December 12--Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn

With Dobbs v. Jackson in 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned. We rejoice that such a terrible decision has been overruled. However, many see the Dobbs decision as an attack on women and their “rights”. To that end there have been attempts to replace Roe with greater opportunities for abortion throughout the country. South Dakota, Florida, and Nebraska have rejected those attempts, thank God. But others have not.

This is where our Saint is so needed! Mary, the Virgin of Guadalupe, is the Patroness of the Unborn. She spoke to St. Juan Diego Cuahtlatoatzin as the Mother of the unborn Son of God in 1531. We pray for her intercession so that we can foster love and acceptance for the unborn, who are not burdens or problems to be fixed, but children of God! Mary is our mother. We pray for everyone: the unborn, for life and love; the mother of the unborn, for hope and courage; for the abortionist, for repentance and conversion; for our society, for perseverance and justice.


Virgin of Guadalupe,
Patroness of unborn children,
we implore your intercession
for every child at risk of abortion.
Help expectant parents to welcome from God
the priceless gift of their child’s life.

Console parents who have lost that gift
through abortion,
and lead them to forgiveness and healing
through the Divine Mercy of your Son.

Teach us to cherish
and to care for family and friends
until God calls them home.
Help us never to see others as burdens.

Guide our public officials
to defend each and every human life
through just laws.
Inspire us all to bring our faith into public life,
to speak for those who have no voice.

We ask this in the name of your Son,
Jesus Christ, who is Love and Mercy itself.
Amen. (USCCB)

December 9—St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, Holy Man

 

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“On 9 December 1531, when Juan Diego was on his way to morning Mass, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what is now Mexico City. She asked him to go to the Bishop and to request in her name that a shrine be built at Tepeyac, where she promised to pour out her grace upon those who invoked her. The Bishop, who did not believe Juan Diego, asked for a sign to prove that the apparition was true. On 12 December, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac. Here, the Blessed Mother told him to climb the hill and to pick the flowers that he would find in bloom. He obeyed, and although it was winter time, he found roses flowering. He gathered the flowers and took them to Our Lady who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them to the Bishop as "proof". When he opened his mantle, the flowers fell on the ground and there remained impressed, in place of the flowers, an image of the Blessed Mother, the apparition at Tepeyac.” (vatican.va) 

Pope St. John Paul II, when he canonized St. Juan Diego in 2002, said: “Happy Juan Diego, true and faithful man! We entrust to you our lay brothers and sisters so that, feeling the call to holiness, they may imbue every area of social life with the spirit of the Gospel. Bless families, strengthen spouses in their marriage, sustain the efforts of parents to give their children a Christian upbringing. Look with favor upon the pain of those who are suffering in body or in spirit, on those afflicted by poverty, loneliness, marginalization or ignorance. May all people, civic leaders and ordinary citizens, always act in accordance with the demands of justice and with respect for the dignity of each person, so that in this way peace may be reinforced.” (vatican.va)

Miguel Cabrera, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/MIguel_Cabrera_-_Fiel_retrato_do_vener%C3%A1vel_Juan_Diego.jpg This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.

September 8: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

There are only three births that are celebrated in the liturgical year: Jesus’ on December 25, John the Baptist on June 24, and Mary’s on September 8, which is nine months after the celebration of the Immaculate Conception on December 8. Joy is the immediate expression we have upon the birth of any baby, but the joy of the birth of the Blessed Virgin is even more delightful. We can’t honor Mary enough for her life, her “yes” to the angel Gabriel, her faithfulness to her Son, her discipleship as the first follower of Jesus. She is the Mother of God and it is fitting that we celebrate her birthday.

Every day is somebody’s birthday! The miracle of birth is truly God’s way of giving us hope for the future. Everyone is a child of God, even those who don’t get to celebrate a birthday. According to numberofabortions.com there have been over 59 million surgical abortions in America since Roe v. Wade in 1973. According to Pharmacists for Life (pfli.org)there have been approximately 250 million babies aborted chemically since 1973 in the U.S. Plus, every embryo, that is, every human being, that has been experimented upon in the name of science and future cures for current ills has been aborted.

Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the unborn. The image left on the tilma of St. Juan Diego shows her as a pregnant woman, pregnant with the unborn Son of God. We pray that all unborn human beings be allowed to be born; that they may be accepted lovingly as gifts from God no matter the circumstances of their conceptions. That may be an appropriate birthday wish for our mother Mary. Happy birthday Mom.

December 12—Our Lady of Guadalupe

How does one go about converting a nation of unbelievers?  By sending Mary!  That is what happened on December 9, 1531 when Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego, an Aztec convert.  She asked that he go to the bishop and request that a chapel be built in her honor.  When the bishop requested a sign, the Virgin arranged some roses in his cloak to show the bishop.  When the cloak was opened a miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared.

The image shows Mary as a mestiza, a woman who is both Aztec and Spanish, with her eyes downcast, which is opposed to the way Aztec gods and goddesses looked out at the person.  She covers the sun so that only the rays appeared behind her.  She is standing on a crescent moon.  Her hands are in prayer and she is covered in a turquoise mantel, which was reserved to the Aztec gods and goddesses.  Furthermore, her mantel has stars on it and her dress has native flower designs.  Around her waist is a maternity band indicating that she is pregnant.  So to an Aztec she would be a woman who is greater than their gods, but pointing to the child inside her as even greater.  The Spaniards were already familiar with a shrine named after Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain, so they would have recognized her as well.

Mary leads us to Jesus just as she led St. Juan Diego and the Aztec people to him.  Our Lady of Guadalupe showed the Spaniards that the native peoples that they had just conquered were children of God and worthy of respect and evangelization.  We need to show respect to all our brothers and sisters, no matter what they believe and lead them to Jesus just as Our Lady of Guadalupe did and evangelize them with our words and our love.