Our Lady of Guadalupe

Why Our Lady of Guadalupe? Because she is the Star of the New Evangelization and Patroness of the Americas 

Nearly five hundred years ago the state of affairs in what is now known as Mexico City was grave.  There was a clash of cultures unfolding and both sides seemed hopelessly lost in violent destruction. The darkness of sin had become a stronghold that not even the zeal of the Spanish missionaries could break. Then a desperate plea was uttered on the part of the bishop for some form of supernatural intervention and it was heard! The response from on High changed Mexico forever - God sent a mediator, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego (an Indian convert to Catholicism), as a woman resembling the people of the Mexican community.  Her clothing contained the Gospel message written in Aztec codex.  Those who saw the miraculous image on Juan Diego’s tilma (cloak) were so profoundly impacted, that nine million converted to Christianity within eight years – practically the entire population of Mexico at the time!  Through the collaboration of Juan Diego she unleashed a grass roots wave of evangelization, the likes of which have never been seen before or since.

Today, our world is in need Our Lady of Guadalupe’s intervention once again. Times are dark and the faith of so many has been weakened or lost, putting many souls in jeopardy. Who can help us get back on track and spread the Gospel message anew if not the one who came at the inception of Christianity in the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe? She is The Patroness of the Americas, as well as The Star of the New Evangelization.
 
Bishop Checchio wants us to invoke her aid for authentic spiritual renewal in the Diocese of Metuchen. May we respond wholeheartedly like Juan Diego by making a radical gift of ourselves to be her missionary disciples so that we can reach the lost and suffering world for Her Son, Jesus Christ.

Main shrine webpage:
http://basilica.mxv.mx/web1/-home/envivo.html

Live webcam on tilma:
http://www.virgendeguadalupe.org.mx/sagrado-original.html


For more information on Our Lady of Guadalupe, see the article by Msgr. Eduardo Chávez Ph.D.
The Woman Who Changed the Face of a Hemisphere