Since we are travellers and pilgrims in the world, let us ever ponder on the end of the road, that is of our life, for the end of our roadway is our home (St Columban, 8th sermon).
Showing posts with label Our Lady of Guadalupe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Our Lady of Guadalupe. Show all posts
Today the Church celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe. In most countries it is an optional memorial. Here in the Diocese of Meath in Ireland today is the Feast of St Finnian, the patron saint of the diocese and so Our Lady of Guadalupe isn't celebrated liturgically at all. Under that title Our Lady is a secondary patron of the Philippines, since the country was originally part of the Archdiocese of Mexico.
The Daily Meditation published in Magnificat and online by Aleteia today is by the Servant of God Luis María Martínez who died in 1956 when he was Archbishop of Mexico. Here is the first part of it.
The Incomparable Love
of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Do we remember the first word that the Blessed Virgin pronounced on the summit of the Tepeyac? It was a word of love, a word of incomparable predilection: “My son Juan Diego, whom I love tenderly as a delicate little one.”
The Virgin did not just speak that word then, for she continues to speak it and will speak it until the end of time. It is necessary to repeat it: We are Juan Diego. He is not only the poor, unfortunate individual who looked at the hill filled with light, who contemplated the heavenly face of Mary, who heard her maternal and most sweet word as music from the heavens. We are Juan Diego. He is four centuries old. He will live until the end of time. And to the immortal Juan Diego Our Lady says: “My son whom I love tenderly as a delicate little one.” Do we feel the exquisite sweetness, the heavenly softness of that word of love?… The love of the Holy Virgin was not fleeting. It is not like the affections of our fickle heart, which change, fade, and suffer eclipses. No, the love of the Virgin is like the love of God. What Mary loved she continues to love….
The video was made in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City
The fifth stanza has these beautiful words:
Oh Virgen de Guadalupe, Oh Madre del Salvador, tu vientre, jardín sagrado, prepara la eterna flor. Mujer de la nueva alianza: restaura la creación.
O Virgin of Gudalupe!
O Mother of the Saviour!
Your womb, sacred garden
prepares the Eternal Flower.
Woman of the Eternal Covenant,
restore creation.
In the miraculous image of Mary on St Juan Diego's tilma (cloak), now framed in the basilica in Mexico City, she is pregnant, as indicated by the black sash around her waist. This was the custom of pregnant Aztec women. She is venerated especially as Patroness of the Unborn, [see here also] along with their mothers.
I'm certain that she protects their fathers too, ignored by those who want women to be able to have their children aborted and too often forgotten by those who fight to protect the lives of unborn children and their children. And the Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops doesn't forget them.
Virgin of Guadalupe,
Patroness of unborn children,
we implore your intercession
for every child at risk of abortion.
Help expectant parents to welcome
from God
the priceless gift of their child’s life.
Console parents
who have lost that gift
through abortion,
and lead them to forgiveness and healing
through the Divine Mercy of your Son.
Teach us to
cherish
and to care for family and friends
until God calls them home.
Help us never to see others as burdens.
Guide our public
officials
to defend each and every human life
through just laws.
Inspire us all to bring our faith into public life,
to speak for those who have no voice.
We ask this in
the name of your Son,
Jesus Christ, who is Love and Mercy itself.
Amen.
Las Mañanitas
The Spanish title of this Mexican song literally means, I
think, 'The Little Mornings'. It is sung as an early morning birthday greeting.
At the end of the Mass in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on her feast day
everyone sings it, facing the image of La Virgen.
The May-June 2013 issue of Misyon, the Columban magazine of the Columbans in the Philippines of which I was editor, published A Visit to Tepeyac, Mexico by Vissia Hernandez who lives in Metro Manila.
Patroness of the Americas, of Mexico, of Unborn Children and Secondary Patroness of the Philippines
The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Opening Prayer of the Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe
12 December
O God, Father of mercies, who placed your people under the singular protection of your Son’s most holy Mother, grant that all who invoke the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe, may seek with ever more lively faith the progress of people in the way of justice and of peace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Gospel for the Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Luke 1:39-47)
During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit
rejoices in God my Savior.
