Our Lady of Guadalupe; Protectress of the Unborn

During the Advent Season we await the birth of Jesus.  It is significant that the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, occurs during this Holy Season.  According to the Vatican, the tradition of this aspect of Our Lady is as follows;

Our Lady of Guadalupe first introduced herself as the Mother of God and the mother of all humanity when she appeared on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico in 1531. An indigenous peasant, Juan Diego, saw a glowing figure on the hill. After she had identified herself to him, Our Lady asked that Juan build her a shrine in that same spot, in order for her to show and share her love and compassion with all those who believe.  Afterwards, Juan Diego visited Juan de Zumárraga, who was Archbishop of what is now Mexico City. Zumárraga dismissed him in disbelief and asked that the future Saint provide proof of his story and proof of the Lady’s identity.  Juan Diego returned to the hill and encountered Our Lady again. The Virgin told him to climb to the top of the hill and pick some flowers to present to the Archbishop.  Although it was winter and nothing should have been in bloom, Juan Diego found an abundance of flowers of a type he had never seen before. The Virgin bundled the flowers into Juan's cloak, known as a tilma. When Juan Diego presented the tilma of exotic flowers to Zumárraga, the flowers fell out and he recognized them as Castilian roses, which are not found in Mexico.

What was even more significant, however, was that the tilma had been miraculously imprinted with a colorful image of the Virgin herself.  This actual tilma, preserved since that date and showing the familiar image of the Virgin Mary with her head bowed and hands together in prayer, represents the Virgin of Guadalupe. It remains perhaps the most sacred object in all of Mexico. 

The story is best known from a manuscript written in the Aztec’s native language Nahuatl by the scholar Antonio Valeriano. It was written sometime after 1556.  Over 20 million people visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe each year, now situated on the very same hill on which she appeared. In 1990, Pope Saint John Paul II visited Mexico and beatified Juan Diego. 10 years later, in the year 2000, he was declared a Saint.  

In 1999, Pope John Paul II established December 12 as the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. 

“This is our cry: life with dignity for all! For all who have been conceived in their mother’s womb, for street children, for Guadalupe!” he declared at the basilica. 

Neary 20 years later, in 2018, Pope Francis entrusted to Our Lady of Guadalupe “in particular, those who are awaiting the birth of their children.”  “St. John Paul II commended to her maternal protection the life and innocence of children, especially those who run the risk of not being born,” he told Polish pilgrims during his general audience. “By her intercession, in this time of Advent, let us implore the gift of children for families without children, respect for the conceived life and the openness of hearts to Gospel values.”

 The website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops features a prayer asking for the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as the patroness of unborn children, for “every child at risk of abortion.”

“Help expectant parents to welcome from God the priceless gift of their child’s life,” the prayer reads. “Console parents who have lost that gift through abortion, and lead them to forgiveness and healing through the Divine Mercy of your Son.” 

A beautiful prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe is as follows;

Mary, wrap me in your mantle, just as you wrapped Juan Diego. May you wrap me in your love, too, so that I might grow in the same courage and hope as Juan Diego to seek Christ and love others in this life. And may you guide me closer to your Son, so that I might more fully love Him as you do. 

In this season in which we await the birth of Our Lord, let us take time to praise the Patroness of the Unborn and help her in her protection of the unborn.