December, 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Today is the feast of our lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of Americas. The devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe dates back to the 16th century. According to tradition, the Blessed Mother appeared to a poor Indian named Juan Diego whose feast we celebrated three days ago. Juan Diego, who was converted to Christianity only in his adulthood. He was 57-year-old widower when he witnessed the apparition of Mary. He lived in a small town near Mexico City.
It all happened on a Saturday morning, December 9, 1531, while he was on his way to a nearby village. He was walking by a hill called Tepeyac when he heard beautiful music like the warbling of birds. A radiant cloud appeared and within it a young Native American maiden dressed like an Aztec princess. The lady spoke to him in his own language and asked him to see the bishop of Mexico.
The Blessed Virgin wanted a church to be built in her honor. Juan Diego, in obedience to the beautiful woman, went to the bishop’s residence and told him what the Blessed Mother wanted him to say. The bishop asked Juan Diego to return with a “sign” that it was indeed the Blessed Mother whom he had talked to. When the lady again appeared to Juan Diego, the lady asked him to gather Castilian roses --- flowers that are uncommon in Tepeyac and particularly in December. Diego wrapped the flowers in his tilma (peasant cloak). Then, he proceeded to the bishop. When Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop’s presence, the roses fell to the ground and the bishop sank to his knees. On Juan Diego’s tilma appeared an image of Mary exactly as she had appeared at the hill of Tepeyac. The miraculous event happened on December 12, 1531. Tilma is a poor quality cactus-cloth, which should have deteriorated in 20 years but shows no sign of decay 477 years later and still defies all scientific explanations of its origin.

Why is she called Our Lady of Guadalupe. In all apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary she identified herself as the Virgin Mary and phrases like Mother of God or another of Her Titles, and was later usually known by the name of the place or region where she appeared (Lourdes, Fatima). And so it should have been our lady of Tepeyac. So why should Mary, when appearing to a Native American in recently invaded Mesoamerica and speaking in the local language, want to be named with the Spanish name of Guadalupe?
Was she referring to the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, that was given by Pope Gregory the Great to the Bishop of Seville, Spain, was lost for 600 years and was found in 1326 by a cowherd named Gil Cordero guided by an apparition of Our Lady? This statue was named Guadalupe for the village located near the place of discovery.
Most believe that the word comes from the Aztec Nahuatl word which was spoken by Juan Diego , which would mean “who crushes the serpent. That is the most probable explanation of the name Guadalupe. Because in that part of the country the priests sacrificed thousands of human beings to the snake god. Snake is the symbol of Satan and so it could mean Mary who crushes the head of Satan.
An incredible list of miracles, cures and interventions are attributed to Her. Yearly, between 18 - 20 million pilgrims visit the Basilica making it Christianity's most visited sanctuary. Altogether 25 popes have officially honored Our Lady of Guadalupe. His Holiness John Paul II visited her Sanctuary four times.
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12th. In 1999, Pope John Paul II in his homily from the Solemn Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, declared the date of December the 12th as a Liturgical Holy Day for the whole continent.

During the same visit Pope John Paul II entrusted the cause of life to her loving protection, and placed under her motherly care the innocent lives of children, especially those who are in danger of being born.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is also regarded as the “Mother of Life.” We pray to her in a special way to beg her intercession for our pro-life advocacies. May Our Lady of Guadalupe bless our undertakings for the sanctification of our families and protection of unborn.