Our Lady of Guadalupe

"The eyes that gaze on it now see it exactly as Bishop Zumárraga and the others saw it when the roses spilled from Juan's mantle and it was first revealed. Millions have viewed it..."

Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Legionaries of Christ, Thornwood, NY

Our Lady of Guadalupe pray for us.

Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Gaudalupe, mystical rose, make intercession for Holy Church, protect the Sovereign Pontiff, help all those who invoke thee in their necessities, and since thou art the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from thy most holy Son the grace of keeping our faith, sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life, burning charity and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

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By now everyone should be familiar with the story of Guadalupe--"The story of an Indian of simple faith, and of the Mother of God. The basilica which today is the Shrine of Our lady of Guadalupe is a part of the teeming metropolis that is Mexico City.  But back of its great high altar is the tilma of Juan Diego, whose love and devotion toward Mary, the Mother of God, has given the world one of the greatest of her shrines."

-The Holy Years of Mary by William A. McLoughlin, O.P.The John C. Winston Company

Original Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

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"...Swiftly news of the church to be built in the precinct of the Mother-goddess on Tepeyac was carried from village to village.  The Indians' own church, requested through one of themselves!  Volunteer laborers appeared, more than could be employed.  In only thirteen days the simple chapel-like structure was completed. On the day after Christmas the sacred Image was brought to it in a great procession and installed about the altar; the church was blessed and the Mass celebrated...."

Bishop Juan de Zumárraga

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"I have had the news published-sent a messenger to Cuernavaca- an Indian to Fray Toribio-am preparing the festival and keeping with me a little longer your honor's trumpeters.  How glorious it will be!  The joy of all is indescribable.  Tell my lady the Marquesa (Cortés'' wife) that eventually I want to dedicate my cathedral to the Immaculate Conception because it was during that feast (December 8-17 in the missal used in Mexico) that God and his Blessed Mother deigned to shower the land you won with this great favor.  No more now."
The Bishop Elect, filled with joy.

Letter to the conqueror Hernán Cortés' written by Bishop Zumárraga on Christmas Eve, 1531.

Note:  Between the years 1532-38, eight million natives were baptized.

-A Woman Clothed with the Sun, edited by John J. Delaney, Image Books

Practicing Silence

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There is also a time for silence, not only exterior silence, but above all interior silence, so that I may reconnect with God and fully hear and receive His Word in me.

As Mother Teresa of Calcutta speaks about this sacred silence, may her words find a home in my heart:
To make possible true interior silence, we shall practice:

Silence of the eyes, by seeking always the beauty and goodness of God everywhere closing it to the faults of others and to all that is sinful and disturbing to the soul.

Silence of the ears, by listening always to the voice of God and to the cry of the poor and the needy, closing it to all the other voices that come from the evil one or from fallen human nature:
e.g. gossip, tale-bearing, and uncharitable words.

Silence of the tongue, by praising God and speaking the life-giving Word of God that is the Truth that enlightens and inspires, brings peace, hope, and joy and by refraining from self-defense and
every word that causes darkness, turmoil, pain, and death.

Silence of the mind, by opening it to the truth and knowledge of God in prayer and contemplation, like Mary who pondered the marvels of the Lord in her heart, and by closing it to all untruths, distractions, destructive thoughts, rash judgment, false suspicions of others, revengeful thoughts, and desires.

Silence of the heart, by loving God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength and one another as God loves, desiring God alone and avoiding all selfishness, hatred, envy, jealousy, and greed. Our silence is a joyful and God-centered silence; it demands of us constant self-denial and plunges us into the deep silence of God where aloneness with God becomes a reality.

To foster and maintain a prayerful atmosphere of exterior silence we shall:

* respect certain times and places of more strict silence,
* move about and work prayerfully, quietly and gently,
* avoid at all costs all unnecessary speaking and notice,
* speak, when we have to, softly, gently, saying just what is necessary,
* look forward to profound silence as a holy and precious time, a withdrawal into the living silence of God.”

Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Under the Light and Guidance of the Holy Spirit, let us walk with Jesus, into the embrace of the Father.

