16th century
Feast: December 9
Indigenous Mexican saint who received the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531.
Juan Diego was an indigenous Aztec who converted to Christianity (1474-1548). In 1531, he received visions of the Virgin Mary on Tepeyac Hill. She asked him to build a church and left her image miraculously imprinted on his cloak. This apparition led to millions of indigenous conversions. He was canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.