Feast day · December 12
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Patroness of the Americas
“Am I not here, I who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?”
In 1531 the Mother of God appeared to St. Juan Diego and left her image on his tilma, converting millions.
The story
On Tepeyac hill Mary appeared to a poor Aztec convert, speaking Nahuatl, asking for a church, and calling herself his mother. The bishop asked for a sign; roses bloomed in December, and when Juan Diego opened his cloak the image was there. Within a decade nine million natives were baptized. The tilma, made of cactus fiber that should have decayed in decades, hangs intact in Mexico City today.
What Our teaches
"Am I not here, I who am your mother?" Mary comes to the poor and the overlooked first.
Patronage
the Americas, Mexico, the unborn.
Prayer
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, protect the unborn, comfort the poor, and draw all peoples to your Son. Amen.
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