Guadalupe Festival - August 8, 2009

Prepare for the Festival

December – Holy Mary of Guadalupe: Her Image

God encounters man and has done it through His mother, Holy Mary of Guadalupe, from the 12th to the 19th of December. His message is imprinted in a very beautiful image, which is a love letter for all mankind, for all his children, those who trust in Her, those who place all their sorrows, their troubles, their needs and their suffering into her blessed hands so She can present them to the real God.  

January – Mother of God: The Black Ribbon

The image of Holy Mary of Guadalupe is that of a Virgin and at the same time a Mother. This was clear to the indigenous population since Her image has a dark ribbon on the upper part of her Immaculate womb. That meant she was with child (in Spanish 'encinta' or 'with ribbon' means pregnant) expecting Jesus Christ, our Lord, and so She is a woman of Advent, an expecting woman, a woman carrying the living and true God.   

February – True God: The Flowers, the Sign of Truth

For natives, truth was symbolized by the union of two realities: 'flowers and song'. That is why when Holy Mary of Guadalupe inculturates the Gospel, she does so, perfectly. The fact that She is presented among songs and flowers, specifically the roses, these extraordinary flowers were the sign She sent through Her faithful messenger St. Juan Diego to the Bishop Juan de Zumárraga. A sign that was perfectly appropriate for the indigenous population. In addition, when St. Juan Diego opens his tilma to present the flowers to the bishop, the most wonderful thing was imprinted, Her own blessed image. Thus manifesting in the most splendid manner that it was on a humble layman’s tilma that She imprints Her image making therefore the layman Her sign of love for the Church which was represented by Bishop Zumárraga. The layman is the sign of God’s own love, through Mary, within and from the Church to the whole wide world.                                                

March – Mother of Mercy: The Flower-Heart in Her Hands, She Takes Our Hearts to God

Holy Mary of Guadalupe is the mother who takes us in Her merciful sight. She is the mother who takes our hearts to God in Her hands. This is most pertinent to Her image since Her blessed hands are joined in a prayerful position. However, if we look at them carefully, especially if we observe them as the natives did, these people being used to codices, we will see that the golden flower on Her gown seems to be between Her hands. This flower has the exact shape of a heart, therefore they understood immediately that She had our hearts in Her hands, so that in prayer, She can present them to the one true God for whom one lives. 

April – God With Us: The Four Petal Flower

In Holy Mary of Guadalupe’s image we find a true codex. Let us remember Indians did not have a writing system like ours. They had drawings and learned their meanings by heart – that is why oral tradition was so important that they had techniques for accurate memorization. Thus, analyzing what the Spaniards called 'arabesques' on the Virgin’s gown, we see a series of drawings, which by comparing them with codices lead us through our reading. Among the flower drawings a unique flower stands out, a four petal flower, which means the four courses of the universe, a flower which also means the 'ever moving'. Such a flower is placed exactly on the Immaculate womb of the Virgin of Guadalupe, so that they understood clearly that this Maid, this Virgin, was carrying the eternal God, creator of heaven and earth. So the encounter of Holy Mary of Guadalupe and Juan Diego is actually the encounter with God, who is in Mary’s womb, and mankind represented by Juan Diego.   

May –  Empress of America: The Star Studded Mantle

Holy Mary of Guadalupe is an Empress, and the indigenous natives understood it clearly because of the mantle She is wearing. It is greenish-blue, the color that only an emperor could wear. Whose meaning was the infinite sky, and this emperor’s mantle was studded with emeralds, so that it would shine with a wonderful color given to it by this green stone. So, when Juan Diego, like all others, saw Holy Mary of Guadalupe’s mantle, they understood immediately that She was an Empress. Furthermore, the mantle stars confirm that the Virgin is being shrouded by the stars of the universe and, amazingly, through modern studies, we know that such stars are in the same position as the constellations of the Tepeyac sky on the night of December 12, 1531, as seen from above, it’s like we were able to look at Mary and Her stars from God’s eyes.                                   

June – The Layman St. Juan Diego: A Signal of God’s Love

Holy Mary of Guadalupe chooses a humble, simple layman, a native, St. Juan Diego, to be her faithful messenger and present Her message and signal to Bishop Juan de Zumárraga, the head of the Church, at the time. Holy Mary of Guadalupe is very clear when speaking to this humble Juan Diego, She reasserts that he is the one who has to deliver this message; She does have other important servants, but he has to deliver the message personally. She has placed all her trust in him, and even prays that he intercede for Her. It is on humble Juan Diego’s cloak that the Holy Virgin imprints Her image so that now the cloak and the flowers are the sign of God’s immense love for the whole wide world. This is the time of the laymen in the Church. It is the lay sign of God’s love for the whole wide world within and out of the Church.

July – Mother of the Civilization of Love: The River-Hill Flower

Among the most important and interesting signs on Her gown, Holy Mary of Guadalupe has written with golden drawings a strange flower in two parts, symbolizing a hill and a river. If we think that for Indians, hill and water mean civilization, we will understand that this flower points to a new civilization rooted in the star studded greenish-blue mantle, thus, in the sky (or Heaven), and the hill itself is surrounded by flowers, which mean truth. If we look at the flower from another angle we see it as a heart and arteries. The heart and blood a sign of its belonging to God and within the heart-hill there is a human face. A sign of wisdom since for them, a wise man is able to place a human face on another person’s heart. Therefore, it is a true codex or love letter written in gold that indigenous people were able to read immediately. Holy Mary of Guadalupe is the root of a new civilization of love.