Our Lady of Guadalupe, “Star of Evangelization"

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico. All the country's dioceses take turns during the year to celebrate a feast in her Basilica on the 12th of each month, as well as on the main solemnities of the Virgin Mary.

The main feasts of Our Lady of Guadalupe are :

- October 12, commemorating her solemn coronation, and

- December 12, the anniversary of her apparition in 1531.

The number of pilgrims from all over the world is tremendous: 14 million a year.

On the Tepeyac hill, just north of Mexico City, on a certain December 9, 1531, a young lady "dazzling with light" appeared to a native, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. She revealed herself to him as the Virgin Mary, and instructed him to ask the bishop to build a church on the site of the apparition.

The bishop, incredulous, asked the visionary to obtain a sign from the Virgin Mary. She was quick to grant it. On December 12, Mary appeared to Juan Diego for the fourth and last time, sending him to pick roses at the top of the hill. The man came back down, his tilma (coat) filled with the most beautiful roses he'd ever seen in the middle of winter!

At the Virgin's command, he returned to the bishop's house and opened his cloak in front of those gathered around the prelate. What an astonishment it was for everyone to see, at that very moment, an image of “Our Lady of Guadalupe, Ever-Virgin”, as she called herself, miraculously imprinted on the tilma.

Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared Patroness of the Americas and Star of Evangelization by Pope Saint John Paul II.

The Mary of Nazareth team