MARY: THE HERALD OF JOY AND PEACE
The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe invites us to see Mary as the herald of joy and peace to the human race. The coincidence of celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the 3rd Sunday of Advent is one of Joy. A Sunday is traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday. The word Gaudete means rejoice.
This coincidence does not change or affect the central theme of today’s Sunday or time of Advent season. Instead, it embellishes it with the presence, personality and mission of the Virgin Mary. She is the second most important person to Christ in the celebration of Christmas. With Mary, our joy is constant and complete in Christ Jesus.
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Our Lady of Guadalupe(in Spanish Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe( Spanish Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus. Historically, Our Lady of Guadalupe is associated with a series of five Marian apparitions to an indigenous Mexican peasant named Juan Diego in December 1531. Juan Diego was a native Nahuatl language (the language of the Aztec Empire).
The apparitions took place from the 9 to 12 of December. Therefore, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe is on the 12th of December.
There is a venerated image on a cloak enshrined within the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most-visited Catholic shrine in the world and the world’s third most-visited sacred site.
Pope Leo XIII granted the image a decree of a canonical coronation on 8 February 1887 and was Pontifically crowned on 12 October 1895.
The visit of Mary under the patronage of Guadalupe is a feast of hope, assurance, joy and peace to the indigenous community of Mexico at the advent of Spanish imperialism.
THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 1:39-45
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth is the gospel reading for the solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The meeting of these two women was a joyful and unique event. Both found themselves pregnant in unusual circumstances – Elizabeth in her old age after suffering from infertility, and Mary by the Holy Spirit.
This joy was also shared by the fruits of their womb Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. The feast of our Lady of Guadalupe like every feast of Mary invites us to imitate the virtues of Mary. These virtues may seem overwhelming at first, but there are simple ways to practice them in everyday life with the help of God’s grace.
They are:
Profound humility
Lively faith
Total obedience
Continual prayer
Universal mortification
Divine purity
Ardent charity
Heroic patience
Angelic sweetness
Divine wisdom
Spirit of service
Joyous contemplation
OUR PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
God of power and mercy, you blessed the Americas at Tepeyac with the presence of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. May her prayers help all men and women to accept each other as brothers and sisters. Through your justice present in our hearts may your peace reign in the world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen
