Monday, December 10, 2018

12 December 2018 - Reflection on Our Lady of Guadalupe


       Today we celebrate our Lady of Guadalupe, an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary that appeared to a 57-year-old indigenous man named Juan Diego in the hills of Mexico City.  She appeared with the featured and dress of an indigenous woman, speaking the Aztec indigenous language of the area.  The first of four apparitions appeared on December 9, 1531, celebrated as the feast day of St Juan Diego.  The last of the four apparitions appeared on December 12th, celebrated as the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As a sign to the Bishop, who did not want to believe Juan Diego’s account of what he saw, our Blessing Mother asked Juan Diego to gather together roses on a hill in his tilma, a type of pancho made out of cactus fibers.  When he dropped the roses in front of the bishop, it revealed an image of the Blessed Mother on the tilma, a miraculous sign that the Bishop believed. Our Lady of Guadalupe is not only a patron saint for the country of Mexico, but she is a patron saint of the Americas as well.   

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