Almost 500 years ago, a Mexica survivor of the conquista was on his way to catechism lessons just outside present-day Mexico City. He experienced a holy presence on the hill of Tepeyac that changed the hermeneutic of the dignity of the poor forever. This book is about Our Lady of Guadalupe under her popular title “Santa María Tonantzin Guadalupe.” It centers on her indigenous and feminine identity as the “Preaching Woman.” She and the people she animates, the Hispanic-Latino community, are “icons” of the presence of the Holy Trinity. As Sacrament of the Holy Spirit and bearer of the Sacramental Word, she enables the pueblo , the people of God, to exercise their baptismal ministry as holy preachers. "Maria Teresa Montes Lara and Vincent Pastro offer a refreshing and consoling combination of 'theology on its knees, ' the wisdom of pastoral practice, and the rich traditions of the Church as they contemplate the power and efficacy of our Lady of Guadalupe who, guided by the Spirit, continues to mediate grace among the poor and marginal. She animates the Hispanic-Latino community by encouraging people to realize their baptismal dignity, preaching in word and action the life given them as the daughters and sons of God." --George R. Murphy, SJ, adjunct lecturer in Christian spirituality, Jesuit School of Theology "The Spirit always leads the faithful to the pueblo of the poor. This book tells the story of the living stones whom the powerful negate but who recognize themselves in Santa María Tonantzin Guadalupe. Where evil is legion, a poor brown, indigenous woman bears God's Word and Spirit, rousing the pueblo to baptismal dignity and resistance and the Church to baptismal respect and synodality. This richly textured theology is a Mariology for our time." --Gregory Heille, OP, professor of preaching and evangelization, Aquinas Institute of Theology "This book is rich, ample, and holistic. It reviews the history, the philosophy, and various theological perspectives of Mary of Guadalupe. The narrative intertwines a critical approach supported by the great mothers and fathers of the Church and a variety of contemporary theologians, both women and men. The sense, symbol, word, and preaching of the Guadalupana are presented as living realities." --Georgina Zubiría Maqueo, RSCJ, Sisters of the Sacred Heart International Leadership Team María Teresa Montes Lara is a Dominican sister who has ministered in Latino communities for over thirty years. She now works with Latin American sisters through Catholic Extension and is on the faculty of the Camino program with the University of Notre Dame. Vincent J. Pastro is a Catholic presbyter from the Archdiocese of Seattle. He has pastored Mexican immigrant communities for many years and has a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the author of Enflamed by the Sacramental Word (Pickwick, 2010). Jesuit Father Allan Figueroa Deck is Distinguished Scholar of Pastoral Theology and Latino Studies at Loyola Marymount University where he also serves as Rector of the Jesuit Community. He earned doctorates in Theology at the Gregorian University and in Latin American Studies at Saint Louis University. He is the author or editor of nine books and more than sixty articles and chapters on Pastoral Theology, Latino Theology, Faith and Culture, Intercultural Competence and Spirituality. He is co-founder and first president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS), and founder and first director of the Instituto Hispano of Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University as well as of the Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, CA. From 2008-2012 he served as first executive director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.