By Nevara Yocom
for the Register
“Am I not here? I who am your mother?”
The words spoken to St. Juan Diego 500 years ago are now displayed in a striking mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Behind St. Louise Gift & Thrift on the Lincoln campus of Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska (CSS) at 22nd and O streets, a group of volunteers worked over three weeks to create a mural honoring the Marian apparition.
The mission of CSS is to offer people “Hope in the Good Life” through numerous resources throughout the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, including a food market for struggling families, immigration legal services, refugee resettlement services, the St. Gianna Program for women and other programs serving the southern Nebraska region.
St. Louise Gift and Thrift is another resource of CSS, serving the community for more than 10 years. Primarily a volunteer-run store, St. Louise accepts donations such as clothing, toys, kitchen utensils, dishes, furniture and more. The items are either given to those in need or offered for sale to the general public, in person or through CSS ecommerce sites. Purchases then help fund the programs CSS offers.
Caroline Nebel has been working for CSS for three years. She started as a case worker in the Refugee Resettlement Program but transitioned into her new role as manager of St. Louise in the fall of 2025. Behind the thrift store stood a plain, 15-foot wall. Nebel said she wanted to fill the space with a meaningful mural and her first thought was the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
With Mary’s folded hands, peaceful expression and her exquisite starry, blue cloak, the image is recognized around the world, but the story behind the miracle isn’t always known.
(Story continues below)
SNR photos | Natalie Bender
In December 1531, St. Juan Diego was visited by Our Lady four times. She appeared and told Diego to have the local bishop build a shrine at the site. The bishop needed proof before he agreed. So Mary instructed Diego to gather roses and bring them to the bishop.
Diego found the roses – not native to the area, and in the dead of winter – and filled his tilma, or cloak, with them. When he opened the tilma before the bishop, an image of Mary was imprinted on the inside of the cloak. The origin of the image, which contains no brush strokes, has never been explained, and the image is rich with symbolism that has unfolded through the centuries. Even the continued existence of the tilma, made of a flimsy fabric that normally would have disintegrated only years after St. Juan Diego used it, is unexplained.
The bishop did build the church at her request. The event is estimated to have inspired 10 million conversions in the first 10 years after the apparition.
The shrine was built on Tepeyac Hill in present-day Mexico City, and the tilma remains on display. People flock from around the world to see the miraculous image.
“It’s such a beautiful image and recognizable,” Nebel said. “It’s just a good image of our Catholic identity.”
She pitched the idea to her boss, who approved it, and Nebel got to work.
With the help of 20 volunteers, the process began as a sketch drawn with permanent markers. A projector was used to make tracing the image easier. The projector also gave artists the ability to sketch in low light if needed.
Once the outline was complete ,the crew of volunteers got to work selecting the perfect shades of teal, blue and orange to match Our Lady’s color scheme. Her famous quote, “Am I not here? I who am your mother,” is displayed around her.
One of the volunteers, Brother Angelo, a Franciscan brother of the Knights of the Holy Eucharist, has a background in art and experience in restoring sacred images. He said he was blessed for the opportunity to volunteer and put his artistic skills to use.
“A lot of people do art for various reasons, but when you’re doing a sacred image like Our Lady of Guadalupe, if you’re doing it with genuine love for God, you’re doing it for his greater glory,” he said.
He shared that with everyone who volunteered, conversation flowed and everyone became fast friends.
Volunteer Fatima Al-Hilfy Leon brought five different people to contribute to the painting. She felt a special connection to Our Lady from her experience seeing the tilma in Mexico City.
“I felt more represented as a Mexican that is indigenous, as well as a woman,” she said. “And just seeing that, it felt amazing.”
She said the most memorable part for her wasn’t the end product, but the journey it took to get there. Through a sunburn, knee pain or early mornings, her sister, Sarah Leon, encouraged her to offer up her difficulty to Jesus.
After the initial painting was complete, there were touch-ups and a clear coat was put on to ensure the painting was the best it could be.
Brother Angelo felt gratitude for sharing the mural with so many people and loved the different perspectives people offered.
“It was greatly a group effort to make sure that it wasn’t just one man’s project, it was all of our projects.”
Driving east on O Street in Lincoln, drivers passing CSS can get a quick glimpse of the fascinating mural.
Brother Angelo said he hopes the mural will stop people going by and make them think.
“The thing about sacred images is they remind us that there’s more to life than just work and just what we’re living for here now,” he said. “Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is the Queen of Heaven, would hopefully remind people that there is a God and that He loves us and that He has given us a mother.”
