Our Lady appeared in the year 1531 to Juan Diego, a simple peasant of Aztec descent who had converted to Catholicism.
Starts: December 3rd
Feastday: December 12th
History
Our Lady appeared in the year 1531 to Juan Diego, a simple peasant of Aztec descent who had converted to Catholicism.
She told him to have the bishop build a church on the hill where she appeared, and Juan Diego dutifully told the bishop, but he was not believed at first; instead, a miraculous sign was demanded to prove it was Our Lady.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Novena
Our Lady worked the miraculous sign by having roses grow on this hill in the winter, then arranged the roses in Juan Diego’s tilma (a long tunic), and when Juan Diego showed the bishop by letting the roses fall to the ground, not only did the roses themselves demonstrate the authenticity of the appearance but even more so the fact that the roses had miraculously blazed an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on his tilma.
The bishop believed him at once and a church was built on the hill. The mass conversion of the Aztec people by the millions followed.
The tilma remains intact to this day, almost five hundred years later, another testament to the miraculous nature of it, as the fiber should have decomposed long ago. Juan Diego was later canonized as well as a testament to his holiness.
Intro Prayer
Remember, O most gracious Virgin of Guadalupe, that in your heavenly apparitions on the mount of Tepeyac, you promised to show your compassion and pity towards all who, loving and trusting you, seek your help and call upon you in their necessities and afflictions. You promised to hear our supplications, to dry our tears, and to give us consolation and relief.
Never has it been known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, we fly to you, O Mary, ever-Virgin Mother of the true God! Though grieving under the weight of our sins, we come to prostrate ourselves before you. We fully trust that, standing beneath your shadow and protection, nothing will trouble or afflict us, nor do we need to fear illness or misfortune, or any other sorrow.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Novena
O Virgin of Guadalupe, you want to remain with us through your admirable Image, you who are our Mother, our health, and our life. Placing ourselves beneath your maternal gaze, and having recourse to you in all our necessities, we need do nothing more.
O Holy Mother of God, despise not our petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer us. Amen.
Daily Prayers
Day 1: Dearest Lady of Guadalupe, fruitful Mother of holiness, teach me your ways of gentleness and strength. Hear my humble prayer offered with heartfelt confidence to beg this favor (mention your intention here).
Day 2: O Mary, conceived without sin, I come to your throne of grace to share the fervent devotion of your faithful Mexican children who call to you under the glorious Aztec title of Guadalupe. Obtain for me a lively faith to do your Son’s holy will always: May His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Day 3: O Mary, whose Immaculate Heart was pierced by seven swords of grief, help me to walk valiantly amid the sharp thorns strewn across my pathway. Obtain for me the strength to be a true imitator of you. This I ask you, my dear Mother.
Day 4: Dearest Mother of Guadalupe, I beg you for a fortified will to imitate your divine Son’s charity, to always seek the good of others in need. Grant me this, I humbly ask of you.
Day 5: O most holy Mother, I beg you to obtain for me pardon of all my sins, abundant graces to serve your Son more faithfully from now on, and lastly, the grace to praise Him with you forever in heaven.
Day 6: Mary, Mother of vocations, multiply priestly vocations and fill the earth with religious houses which will be light and warmth for the world, safety in stormy nights. Beg your Son to send us many priests and religious. This we ask of you, O Mother.
Day 7: O Lady of Guadalupe, we beg you that parents live a holy life and educate their children in a Christian manner; that children obey and follow the directions of their parents; that all members of the family pray and worship together.This we ask of you, O Mother.
Day 8: With my heart full of the most sincere veneration, I prostrate myself before you, O Mother, to ask you to obtain for me the grace to fulfill the duties of my state in life with faithfulness and constancy.
Day 9: O God, You have been pleased to bestow upon us unceasing favors by having placed us under the special protection of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. Grant us, your humble servants, who rejoice in honoring her today upon earth, the happiness of seeing her face to face in heaven.
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