BIG C CATHOLICS

Our Lady of Guadalupe first appeared to Juan Diego, an humble Indian convert, on December 9th, 1531. According to the account, Our Lady instructed Juan Diego to tell Bishop Juan de Zumárraga to build a chapel in her honor where the faithful could pray and receive miracles. Our Lady’s message to humanity is one of peace, hope and love. May we heed her words and love God ever more deeply. "Hear me and let it penetrate your heart…do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need? Do not grieve nor be disturbed…" Our Lady’s words to Juan Diego ________________________________ Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mystical Rose, make intercession for holy Church, protect the sovereign Pontiff,

Feast Day - December 12th   When Saint John Paul II declared Our Lady of Guadalupe to be patroness of both Mexico and the Americas, he was not merely acknowledging the miracles that took place on a hill near Mexico City in 1531. He was confirming in a powerful way the lesson that Our Lady had already taught when she chose a poor Indian peasant to be her ambassador of faith. He emphasized that all the Americas — north, south, central and the Caribbean — are one, and that all the peoples therein need to be treated equally. He pointed to the fact that the Blessed Mother, through her appearance as Our Lady of Guadalupe, is the Mary of the Magnificat, who stands with the lowly and the poor. And finally, the Pope reminded us that it was Mary’s wish to invite all people, both those native to Mexico and those who came there from Europe, to a profound conversion together in the name of her Son, Jesus. The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a beautiful one. It began near present-day Mexi

Optional Memorial - December 9th  Juan Diego, whose life is inextricably linked with Our Lady of Guadalupe, was the first indigenous American saint canonized by the Catholic Church. In his remarks in Mexico City on July 31, 2002, St. John Paul II said that Juan Diego "accepted Christianity without giving up his Indian identity" and is a "model of perfectly inculturated evangelization." To underscore the saint’s importance in that regard, present at the canonization were the members of 64 indigenous Mexican tribes. He was born in 1474, in a place called Cuauhtitlan, located about fourteen miles north of present-day Mexico City. Living at first under the rule of the Aztecs, he witnessed the conquest of Mexico by Hernan Cortes in 1521. When Franciscan missionaries arrived from Spain three years later, Juan Diego — whose native name was Cuauhtlatoatzin, “the eagle who speaks”— and his wife were among the first natives to receive Baptism. Juan Diego was an extre

The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is December 12th. She first appeared on December 9th, 1531. According to the account, the Virgin Mary told Juan Diego, an Indian convert, to tell Bishop Juan de Zumárraga to build a chapel. Bishop Zumárraga asked Diego for a sign as proof that it was truly the Mother of God. Our Lady instructed Diego to gather some roses in his tilma [tradition attests that Mary arranged the roses in the tilma herself] and present them to the bishop. As Diego did this, the roses fell to the floor, revealing the miraculous image of Mary as she appeared in real life. All present praised her intercession and believed. See Ten Amazing Facts About the Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe . In 1910 Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared Patroness of Latin America, and in 1945 Pope Pius XII declared her to be the Empress of all the Americas. O God, Father of mercies, who placed your people under the singular protection of your Son's most holy Mother, grant that

December 9, 2016 St Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548). Little is known about the life of Juan Diego before his conversion, but tradition and archaelogical and iconographical sources, along with the most important and oldest indigenous document on the event of Guadalupe, " El Nican Mopohua " (written in Náhuatl with Latin characters, 1556, by the Indigenous writer Antonio Valeriano), give some information on the life of the saint and the apparitions. Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" ("the talking eagle") in Cuautlitlán, today part of Mexico City, Mexico. He was a gifted member of the Chichimeca people, one of the more culturally advanced groups living in the Anáhuac Valley. When he was 50 years old he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. On 9 December 1531, when Juan Diego was on his way to morning Mass, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, t

Below are eight saints whose commemorations occur during the liturgical season of Advent — the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, St. Francis Xavier, St. John Damascene, St. Nicholas, St. Ambrose, St. Juan Diego, St. Lucy and St. John of the Cross. During this time of expectation, we remember their heroic witness. THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY We call the Blessed Virgin the " Theotokos ," ["Mother of God" or "God-bearer"] to reaffirm the central truth of what occurred in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Our Lady's Fiat, her "Yes" to God exhibits her total trust and devotion to the Father's Will. We must live our lives for God by emulating Mary's example. Two Marian feasts occur during this season of Advent: the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception [Dec. 8] and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe [Dec. 12]. From Mary we learn: love, humility, justice, openness to God's grace, trust in divine Providence, and the willingness to

In 1910, Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared the Patroness of Latin America by Pope St. Pius X, and in 1945, Pope Pius XII declared her the Empress of all the Americas. She appeared to an Indian convert, Juan Diego, on December 9, 1531. She left a miraculous portrait of herself on the mantle of Juan Diego as proof of her appearance. This image has endured, and is kept in the shrine built in Mary's honor, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage destination in the world. Over the Friday and Saturday of December 11 to 12, 2009, a record 6.1 million pilgrims visited the Basilica of Guadalupe to celebrate the 478th anniversary of the apparition. The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe Hear me and understand well, my son the least, that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are y

Today the Church in the United States celebrates the optional memorial of St. Juan Diego , an Indian convert, to whom the Virgin Mary appeared as he was going to Mass in Tlatlelolco, Mexico. Our Lady asked him to tell Bishop Juan de Zumárraga that she desired a shrine to be built on the spot to manifest her love for all mankind. She left a portrait of herself on the mantle of Juan Diego as a sign for the Bishop. This miraculous image has proved to be timeless, and is kept in the shrine built in Mary's honor, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas . The Life of St. Juan Diego Little is known about the life of Juan Diego before his conversion, but tradition and archaelogical and iconographical sources, along with the most important and oldest indigenous document on the event of Guadalupe, "El Nican Mopohua" , [written in Náhuatl with Latin characters, 1556, by the Indigenous writer Antonio Valeriano] give information on the life of the saint