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Our Lady of Guadalupe
Posted on 12/12/2025 15:00 PM (CNA - Saint of the Day)
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Feast date: Dec 12
In 1531 a "Lady from Heaven" appeared to Saint Juan Diego, a poor Indian from Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico City. She identified herself as the Mother of the True God and instructed him to have the bishop build a church on the site. As a sign for the bishop, she left an image of herself imprinted miraculously on his tilma, a poor quality cactus-cloth. The tilma should have deteriorated within 20 years but shows no sign of decay after over 470 years. To this day it defies all scientific explanations of its origin.In the eyes of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the tilma, we can see reflected what was in front of her in 1531. Her message of love and compassion, and her universal promise of help and protection to all mankind, as well as the story of the apparitions, are described in the "Nican Mopohua," a 16th century document written in the native Nahuatl language.
There is reason to believe that at Tepeyac Mary came in her glorified body, and her actual physical hands rearranged the roses in Juan Diego’s tilma, which makes this apparition very special.
An incredible list of miracles, cures, and interventions are attributed to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Each year an estimated 10 million people visit her Basilica, making her Mexico City home the most popular Marian shrine in the world, and the most visited Catholic church in the world after Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
Science cannot explain the tilma, to this day.
There is no under sketch, no sizing and no protective over-varnish on the image. Microscopic examination revealed that there were no brush strokes. The image seems to increase in size and change colors due to an unknown property of the surface and substance of which it is made. According to Kodak of Mexico, the image is smooth and feels like a modern day photograph. Produced 300 years before the invention of photography.) The image has consistently defied exact reproduction, whether by brush or camera. Several images can be seen reflected in the eyes of the Virgin. It is believed to be the images of Juan Diego, Bishop Juan de Zummaraga, Juan Gonzales-the interpreter and others.The distortion and place of the images are identical to what is produced in the normal eye, which is impossible to obtain on a flat surface. The stars on Our Lady's Mantle coincide with the constellation in the sky on December 12, 1531. All who have scientifically examined the image of Our Lady over the centuries confess that its properties are absolutely unique and so inexplicable in human terms that the image can only be supernatural.
Altogether 24 popes have officially honored Our Lady of Guadalupe. His Holiness Blessed John Paul II visited her Sanctuary four times: on his first apostolic trip outside Rome as Pope in 1979, and again in 1990, 1999 and 2002.
The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12th. In 1999, Blessed John Paul II, in his homily given during the Solemn Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, his third visit to the sanctuary, 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 not being born.
Patronage: Americas, Central America, diocese of Colorado Springs Colorado, diocese of Corpus Christi Texas, diocese of Dodge City, Kansas, Estremadura Spain, diocese of Gallup New Mexico, Mexico, diocese of Nashville Tennessee, New Mexico, New World, diocese of Orange California, diocese of Phoenix Arizona, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, diocese of Sacramento, California, diocese of Sioux City Iowa, Spain.
Pope Leo thanks Riccardo Muti for making God's presence resound with beauty
Posted on 12/12/2025 11:20 AM ()
In the presence of Pope Leo XIV, Maestro Riccardo Muti conducts Cherubini’s "Mass for the Coronation of Charles X" at a Christmas concert in the Paul VI Hall, during which he receives the 2025 “Ratzinger Prize“. The concert was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Pontifical Foundation "Gravissimum Educationis".
Pope at Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mary brings joy where human joy is lacking
Posted on 12/12/2025 08:44 AM ()
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in St Peter’s Basilica for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who awakens “in the inhabitants of America the joy of knowing they are loved by God.”
On Guadalupe feast day, pope prays leaders shun lies, hatred, division, disrespect for life
Posted on 12/12/2025 08:30 AM (USCCB News)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV prayed for Mary's maternal intercession so that she would help nations avoid lies and hatred and instruct leaders to protect the dignity of all human life.
He also prayed that families find strength, young people find meaning and people of faith seek greater communion because "within the church, Mother, your children cannot be divided."
In his homily at Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 12, Pope Leo also asked Mary to support him in his ministry as the successor of St. Peter and "grant that, trusting in your protection, we may advance ever more united, with Jesus and among ourselves, toward the eternal dwelling place that He has prepared for us and where you await us."
While it was his first Mass marking the Marian feast day at the Vatican as pope, as Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, he had already served as the main celebrant at the altar during the Dec. 12 Mass in 2024 and 2023 when he was prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Pope Francis had presided over both of those Masses, but due to bouts of illness, he remained seated during the celebrations and gave the homily.
