On Monday, 12th December at 11 a.m., a Mass will be celebrated in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It will be presided by Don Jean-Xavier Salefran, vice-rector of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, and led by the Daughters of the Most Holy Immaculate Virgin of Lourdes, “The Immacolatines”.
Lourdes and Our Lady of Guadalupe
How can we fail to see similarities between the two apparitions…
The light in which Juan Diego saw a dazzling young lady arrive and the young woman who appeared in the rock of Massabielle enveloped in light… And above all the request to the religious authorities that a chapel should be built.
This year in Lourdes, the theme of the year is, “Go and tell the priests to build a chapel here.”
For several years, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes has joined in this festivity by celebrating a mass in front of the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe (chapel located on the left arm of the Rosary Basilica). It will be celebrated at 11 a.m. by Don Jean-Xavier Salefran, vice-rector of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. There will also be the rosary at the Grotto at 3:30 p.m.
The History of the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of Mexico, arrived in Lourdes on 12th May 1966, while the Martinez family from Mexico City, in collaboration with the Basilica of Guadalupe and the Sanctuary of Lourdes, carried out several months of work to remodel this chapel with mosaics in Arudy stone (France). The sculptor, Eduardo Tamariz, made two statues, one in bronze which is in this chapel and the other in marble which can be seen at the chapel of reconciliation in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes.
On Sunday, 18th September 2011, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera (the then Archbishop of Mexico), inaugurated and blessed the chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, after the embellishment and renovation works. This restoration was made possible thanks to joint work between Mexicans, Spaniards, French and Italians. This restoration of the chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe has given life and colours to this chapel that pilgrims from Latin America once found sad and grey.
To learn more about Our Lady of Guadalupe:
https://virgendeguadalupe.org.mx/
Pope's Mass for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Pope Francis will say a mass at 6 p.m. in Saint Peter’s Basilica, which you can follow live by clicking here.
“The Virgin Mary teaches us about three qualities; God’s gift, abundance and blessing”, said Pope Francis on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (2020).
God is “Blessed by nature” and she is “Blessed by grace”, he said. “The gift of God has been presented to us as a blessing, in the Blessed by nature and in the Blessed by grace.” And God said to Mary, “Blessed art thou amongst all women”, for thou hast brought us the Blessed One.
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Most Merciful Mother
On 9th December 1531, on the hill of Tepeyac, north of Mexico City, a “young lady dazzling with light” appeared to a native Juan Diego, who had recently been baptised. She said to him, “I am your merciful mother, to you, and to all the inhabitants on this land and all the rest who love me, invoke and confide in me.”
After revealing herself as the Virgin Mary, she instructed Juan Diego to ask the bishop to build a church in her honour at the place in which she had appeared.
On 12th December 1531, the Virgin Mary asked Juan Diego to go to the top of Mount Tepeyac to pick the flowers there, so he could bring them to the Bishop of Mexico who had asked for a sign to confirm the truth of the Virgin Mary’s request.
Several million people go on pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe (5 km from Mexico City), each year.
Our Lady of Guadalupe has several titles: patroness of Mexico City since 1737, patroness of Mexico since 1895, patroness of Latin America, patroness of the city of Ponce in Puerto Rico, and patroness of students in Peru since 1951. She was also proclaimed “Queen of Mexico” (in 1895) and “Empress of the Americas” (in 2000).