Source via Sue Cifelli

Devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus

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LORD Jesus by faith in Your merits, I now take Your Precious Blood and sprinkle it over myself and my family right from the crown of my head to the very soles of my feet. I claim total and complete protection for my life and my family. Lord Jesus, keep me free today from evil, sin, temptation, Satan's attacks and afflictions, fear of darkness, fear of man, sickness, diseases, doubts, anger, all calamities and from all that is not of Your Kingdom.

FILL me Lord Jesus with the gifts of Your Holy Spirit and grant me the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, understanding and discernment, so that I will live today in Your Glory by doing what is right.

I praise You Jesus, I thank You Jesus,

I love You Jesus, I adore You Jesus.

Prayer Source via Sue Cifelli.

Saint Juan Diego

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Prayer to St. Juan Diego

You who were chosen by Our Lady of Guadalupe as an instrument to show your people and the world that the way of Christianity is one of love, compassion, understanding, values, sacrifices, repentance of our sins, appreciation and respect for God’s creation, and most of all one of humility and obedience;

You whom we know is now in the Kingdom of the Lord and close to our Mother;

Be our angel and protect us, stay with us as we struggle in this modern life often not knowing where to set our priorities;

Help us to pray to our God to obtain the gifts of the Holy Spirit and use them for the good of humanity and the good of our Church, through the Heart of Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Heart of Jesus. Amen.

Prayer Source and where you can order the prayer cards.

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Information for children becoming members of the Saint Juan Diego Guild can be found here. Their mission is: To encourage and assist children in imitating the positive virtues of (Saint) Juan Diego.

Venerable John Paul II's Homily: Canonization of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

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Prayer to Saint Juan Diego for Happy Employment

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Saint Juan, you now enjoy the beatific vision of God and the company of our beautiful Mother Mary. On this, your feast day, we ask that you and Our Lady of Guadalupe pray for us that we may never fear to boldly proclaim the truth in the hope that if each of us does our part, no matter how small, millions will come to know God.

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Saint Juan Diego: Model of Humility

Saint Gabriel the Archangel: When the Dawn from On High Broke Upon Us

Father Gordon MacRae's post this week is one you won't want to miss.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel: When the Dawn from On High Broke Upon Us

The Tradition of the Christmas Crib

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Following a beautiful and firmly-rooted tradition, many families set up their crib immediately after the feast of the Immaculate Conception, as if to relive with Mary those days full of trepidation that preceded the birth of Jesus.

Putting up the crib at home can be a simple but effective way of presenting faith, to pass it on to one's children. The crib helps us contemplate the mystery of God's love that was revealed in the poverty and simplicity of the Bethlehem Grotto.

St. Francis of Assisi was so taken by the mystery of the Incarnation that he wanted to present it anew at Grecio in the living nativity scene, thus beginning an old, popular tradition that still retains its value for evangelization today.

Indeed, the crib can help us understand the secret of the true Christmas because it speaks of the humility and merciful goodness of Christ, who "though he was rich he made himself poor" for us (2 Cor. 8:9). His poverty enriches those who embrace it and Christmas brings joy and peace to those who, like the shepherds in Bethlehem, accept the Angel's words: "Let this be a sign to you: in a manger you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes." (Lk 2:12). This is still the sign for us too, men and women of the third millennium.

There is no other Christmas.

Pope Benedict XVI

from December 2010 Magnificat

To learn more about the tradition of the Christmas creche please visit Women for Faith and Family.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Immaculada Concepción con Colegiales by Francisco Zurbaran

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Venerable Brethren,
Health and the Apostolic Blessing.

An interval of a few months will again bring round that most happy day on which, fifty years ago, Our Predecessor Pius IX., Pontiff of holy memory, surrounded by a noble crown of Cardinals and Bishops, pronounced and promulgated with the authority of the infallible magisterium as a truth revealed by God that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary in the first instant of her conception was free from all stain of original sin. All the world knows the feelings with which the faithful of all the nations of the earth received this proclamation and the manifestations of public satisfaction and joy which greeted it, for truly there has not been in the memory of man any more universal or more harmonious expression of sentiment shown towards the august Mother of God or the Vicar of Jesus Christ...

AD DIEM ILLUM LAETISSIMUM
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS X ON THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Immaculada Concepción by
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

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Prayer for a Holy Life

Virgin Immaculate,
Mother of God and my Mother,
from your throne in heaven
turn your merciful eyes upon me.
With full confidence in your goodness and power,
I beg you to help me in this journey of life,
which is strewn with dangers for my soul.

