Roses in December

Tags

Aztec, birdsong, cloak, fidelity, holiness, message, Mexico, miracles, Native Americans, Our Lady of Guadalupe, pilgrims, roses, sign, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a celebration especially dear to those who claim their heritage as natives of Mexico and, by extension, all Native Americans and native peoples everywhere. It is the story of clearly documented appearances of the Blessed Mother, Mary, to a 57 year-old peasant who was on his way to a Saturday Mass to honor her in a small village near Mexico City on December 9, 1531. As he passed the hill of Tepeyac, Juan Diego heard beautiful music like birdsong and saw in a radiant cloud a beautiful young woman dressed as an Aztec princess. She spoke in his native language directing him to go to the bishop of Mexico to tell him she desired a chapel built in her honor on that hill. He did as he was instructed. The bishop told him to ask for a sign from the lady. Although he tried to avoid her because of his need to care for his sick uncle, she found him again on December 12th, saying that his uncle would recover, and gave him roses which he carried to the bishop in his cloak. When he opened his cloak, the roses tumbled to the floor and the bishop fell to his knees in prayer because on the cloak was imprinted the image of Our Lady just as Juan Diego had described her. This image is now well-known to pilgrims world-wide and the story reminds us that God does not discriminate in the choice of those who carry the message of love into the world. We are all called to holiness and fidelity in the everyday events of our lives. Who knows what miracles await?

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Tags

birth, Christ, God, Juan Diego, Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, roses, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Virgin Mary

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a very popular feast of the Virgin Mary. Perhaps it is the story of the apparition itself that has caught the imagination of people everywhere. It was reportedly on December 9, 1531 that a Mexican peasant named Juan Diego saw a beautiful young lady on a hill outside his village. She asked him to build a church on that spot and he recognized her as the Blessed Mother of Jesus. He went to the bishop to ask the favor and the bishop sent him back to her for a sign of authenticity. The miraculous sign given to him was a beautiful and plentiful blooming of roses of a type not found in that region – and certainly not in December. Diego gathered them and returned to the bishop where, when he opened his cape, the roses spilled out all over the ground and their impression was left on his cape. That Mary chose this humble man for this miracle is reminiscent of God’s choice of her to bring forth the Christ into the world. The pilgrimage spot at Guadalupe is the most visited one in the world today and Our Lady of Guadalupe has become the patroness of the Americas.

Today I am grateful for all those people whose trust in God is in itself miraculous and is an example to me. I am thankful as well for mothers who daily birth God into the world with their devoted love. And I rejoice daily for roses, the beauty of which overwhelms the senses and warms the heart. How magnificent a choice for this manifestation of the Virgin!