<P> Official Catholic accounts state that the Virgin Mary appeared four times before Juan Diego and one more before Juan Diego 's uncle . According to these accounts the first apparition occurred on the morning of December 9 , 1531 , when a native Mexican peasant named Juan Diego saw a vision of a maiden at a place called the Hill of Tepeyac , which would become part of Villa de Guadalupe , a suburb of Mexico City . Speaking to Juan Diego in his native Nahuatl language ( the language of the Aztec empire ) , the maiden identified herself as the Virgin Mary , `` mother of the very true deity '' and asked for a church to be built at that site in her honor . </P>
<P> Official Catholic accounts state that the Virgin Mary appeared four times before Juan Diego and one more before Juan Diego 's uncle . According to these accounts the first apparition occurred on the morning of December 9 , 1531 , when a native Mexican peasant named Juan Diego saw a vision of a maiden at a place called the Hill of Tepeyac , which would become part of Villa de Guadalupe , a suburb of Mexico City . Speaking to Juan Diego in his native Nahuatl language ( the language of the Aztec empire ) , the maiden identified herself as the Virgin Mary , `` mother of the very true deity '' and asked for a church to be built at that site in her honor . </P>
where did the virgin of guadalupe first appear
where did the virgin of guadalupe first appear
Hill of Tepeyac , which would become part of Villa de Guadalupe , a suburb of Mexico City
Hill of Tepeyac , which would become part of Villa de Guadalupe , a suburb of Mexico City