Friday, December 11, 2009

Guadalupe Day, December 12


Guadalupe day, December 12, is Mexico’s most important religious holiday. On this day people from all over Mexico travel to the chapel Tepayac Hill in Mexico City, where the mother of Jesus is said to have appeared before an Indian peasant named Juan Diego back in 1531.


Mary told Juan to go to the bishop and ask that a church be built on the hill so she could be close to her people. The bishop, needing proof of this vision, asked Juan to have a miracle performed by Mary. Juan returned to Tepayac Hill and found roses growing where there had only been cacti. Juan wrapped the roses in his cape along with a picture of Mary to show the bishop. He was convinced and the chapel was built.


The Virgin of Guadalupe is considered the Patroness of Mexico and the Continental Americas; she is also venerated by Native Americans, on the account of the devotion calling for the conversion of the Americas. Replicas of the tilma can be found in thousands of churches throughout the world, including Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome, and numerous parishes bear her name.








In 1999, Pope John Paul II, in his homily from the Solemn Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, during 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.

*I woke up in the middle of the night and recalled this poem from my book: "Life Prayers from Around the World" and knew it needed to be here on this special day... so I've added it to my post. Enjoy! Blessings-------


Before Jesus Was His Mother
By Alla Bozarth

Before Jesus
was his mother.

Before supper
in the upper room,
breakfast in the barn.

Before the Passover Feast,
a feeding trough.
And here, the altar of Earth,
fair linens of hay and seed.

Before his cry,
her cry.
Before his sweat of blood,
her bleeding and tears.
Before his offering,
hers.

Before the breaking of bread and death,
the breaking of her body in birth.

Before the offering of the cup,
the offering of her breast.
Before his blood,
her blood.
And by her body and blood alone,
his body and blood and whole human being.

The wise ones knelt
to hear the woman's word in wonder.
Holding up her sacred child,
her God in the form of a babe,
she said: "Receive and let your hearts be healed
and your lives he filled with love,
for This is my body,
This is my blood."

~Alla Bozarth








12 comments:

TheChicGeek said...

Beautiful, Marion :) Thanks for teaching us this little bit of history. Today was a wonderful day for me...must be Guadalupe was watching over me :)
I love Saint Peter's Basilica! The day I arrived in Rome I walked over to it in the pouring rain and when I arrived in the square it was covered with people holding brightly colored umbrellas...so much color and the beauty of the basilica...it was a very special moment. I will always remember that day! It was so incredibly beautiful and just amazing to see so much color with the dramatic gray sky. I was overwhelmed with the magnificence of it. Unforgettable!
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I've been away from blogging for a while and I've missed your posts! It is good to be here!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs :))
Kelly

Kelly said...

Thanks for sharing all this! The pictures are lovely, too!

RNSANE said...

This was a wonderful post of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I had not read so thorough a history though I have long been familiar with her.

Karen said...

Beautiful photos and background. I have a special place in my heart for this mother. Thanks for reminding me of Guadalupe's special day.

Marion said...

Kelly, your trip to Rome sounds like it was fabulous and so beautiful! I hope you post some pictures on your blog. I'm glad you're back. I missed you. Blessings!

Kelly #1, Glad you enjoyed the post. It's all new to me, too, but since I have the statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe I thought I should educate myself on her history. Blessings!

Carmen, I'm happy you enjoyed the post. I enjoyed researching it and love the part about the roses. I didn't even know that when I took the top photo of her holding one of my white roses. Synchronicity! Blessings!

Karen, you're welcome. I have a special place in my heart for Mary, too. Without her, there would be no Christian faith as we know it! Blessings!

Renee said...

Did you know I love religious stories. All of them fascinate me.

xxoxo

Shaista said...

Like Renee I love religious stories. Where the saints and miracles are concerned I have not a single bone of cynicism in me. All is possible.
I love the statue in the first picture with your white rose, such a luminous face. This book of Life Prayers sounds incredible, I shall try to find a copy. Love and roses, Shaista

Marion said...

Yes, Renee, I recall that you love religious stories. I've experienced so many miracles in my life. You are one of them, dear friend, and I'm praying there will be many more for us both. Ray needed an important document this past week that we couldn't find so we prayed to St. Anthony to help us find it and I had it in my hand within a few hours. Yes, I believe. I love you....Blessings!

Shiasta, aren't they fascinating? I hate that the news focuses so much on negative things because I know that miracles still happen daily, but we seldom hear of them anymore. Love & Blessings!

Angie Muresan said...

What a lovely post! I, too believe in miracles as I've experienced them in my life. Blessings to you!

Karen said...

Beautiful poem! What I didn't tell you before, O tatooed one, is that my youngest daughter has a tatoo of Guadelupe. When she was in college, she and I were browsing a bookstore when she found a book with images of the Virgin Mary. The next thing I knew, this little Catholic gal was sporting her on the middle of her back. The tatoo is the size of your hand and is beautifully done. You should have seen her in her strapless wedding dress - Mary walking right down the aisle behind her! My daughter says she likes having her there all the time! Ha!

Phoenix said...

Oh, this is just beautiful. Thank you for sharing, Marion - I had no idea about this holiday and how wonderful it is to set aside a day to commemorate the mother of Jesus.

On a side note, I am so sorry about your recent Etsy experience! That's such a bummer and I hope the seller backs off on being so aggressive. Just remember that there are a ton of super nice and friendly people on Etsy so make sure to give another seller a chance if you can :)

Woman in a Window said...

Hummm, the power of woman. Lovely, Marion.
xo
erin