“Castilla” Catrina refers to the origin of the flowers that Juan Diego, a man of Aztec descent, gathered as proof that the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe were real.

In 1531, Bishop Zumárraga asked Juan Diego for a sign of the holy apparitions. Our Lady instructed Juan Diego to gather some roses in his tilma and present them to the bishop. As Diego did this, the roses fell to the floor, revealing the miraculous image of our Lady of Guadalupe as she appeared in real life. The type of roses he gathered grew only in Castile, Spain, which was the original home of the bishop in Mexico at that time.

The Virgin of Guadalupe, also known as the “Mother of all Mexicans”, receives thousands of flowers at the Basilica on Mexico’s Mother’s Day, a holiday
celebrated every May 10th, regardless of what day of the week it falls on.