I never fail to be moved, delighted and inspired by this 'Dance of Life' between St Elizabeth pregnant with John the Baptist and Mary pregnant with Jesus.
The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is most appropriate for Advent as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Saviour. As the video above tells us, Mary is pregnant in the image. The sacrifice of humans was practised by the Aztecs in Mexico out of sense of indebtedness to their gods. Today in most Western countries it has become a 'human right' to kill children in the womb. This has led to millions of deaths each year. There has been a catastrophic fall in birth rates in many countries in Europe and east Asia. Be fertile and multiply (Genesis 1:28) is ignored.
Advent is a preparation to celebrate the gift of life. The apparitions in Guadalupe were a celebration of life, symbolised by the roses that our Lady gave to St Juan Diego in the middle of winter.
It is noteworthy that in all the apparitions that the Church has recognised, such as Lourdes, Fatima, Knock, Beauraing, Banneux and Guadalupe, Our Blessed Mother appeared to persons considered unimportant in society., just as Mary and Joseph were when they arrived in Bethlehem, captured in the painting below where one can hardly notice St Joseph leading the donkey with Mary on it.
Virgin of Guadalupe, Patroness of unborn children, we implore your intercession for every child at risk of abortion. Help expectant parents to welcome from God the priceless gift of their child’s life.
Console parents who have lost that gift through abortion, and lead them to forgiveness and healing through the Divine Mercy of your Son.
Teach us to cherish and to care for family and friends until God calls them home. Help us never to see others as burdens.
Guide our public officials to defend each and every human life through just laws. Inspire us all to bring our faith into public life, to speak for those who have no voice.
We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.
Patroness of the Americas, of Mexico, of Unborn Children and Secondary Patroness of the Philippines
The Story of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Opening
Prayer of the Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe
O God, Father of
mercies, who placed your people
under the singular protection of your Son’s most holy Mother, grant that all who
invoke the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe, may seek with ever more
lively faith the progress of people
in the way of justice and of peace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns
with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Las Mañanitas a la Virgen
de Guadalupe - Basilica de Guadalupe 2012
Las Mañanitas is a Mexican birthday song, sung very early in the morning to the celebrant. Every year after the solemn Mass on her feast day in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe some of Mexico's top singers and musicians face the image of La Virgen de Guadalupe on the tilma (cloak) of St Juan Diego and serenade her with Las Mañanitas.
Virgin
of Guadalupe,
Patroness of unborn children,
we implore your intercession
for every child at risk of abortion.
Help expectant parents to welcome from God
the priceless gift of their child’s life.
Console parents who have lost that
gift
through abortion,
and lead them to forgiveness and healing
through the Divine Mercy of your Son.
Teach us to cherish
and to care for family and friends
until God calls them home.
Help us never to see others as burdens.
Guide our public officials
to defend each and every human life
through just laws.
Inspire us all to bring our faith into public life,
to speak for those who have no voice.
We ask this in the name of your Son,
Jesus Christ, who is Love and Mercy itself.
Amen.
Today is the feast of La Virgen de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Under that title Mary is a Secondary Patroness of the Philippines. Ten years after Ferdinand Magellan, the Portugues explorer, landed in the Philippines - 1521 - Our Blessed Mother appeared to San Juan Diego on the Hill of Tepeyac, near Mexico City. (I think it is now part of the city). At the time the Church in the Philippines was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Mexico, which was set up in 1530. The Diocese of Manila, the first in the Philippines, wasn't erected until 1579, as a suffragan of the by now Archdiocese of Mexico. So there are long, historical links between the Church in the Philippines and the Church in Mexico.
The official website of the shrine, in Spanish, is here.
Below is an article we published in the May-June 2013 issue of Misyon, the Columban online magazine I edit here in the Philippines. The author lives and works in Metro Manila.
By Vissia Hernandez
We celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the secondary Patroness of the Philippines and Protectress of Unborn Children, on December 12. Tepeyac, or the Hill of Tepeyac, Mexico, is where the Blessed Virgin appeared to San Juan Diego in 1531. The shrine of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe, is one of the most visited in the world. Vissia Hernandez has written previously for Misyon.
