Amazing Journey Musical: Synopsis
The Amazing Journey of Juan Diego
is the compelling story of a Mexican Aztec peasant Christian...his vision, heroism, and his miraculous achievement enabling his passage to sainthood.
This musical is inspired by the story of events which occurred in early December of the year 1531, on an old Aztec spiritual site called Tepeyac Hill, near Mexico City. Juan Diego, the central character, who lives with and cares for his aging, sickly uncle Juan Bernardino in a tiny village, receives a vision and a command from a 17-year-old native woman who appears to him from the skies, identifying herself as Mary, Santa Maria, Queen of Heaven. She commands Juan Diego to go to Mexico City and convince the Spanish bishop Fray Juan de Zumarraga to build a temple for her on Tepeyac Hill.
After enduring the cruel taunts of Zumarraga's guards and aides over several grueling days of eight-hour round-trip journeys by foot - after almost succumbing to intense feelings of self-doubt combined with overwhelming waves of guilt for neglecting his elderly relative in order to accomplish the task given to him by 'Santa Maria' - and in the throes of hunger and thirst and lack of sleep - Juan Diego succeeds in this daunting, seemingly impossible mission. Today, a Church dedicated to Mary, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) stands, to which millions flock for healing and hope. For this achievement, Juan Diego has become the native saint - San Juan Diego.
This musical is inspired by the story of events which occurred in early December of the year 1531, on an old Aztec spiritual site called Tepeyac Hill, near Mexico City. Juan Diego, the central character, who lives with and cares for his aging, sickly uncle Juan Bernardino in a tiny village, receives a vision and a command from a 17-year-old native woman who appears to him from the skies, identifying herself as Mary, Santa Maria, Queen of Heaven. She commands Juan Diego to go to Mexico City and convince the Spanish bishop Fray Juan de Zumarraga to build a temple for her on Tepeyac Hill.
After enduring the cruel taunts of Zumarraga's guards and aides over several grueling days of eight-hour round-trip journeys by foot - after almost succumbing to intense feelings of self-doubt combined with overwhelming waves of guilt for neglecting his elderly relative in order to accomplish the task given to him by 'Santa Maria' - and in the throes of hunger and thirst and lack of sleep - Juan Diego succeeds in this daunting, seemingly impossible mission. Today, a Church dedicated to Mary, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) stands, to which millions flock for healing and hope. For this achievement, Juan Diego has become the native saint - San Juan Diego.