St. Juan Diego
Feast day: December 9
Born in Mexico, Juan converted to Catholicism at age 50. While walking to Mass on Dec. 9, 1531, Mary appeared to Juan on Tepeyac Hill. She asked him to petition the bishop for a shrine to be built there in her honor, but the bishop asked for a sign. Juan returned to Tepeyac, where Mary told him to pick flowers and put them in his cloak to take to the bishop. When Juan opened the cloak, the flowers fell out and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe adorned his garment. Juan Diego died in 1548 and was canonized in 2002. He is patron of Indigenous people.
Collect
O God, who by means of Saint Juan Diego showed
the love of the most holy Virgin Mary for your people,
grant, through his intercession,
that, by following the counsels our Mother gave at Guadalupe,
we may be ever constant in fulfilling your will.
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.