Pope Leo, who spent more than two decades as a missionary in Peru, gave the homily in Spanish and recalled how the Marian apparitions in 1531 in Tepeyac, Mexico, awakened "in the inhabitants of America the joy of knowing that they are loved by God."
Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe is deeply rooted in Latin America. According to tradition, Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego, an Indigenous Mexican, and left her pregnant image imprinted on his cloak. It was said she assured him in his native language not to be afraid because, "Am I not here, who am your Mother?" offering protection, health and safety in the folds of her mantle.
"It is the voice that echoes the promise of divine fidelity, the presence that sustains when life becomes unbearable," especially "amidst unceasing conflicts, injustices and pains that seek relief," Pope Leo said.
Her motherhood "makes us discover ourselves as children," and "as children, we will turn to her to ask" what must be done, especially "how to grow in faith when our strength fails and shadows grow," the pope said. Referring to her son, Jesus, she will "tenderly reply: 'Do whatever he tells you.'"
Pope Leo then prayed for Mary's intercession, asking that she "teach nations that want to be your children not to divide the world into irreconcilable factions, not to allow hatred to mark their history or lies to write their memory."
"Show them that authority must be exercised as service and not as domination," he said. "Instruct their leaders in their duty to safeguard the dignity of every person during all stages of their life," and may these people create places "where every person can feel welcome."
He prayed that Mary would accompany young people so they could find strength in Christ "to choose what is good and the courage to remain firm in the faith, even when the world pushes them in another direction."
"Show them that your Son walks beside them. May nothing afflict their hearts so that they may fearlessly welcome God's plans," he said, praying that she also help keep young people safe "from the threats of crime, addiction and the danger of a meaningless life."
"Seek out, Mother, those who have strayed from the holy church," he said. "May your gaze reach them where ours cannot, break down the walls that separate us, and bring them back home with the power of your love."
Pope Leo then implored Mary to touch the hearts of those "who sow discord toward your Son's desire that 'they may all be one' and restore them to the charity that makes communion possible, for within the church, Mother, your children cannot be divided."
"Strengthen families," he prayed. "Following your example, may parents educate their children with tenderness and firmness, so that every home may be a school of faith."
He prayed that those who teach be inspired to share the truth "with the gentleness, precision and clarity that comes from the Gospel," and he prayed that the clergy and consecrated men and women find support and encouragement to be faithful, prayerful and revitalized.
"Holy Virgin, may we, like you, keep the Gospel in our hearts," he said, and help Christians understand "we are not the owners of this message, but, like St. Juan Diego, we are its simple servants."
Pope Leo celebrates Guadalupe
A look at Pope Leo's Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. (CNS video/Robert Duncan)
Thai and Cambodian Catholic Bishops sound alarm amid border clashes
Posted on 12/12/2025 06:04 AM ()
The Catholic Bishops of Thailand and Cambodia voice their concern for the intensifying conflict along the two countries' shared border, as thousands of people have been displaced.
Second Advent reflection: Communion is not uniformity
Posted on 12/12/2025 05:18 AM ()
Fr. Roberto Pasolini, the Preacher of the Papal Household, delivers his second Advent meditation to Pope Leo XIV and members of the Roman Curia.
Pope: Intelligence agencies must serve peace and never lose sight of human dignity
Posted on 12/12/2025 04:49 AM ()
In an address to Italy's secret services, Pope Leo XIV calls for security rooted in ethics, warning that the pursuit of peace must never come at the expense of human dignity or truth.
Pope to priests: Announce Christ in today’s confusing and noisy society
Posted on 12/12/2025 04:38 AM ()
In a message addressed to Latin American priests, seminarians, and religious men and women studying in Rome, Pope Leo XIV encourages them to remember their calling to follow Christ and strive to place God above everything.
Jubilee of Prisoners: Hope is not lost for anyone
Posted on 12/12/2025 04:09 AM ()
As the Church celebrates the Jubilee of Prisoners, the head of the Catholic Mobilizing Network reflects on the dignity of those who are incarcerated and the role each of us has to honor that dignity as Pilgrims of Hope.
New book affirms 'remarkable convergence’ of Methodists and Catholics
Posted on 12/12/2025 03:43 AM ()
The Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission releases an updated synthesis of the fruits of 60 years of theological dialogue, affirming that the two Churches converge much more than they diverge.