Four days ago we celebrated a feast in honor of the Patroness of the United States. Today we honor the Patroness of the Americas, all the countries of the Western Hemisphere, Our Lady of Guadalupe. She was responsible for the greatest conversion of all time. During the ten years after Mary appeared four times to St. Juan Diego in December, 1531, an estimated nine to ten million Native people of Mexico became Christian.
When Mary appeared, she asked for a church to be built in her honor. To prove that she was the one requesting this, she left an image of herself on the cloak or tilma of St. Juan Diego. Besides its miraculous appearance there, it is a miracle that this image, on a fabric that should have disintegrated centuries ago, remains to be seen and venerated today.
Another miracle associated with the image occurred on November 14, 1921. An enemy of the Church hid a bomb in a basket of flowers which he placed in front of the image. It exploded and damaged the altar and bent a brass crucifix which can be seen today in the basilica’s museum. But the image was unharmed.
Clearly our Blessed Mother wants to assure us of her continued presence and care, and that she is the Mother of Peace and not of violence. As she said to Juan Diego almost five hundred years ago, so she continues to say to each one of us:
Know, know for sure, my dearest, littlest [child] … that I am the perfect and ever Virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the God of truth through Whom everything lives, the Lord of all things near us, the Lord of heaven and earth. … I will give Him to the people in all my personal love, in my compassion, in my help, in my protection: because I am truly your merciful Mother, yours and all the people who live united in this land and of all the other people of different ancestries, my lovers, who love me, those who seek me, those who trust in me.
Listen, put it into your heart, my youngest and dearest [child] … that the thing that disturbs you, the thing that afflicts you, is nothing. Do not let your countenance, your heart be disturbed. Do not fear … anything that is sharp or hurtful. Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.