-942041-21-6