32 Am I Not Your Mother? immortal heart among the petals that wither. Her heart mixes the fragrance of her soul that never dissipates with the ephemeral fragrance of the roses. Juan Diego hides the delicate pledge of her love in the tilma, and because of its contact with the celestial roses the tilma is transformed into the image of Mary. This image is the emblem of our people and the center of our life, and in it the fragrance of the roses and the word of love seem to crystallize. Who does not guess at the precious symbolism? Formerly, our people were spread on the vast Mexican soil without love, without hope, without desire, naked and sad as Juan Diego’s miserable tilma. But on hearing the word of love, on perceiving the aroma of heaven, on feeling Mary’s maternal kiss, our people stands transfigured and happy. Now it has the light of Tepeyac to illuminate the paths of its history. Now it has the sweetness of Mary to alleviate its ancestral sadness and the love of a mother to warm its noble heart. It is no longer a wild and bloodthirsty tribe but Mary’s favorite people. The Scripture concludes the account of man with this sentence, sublime in its simplicity: and the man became a living being (Gn 2:7). In outlining the mystery of Tepeyac, I can say: “and Mexico had a national soul and began its history.”
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