Patroness of the Americas
Pray the novena →In December 1531 Juan Diego carried roses in his tilma to the bishop of Mexico; the image of Mary was found on the cloth. The novena runs December 3 to 11.
December 12
The Americas
Mexico
The unborn
Juan Diego, a Nahua convert, reported that Mary appeared to him on the hill of Tepeyac on December 9, 1531, and asked for a church. When the bishop asked for a sign, Juan Diego gathered roses in his tilma; when he opened it, the image was there. It hangs today in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City. This page uses the short invocation 'Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us' with a Hail Mary each day.
Pius XII named her Patroness of the Americas in 1945.
Juan Diego was canonized in 2002.
The basilica is one of the most visited Marian shrines in the world.
A novena is nine days of prayer for one intention, modeled on the nine days the apostles and Mary prayed between the Ascension and Pentecost (Acts 1–2). Pray this each day:
Day 1. Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us. (Then one Hail Mary.)
Day 2. Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us. (Then one Hail Mary.)
Day 3. Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us. (Then one Hail Mary.)
Day 4. Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us. (Then one Hail Mary.)
Day 5. Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us. (Then one Hail Mary.)
Day 6. Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us. (Then one Hail Mary.)
Day 7. Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us. (Then one Hail Mary.)
Day 8. Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us. (Then one Hail Mary.)
Day 9. Holy Mary of Guadalupe, pray for us. (Then one Hail Mary.)
One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from Guadalupe's story, and a nudge to keep going.
[Affiliate placeholder: Catholic Company Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe medal]
Image: Unknown artist, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Traditional invocation, as printed in F. Lee, Our Lady of America (1897), public domain.