I entrust myself completely to you,
that I may never be the devil's slave through sin,
but may always live a unable and pure life.
I consecrate my heart to you forever,
since my sole desire is to love your divine Son Jesus.
O Mary,
since none of your devoted servants has ever perished,
let me too attain salvation.

Immaculada Concepción by Pedro Saenz

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You are all fair, O Mary;
the original stain is not in you.
You are the glory of Jerusalem,
the joy of Israel,
the great honor of our people,
and the great advocate of sinners.
O Mary, Virgin most prudent,
Mother most merciful,
pray for us;
intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Immaculada Concepción by Antonio Cortina Farinós

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To the Immaculate Queen

O Virgin most pure, wholly unspotted,
O Mary, Mother of God,
Queen of the universe,
thou art above all the saints,
the hope of the elect a
and the joy of all the blessed.
It is thou who hast reconciled us with God;
thou art the only refuge of sinners and the safe
harbor of those who are shipwrecked;
thou art the consolation of the world,
the ransom of captives,
the health of the weak,
the joy of the afflicted,
and the salvation of all.
We have recourse to thee,
and we beseech thee to have pity on us.
Amen.

- Saint Ephrem the Syrian

The Immaculate Conception Patroness of the Redemporists

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Blessed be the holy and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God.

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By your Immaculate Conception,
O Mary,
make my body pure and my soul holy.

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O Mary,
who entered the world without stain of sin,
obtain for me from God
that I may leave it without sin.

Immaculada Concepción by Alonso Cano

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Virgin Mother,
you were never touched by any spot
of original or actual sin.
I commend and entrust to you the purity of my heart.

Immaculada Concepción

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Glorious things are told of thee,
O Mary,
for He who is mighty
hath done great things unto thee.
Alleluia

- Source The New Marian Missal for Daily Mass, 1956

Immaculada Concepción by Tiepolo Giambattista

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Prayer sources: Mew St. Joseph's People's Prayer Book, Catholic Book Publishing
The Prayer Book, Catholic Press

BLESSED SACRAMENT - ADORATION

St. Ambrose

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Prayer that we May Seek God and Find Him

Lord, teach me to seek you,
and reveal yourself to me when I seek you.
For I cannot seek you
unless you first teach me,
nor find you
unless you first reveal yourself to me.

Let me seek you in longing,
and long for you in seeking.
Let me find you in love,
and love you in finding.

- St. Ambrose of Milan (340-397)
Bishop, Writer and Doctor

Prayers before Holy Communion - Prayer of St. Ambrose

Lord Jesus Christ, I approach your banquet table in fear and trembling, for I am a sinner, and dare not rely on my own worth but only on your goodness and mercy. I am defiled by many sins in body and soul, and by my unguarded thoughts and words.

Gracious God of majesty and awe, I seek your protection, I look for your healing. Poor troubled sinner that I am, I appeal to You, the fountain of all mercy. I cannot bear your judgment, but I trust in your salvation.

Lord, I show my wounds to You and uncover my shame before You. I know my sins are many and great, and they will fill me with fear, but I hope in Your Mercies, for they cannot be numbered.

Lord Jesus Christ, eternal king, God and man, crucified for mankind, look
upon me with mercy and hear my prayer, for I trust in You. Have mercy on me, full of sorrow and sin, for the depth of your compassion never ends.

Praise to You, saving sacrifice, offered on the wood of the cross for me and for all mankind. Praise to the noble and precious blood, flowing from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ and washing away the sins of the whole world. Remember, Lord, your creature, whom You have redeemed with Your Blood. I repent my sins, and I long to put right what I have done.

Merciful Father, take away all my offenses and sins; purify me in body and soul, and make me worthy to taste the holy of holies.

May Your Body and Blood, which I intend to receive, although I am unworthy, be for me the remission of my sins, the washing away of my guilt, the end of my evil thoughts, and the rebirth of my better instincts. May it incite me to do the works pleasing to You and profitable to my health in body and soul, and be a firm defense against the wiles of my enemies.

Amen.

- New Saint Joseph People's Prayer Book
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The story of the Immaculate Conception reflected in Vatican Museum frescoes