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Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Catholic Church in a Northwest Denver neighborhood that is materially poor, but rich in spirit. Services there, many in Spanish, are humble yet quite uplifting. The church is named for the apparition of Mary that occurred in early 16th century Mexico. An Aztec Indian, given the Christian name Juan Diego, was visited by Mary, who later imprinted her image on his cloak. Today Juan Diego's original tilma hangs in a large Cathedral in Mexico City near the place where the apparition took place. The Cathedral receives thousands of visitors every day and was the site where Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego on July 31, 2002. The wall behind the altar in the Denver church was painted with this image in 1977 by Carlota Espinoza. You can see a close-up of Mary from this painting in the photograph at right. The glow around her is caused by natural light from a window on the left side of the wall combined with small spotlights from overhead. A tiny Mexican angel lives in the lower right corner of the painting. She became quite elusive in my attempt to photograph her. I plan on trying to capture her again sometime.  click the image to see my second attempt |
 A new addition to Denver's Our Lady of Guadalupe church was built in 1990. Some of the stained glass windows in the addition tell the story of Saint Juan Diego. A small alcove used for Baptisms is watched over by a series of angels, also in stained glass. My photographs of these images can be seen on the various pages of this website. -Joe Beine, October 2001 (updated August 2002) |