‘It’s like Baclaran’,was my first impression, as I got off the city bus. Stores and stalls selling everything from recuerdos y zapatos (souvenirs and shoes) to comidas y bebidas (food and drink) line both sides of a pedestrian area leading to La Villa(‘the town’, referring to the Basilica compound). A brisk five-minute walk away, behind a tall fence, towers an ancient brick church – the old Basilica, with its imposing yellow dome, twin bell-towers and ornate facade.
As more and more people were streaming towards the gates, I qualified my first impression, ‘It’s like Baclaran on a first Wednesday!’ Excitement mounted with each step until I finally reached the gates of La Villa. Inside, folk dancers with tall headdresses and fierce masks were performing a ritual dance. As I surveyed the wide expanse of Plaza Mariana with its many churches and chapels, a baptistery and a small hill, I was reminded of the Marian shrine complexes in Lourdes and Fatima, only this time, the hordes of pilgrims were predominantly Mexican, and the atmosphere familiarly ‘fiesta’. People were carrying around big and small images, even altars and carrozas of their beloved patroness, reminiscent of Filipino devotees cradling treasured Sto Niños in their arms during the January processions. Instantly, I felt at home!
Plaza Mariana with the New Basilica, the Old Basilica and the Temple of the Capuchin Nuns
Main entrance to the New Basilica
The original tilma, above the altar in the New Basilica
As I turned around, there it was, the new Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe! My eyes were immediately drawn to the large Spanish inscription above the main door ‘No Estoy Yo Aqui, Que Soy tu Madre?’ (Am I, who is your Mother, not here?)
Misty-eyed, I whispered in gratitude, ‘Mama Maria, yourperegrina (pilgrim) is finally here, a week late, but as promised, estoy aqui!’ I hurried into the ‘new’ Basilica shaped like a ‘giant'ssalakot [2], and was astounded for inside it was huge, cavernous, yet packed to its ‘SRO’ capacity of about 10,000. In a prominent place of honor above the altar, hangs San Juan Diego’s famous tilma (mantle) miraculously preserved through the centuries with its imprint of the Blessed Mother’s image (her only known photograph – developed in color in some celestial darkroom).
Thanks to my phone’s missal app, and remnants of college Spanish, I managed to participate in the lauds and Masses, and even joined in the rousing cheers of ‘Viva El Cristo Rey, Viva Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Viva!’ which reverberated throughout La Villa that day. It was the Feast of Christ the King. I later learned that this very Feast was established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, to fight anticlericalism in Mexico which soon escalated to outright anti-Catholicism triggering the massive rebellion led by theCristeros.. From 1926-1929, tens of thousands were tortured and killed for the Faith, including the 25 Mexican Martyrs canonized in 2000 by Pope John Paul II. ‘Viva El Cristo Rey, Viva Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe!’ was their battle cry, then and now, fiery and full-bodied like their tequila. How providential that I was delayed for a week, or I would have missed all this.
Las Manañitas a La Virgen , 12 December 2007, sung in the Basilica after the early morning Mass. Las Mañanitas is a traditional Mexican birthday song, also known in the Philippines, sung to the celebrant very early in the morning.
I spent the rest of the day praying and meditating in the many churches and chapels ofLa Villa de Guadalupe, gazing awestruck at the beloved image on the tilma while standing on walkalators hidden beneath the new Basilica’s sanctuary, and on the side, shopping for recuerdos, taking gigabytes of pictures, and finally, huffing and puffing my way to the top of Tepeyac Hill where a small church stands where the Blessed Virgin first appeared in 1531 to the peasant, Juan Diego. By sundown, while taking in the magnificent view of the Basilicas of Guadalupe, this tired yet extremely blissfulperegrina couldn’t thank her gracious Hosts enough for the sense of peace, joy and love which had enfolded her like a tilma throughout her pilgrimage. ¡Gracias, El Cristo Rey. Gracias, Madre mía de Guadalupe!
