The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe 2023
One of the most honored titles of the Mother of God is Star of the Sea. Derived from the name of Mary, this title emphasizes her role as a sign of hope and as a guiding star for Christians. The Great Cistercian writer, Saint Aelred of Rievaulx, reflected
“We ought to lift up our eyes to this Star that has appeared on earth today in order that she may lead us, in order that she may enlighten us, in order that she may show us the steps so that we shall know them, in order that she may help us so that we may be able to ascend” (Sermon 24 on the Nativity of Mary, 20).
The Mother of God, who is also our Mother, receives us into her care, leading us to her Son.
While Saint Aelred’s words were written nearly 400 years before the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, on a hill near Mexico City, in December 1531, they capture something of the important role that the Blessed Virgin played in the evangelization of the New World. Since that time, devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe has been a mainstay for Catholics in Mexico and throughout the Americas. She has been honored as a patron of the oppressed, a guardian of human life, and a sign of God’s provident care for the least of his children.
Let us implore the Most Holy Virgin Mary, as Our Lady of Guadalupe — Mother of God, the Queen and My Lady, “my maiden, my little one”, as St Juan Diego called her, and with all the loving names by which we turn to Her in popular piety — let us pray that she continue to accompany, help and protect our peoples. And may she lead by the hand all the children who go on pilgrimage to those lands to meet her Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, present in the Church, in his sacramental nature, especially in the Eucharist, present in the treasure of his Word and in his teaching, present in the holy and faithful People of God, present in those who are suffering and in the lowly in heart.
Pope Francis, Homily for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (2014); Image by Fr. Emanuel (Manu) Franco-Gomez, O.Carm. (Image used with permission; all rights reserved)
A sixteenth century folksong conveys a sense of the joy and vibrancy that characterize the faith and trust of those who place their confidence in La Morenita:
I took delight in the many-colored flowers, so sweet-smelling / that, startled and magnificent, were scattering, / with petals half-opened, in your presence, O Mother.
Our Holy Mary, / your spirit, O Holy Mary, is alive in this picture. / We praised her, taking after the Great Book, and danced the perfect dance.
And you, Bishop, our father, preached there / by the shore of the lake. / Oh! I would live securely there.
During these days of Advent-expectation, as we await the coming of the Light, we can take comfort in the words which the Mother of God is said to have addressed to Juan Diego: “Hear me, my littlest one. Let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you. Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance… Am I not your mother? Are you not under the protection of my mantle?”
O God, Father of mercies,
who placed your people under the singular protection
of your Son's most holy Mother,
grant that all who invoke the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe,
may seek with ever more lively faith
the progress of peoples in the ways of justice and of peace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
