PROVIDENCE — The vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe prompts fascination and curiosity in Catholics throughout Mexico and the U.S. How was the Patroness of the Americas able to convert millions of people to the Catholic faith through appearing to one Aztec peasant, succeeding where decades of Franciscan missionaries could not?
This is the topic Joseph and Monique Gonzalez will explore in their talk “Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Prophecy of the Flower World” on April 6 at St. Mark Church in Jamestown at 4 p.m. and in Spanish on April 7 at 7 p.m. at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Providence. In addition, the couple will give presentations at Providence College on April 3 at 4:30 p.m. as well as to students of the Chesterton Academy.
Joseph and Monique both have professional backgrounds in the arts, with Joseph composing music for films, television and concerts; Monique trained as a professional cantor and score production coordinator. But their life’s work began in the early 1990s, when Joseph discovered “an Aztec poem that bore a striking resemblance to the encounter between St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531.”
Researching the song, he was disheartened to find that most academics believed that it “served as the foundation for a fabricated Guadalupe story, crafted to deceive the indigenous population into converting to Christianity. For me, this revelation felt like a smoking gun that invalidated my faith,” he said.
In 2009, when he met Monique, she also was stunned by the Aztec poem’s similarities to the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Together, the couple began a thorough investigation of the poem, a 14-year journey.
“Ultimately,” Joseph said, “we concluded that the Guadalupe event could not have been a fabrication.”
The couple wrote a book about their findings called “Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy: How God Prepared the Americas for Conversion Before the Lady Appeared.”
“In our book … we present an alternative explanation: God had implanted concepts within Mesoamerican culture that would find fulfillment and guide the natives toward Christianity,” he said.
They demonstrate “how God meticulously embedded concepts into Mesoamerican culture, creating a bridge that would ultimately guide the indigenous people to their Christian conversion,” Joseph stated. This preparation took roughly 3,000 years, beginning even before the birth of Christ in 1500 BC.
Joseph and Monique have received critical acclaim for their work in spreading this message through talks given around the country. Though the events leading up to the apparition at Guadalupe took place centuries ago, the significance continues to the modern age, Joseph and Monique contend. If God worked throughout Mesoamerican history, he can persist in doing so today. “God maintains sovereignty over history, and all his actions are directed toward drawing his people back to himself.”
Their presence in the Diocese of Providence is largely due to the efforts of Kristin Kennedy, Catholic Foundation board member and retired professor at Bryant College in Smithfield. Kennedy met the couple while on a pilgrimage to Mexico last September. She had already embarked on two prior pilgrimages offered through “Inside the Vatican” magazine and had heard Joseph and Monique speaking about the Flower World Prophecy on a Vatican podcast. While on pilgrimage to Rome in March, there was talk of organizing another one to Mexico. She asked to be informed if it had come to pass. Fortunately, it did.
There, she met Joseph and Monique in person.
“They are wonderful people,” she remarked, emphasizing that both Gonzalezes “had great careers; they stumbled into this. They have virtually given up Hollywood careers for the Blessed Mother.”
The history she learned from them was “not well known in the Catholic faith,” Kennedy added.
“I was so fascinated by what we learned, then when I came home, I realized nobody knows about this.”
Kennedy contacted the Gonzalezes about speaking at her home parish of St. Mark, which they agreed to, as well as giving a presentation in Spanish in the heart of the diocese.
“My purpose is to help them get this word out,” she said. “And it’s blossomed more than I hoped.”
The events at St. Mark, St. Charles Borromeo and Providence College are free and open to the public. Attendees can expect “a groundbreaking perspective on Our Lady of Guadalupe's appearance and the millions of conversions that ensued,” Joseph and Monique told Rhode Island Catholic.
“This fresh outlook will uplift, inspire, and strengthen your faith. By exploring the unfolding of history in Mesoamerica, you will stand in awe of God's hand shaping the narrative of the Americas.”