‘Hear me and understand well that nothing should frighten or grieve you. Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything.’
Message of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Himno a la Humildad,sung by Marco Antonio Solís:
Con que gusto venimos con gran emoción a decirte lo que hay en nuestro corazón; hoy es dia de fiesta hasta en el mas pequeño rincon; hoy se muere el rancor y florece el perdon.
How we love to come with great feeling to tell you what is in our heart; today is a festive day even in the most remote corner; today hatred dies and forgiveness blossoms.
Virgencita . . . milagrosa, eres tú la estrella mas hermosa de la creación.
Beloved Virgin . . . miraculous, you are the most beautiful star in all creation.
Virgen morena, Reyna de la esperanza, hoy te cantamos el himno a la humildad. Eres la tierra donde la fe sembramos y cosechamos siempre de tu bondad.
Dark Virgin, Queen of hope, Today we sing to you a hymn to humility. You are the soil where we sow faith and always harvest from your kindness. (Hablado) Aqui venimos, madrecita, con nuestros cuerpos mas cansados que la ultima ocasión, pero con un amor tan grande para ti que no nos cabe en el corazon, por que eres consuelo divino, luz de todos los caminos. Gracias por quedarte siempre con tus fieles peregrines.
(Spoken) We come here, beloved Mother, with our bodies more tired that the last time, but with a great love for you that our hearts can’t contain, for you are the divine consolation, the light of all roads. Thank you for always being with your faithful pilgrims.
Virgencita adorada, no me puedo ir sin decirte mil gracias, tu sabes por que, y teniendo el momento, te quiero pedir por los que por justicia se mueren de sed.
Dear Blessed Virgin, I cannot leave without thanking you a thousand times, you know what for, and taking this opportunity, I want to petition you on behalf of those who have given their lives in the cause of justice.
Virgen morena, Reyna de la speeranza, hoy te cantamos el himno a la humildad; eres la tierra donde la fe sembramos y cosechamos siempre de tu bondad.
Dark Virgin, Queen of hope, Today we sing to you a hymn to humility. You are the soil where we sow faith and always harvest from your kindness.
[Thanks to Fr Jovito Dales for help with the translation.]
Las Manañitas a La Virgen , 12 December 2007, sung in the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Tepeyac, Mexico City,after the early morning Mass on her feast day, 12 December. Las Mañanitasis a traditional Mexican birthday song, also known in the Philippines, sung to the celebrant very early in the morning.
In his homily on 5 May during Mass on the occasion of the day of confraternities and popular piety Pope Francis said: When you express profound devotion for the Virgin Mary, you are pointing to the highest realization of the Christian life, the one who by her faith and obedience to God’s will, and by her meditation on the words and deeds of Jesus, is the Lord’s perfect disciple (cf. Lumen Gentium, 53).
Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, Philippines
In the Philippines we observe the Flores de Mayo, The Flowers of May, every year. It is basically a programme for children, mostly from poor families, led by volunteers throughout the country who teach the youngsters the basics of our Catholic faith. The children also bring flowers which they place before a statue of the Blessed Mother. At the end of each daily session of catechism and prayer the children lay flowers before a statue of the Blessed Virgin.
The popular piety of Filipino Catholics has been greatly influenced by Mexico, since Spain colonized the country from that country. Originally the Philippines was part of the Archdiocese of Mexico. When the Diocese of Manila, covering the whole country, was established in 1579 it was still linked to that archdiocese until it became one itself in 1595 and three other dioceses were established in the Philippines.
There is an exuberance in the piety of Filipinos but I think that the piety of Mexicans is even more exuberant, as shown in the video above. Renowned singers and musicians, along with the congregation, give a concert in honour of our Blessed Mother.
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe
The May-June 2013 issue of Misyon, the online magazine of the Columbans in the Philippines, has an article by Vissia Hernandez, a Filipina who visited Guadalupe, A Visit to Tepeyac.
I added the following video to the article. Marco Antonio Solís is a Mexican singer known throughout the Spanish-speaking Americas.
