Our Lady of Guadalupe
Feast day: December 12
In 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared to the Mexican peasant Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City. She instructed Juan to ask the bishop to build a church on the site, but the bishop requested a sign. Our Lady had Juan gather flowers in his cloak in December to present to the bishop. When Juan opened his cloak, the colorful image of Guadalupe was emblazoned on the cactus-cloth. A venerated image on a cloak associated with the apparition is enshrined within the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Our Lady of Guadalupe continues to inspire poor and oppressed people worldwide.
Collect
O God, Father of mercies,
who placed your people under the singular protection
of your Son’s most holy Mother,
grant that all who invoke the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe,
may seek with ever more lively faith
the progress of peoples in the ways of justice and of peace.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
