She said to the Virgin, "I offer you my son," and she took him at his word!

The Blessed Virgin Mary has always been present in my life: I was baptized at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Monterrey, confirmed at Our Lady del Roble (“of the oak"), made my First Holy Communion at Our Lady of Consolation, and later was ordained a deacon and a priest in the parish (today basilica) of the Puríssima (Mary Most Pure).

The priest for whom I used to serve Mass belonged to the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Nativity of Mary, but I attended a Marist primary and secondary school.

When our priestly ordination approached, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe was still under construction. I wish we had been ordained there, but it wasn’t finished yet. Twenty-one years later, I was ordained a bishop in it.

When I became a priest, my mother told me that when I was a baby, she had been very worried about a condition that I had. In front of an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, she said, "I offer you my son.” The Virgin took her at her word! This is how Mary has always been in my life.

Gustavo Rodríguez Vega

Archbishop of Yucatán (Mexico)

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