Himno a la Humildad,sung by Marco Antonio Solís
Con que gusto venimos con gran emoción a decirte lo que hay en nuestro corazón; hoy es dia de fiesta hasta en el mas pequeño rincon; hoy se muere el rancor y florece el perdon.
How we love to come with great feeling to tell you what is in our heart; today is a festive day even in the most remote corner; today hatred dies and forgiveness blossoms.
Virgencita . . . milagrosa, eres tú la estrella mas hermosa de la creación.
Beloved Virgin . . . miraculous, you are the most beautiful star in all creation.
Virgen morena, Reyna de la esperanza, hoy te cantamos el himno a la humildad. Eres la tierra donde la fe sembramos y cosechamos siempre de tu bondad.
Dark Virgin, Queen of hope, Today we sing to you a hymn to humility. You are the soil where we sow faith and always harvest from your kindness. (Hablado) Aqui venimos, madrecita, con nuestros cuerpos mas cansados que la ultima ocasión, pero con un amor tan grande para ti que no nos cabe en el corazon, por que eres consuelo divino, luz de todos los caminos. Gracias por quedarte siempre con tus fieles peregrines.
(Spoken) We come here, beloved Mother, with our bodies more tired that the last time, but with a great love for you that our hearts can’t contain, for you are the divine consolation, the light of all roads. Thank you for always being with your faithful pilgrims.
Virgencita adorada, no me puedo ir sin decirte mil gracias, tu sabes por que, y teniendo el momento, te quiero pedir por los que por justicia se mueren de sed.
Dear Blessed Virgin, I cannot leave without thanking you a thousand times, you know what for, and taking this opportunity, I want to petition you on behalf of those who have given their lives in the cause of justice.
Virgen morena, Reyna de la speeranza, hoy te cantamos el himno a la humildad; eres la tierra donde la fe sembramos y cosechamos siempre de tu bondad.
Dark Virgin, Queen of hope, Today we sing to you a hymn to humility. You are the soil where we sow faith and always harvest from your kindness.
[Thanks to Fr Jovito Dales for help with the translation.]
One think that is striking about these videos is that the singers, musicians and people face the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe when they sing to and play for her. The concert is in her honour. Nobody would say that Marco Antonio Solís was singing 'with his back to the people'. Can we learn, or re-learn, something about the celebration of the Mass from this?
Today, 12 December, is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Under that title she is the Minor Patroness of the Philippines, which was originally under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Mexico when the Spaniards first came here in 1521. The feast isn't observed liturgically here this year because it falls on the Third Sunday of Advent. (Our Lady under the title of the Immaculate Conception, is the Principal Patroness of the Philippines).
The video above is the finale of Las Mañanitas a la Virgen de Guadalupe 2009 celebrated in the basilica in Guadalupe, Mexico City. This is an annual celebration on the feast and, I presume, is celebrated early in the morning, since La Mañanita is an early morning birthday song. It was very popular here in the Philippines when I arrived in 1971 due to the influence of the Cursillo movement. The melody in this final number is the one I remember.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is also the patroness of unborn children and of the pro-life movement.
I don't know whether Las Mañanitas a la Virgen de Guadalupe is a concert or a para-liturgy in honour of the Virgin of Guadalupe or a combination of both. Probably the latter. What I noticed in all the videos I looked at is that the singers addressed their songs to the image of the Virgin behind the altar. They didn't face the audience/congregation. In other words, this was an ad orientem (towards the east) celebration, as the Mass almost always was before. The singers don't 'have their backs turned to the people' but honour the Blessed Mother along with the people present, all facing in the same direction.
There is an exuberance about this celebration in Mexico, as there is in much of the worship here in the Philippines. Mary definitely is a Mother who brings us Life - Jesus, God who became Man. May Our Lady of Guadalupe obtain peace for the people of Mexico who are struggling with the evil of the drug wars in parts of their country at present, including Ciudad Juarez on the border of El Paso, USA, in both of which cities Columbans are working.. And may she obtain peace and justice for the people of the Philippines who are under her special care.
