25 The Song of Tepeyac It is not only the magic of an immortal memory that has gathered the venerable prelates and this numerous crowd of priests and faithful into this splendid basilica around this glorious image. It is not only the past that mysteriously emerges after four centuries, imbued with the fragrance of the miraculous roses and ornamented by the glow of national traditions, that makes the faith and love of the Mexican nation rejoice on this fortunate day. For there is also a living and happy reality that bathes souls with radiant light, that warms hearts with its inextinguishable fire—something that does not die, that is not subject to the fluctuations of time, that overcomes the centuries with a flash of eternity. It is what makes us feel on this most solemn day the happiness of being Mexicans. It is what reveals the unity of our fatherland and our race and what makes us taste the delight of living under the maternal protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Just as the glory of God passed over the summit of Sinai, so the Virgin Mary passed by this immortal hill. It was a flash of light that shone for an instant in the firmament of our country. It was a song of love whose cadence faded into the night of time. It was an aroma of heaven that permeated the splendid and fleeting dawn of our history. But the mystery of love realized four
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzMzNzY=