A Mayan Woman is praying to Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe -Our Lady of Guadalupe the national Symbol of Mexico since the Mexican War of Independence. Outside Spanish spoken countries the Icon is may better known as Virgin of Guadalupe.

The Lady of Guadalupe is a 16th-century icon of the Virgin Mary representing a famous Marian apparition. The legend sais that the image appeared miraculously on the front of the cloak of Juan Diego after he had the vision of a young indigenous looking girl surrounded by light on the hills of Tepeyac on December 9th 1531. The Lady asked for a church to build in her honor. The Bishop informed of the apparition send Juan Diego back to the hills to ask the Lady for a sign to prove her claim. The Virgin told Juan Diego to gather some flowers. Juan Diego gathered them in his tilma [cloak] and was presenting them to his Bishop when miraculously the picture appeared.
In contradiction so early as 1556 Francisco de Bustamante, head of the colonies Franciscan wrote: The devotion that has been growing in a chapel dedicated to Our Lady, called of Guadalupe …is greatly harmful for the natives, because it makes them believe that the image painted by Marcos the Indian is in any way miraculous.
Historians consider that the icon was meant to represent both the Virgin Mary and the mother goddess Tonantzin, providing help for the Spaniards to gain convents among the indigenous people and for the Native of the land to covertly practice their native religion.
In any case the Legend survived and won popularity and Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe got the symbol of Mexican independence. The feast day of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, celebrated on December 12, is an official holiday and celebrated through Mexico.

I used two photos sins the background of the portrait wasn't satisfying. They were merged with Digital Image Suite, converted to Sepia and treated with an antique filter.