33 The Song of Tepeyac <> I do not exaggerate. I am not misled by my heart as a priest and as a Mexican. Our history is the centuries-old development of the seed that Mary buried in the heart of this people. It is the great symphony that in all its changing and diverse times holds together the unity of the theme of love that began at Tepeyac. When the people who populated this continent learned that they had a Mother, they tore down the dead altars on which they worshiped bloodthirsty idols, and in their places—on the summits of our mountains, and on the towers of the new temples, and on the hearts transfigured by baptism—they erected the saving cross of Jesus: the symbol of love, redemption, and hope. Was it the heroic zeal of the missionaries who evangelized us, or the ingenuous docility of our spirit, or the triumphant efficacy of the Gospel that caused our rapid evangelization? Everything contributed, without a doubt, but the key to the marvelous phenomenon is here: it was this blessed image that is seen from all regions of America. It was the word of love that resounded throughout the continent. It was the mystery of life that was realizedwhen the hands of the Virgin put the roses of love into the tilma. The word wounded
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