Our Lady of Guadalupe

Several days removed from the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we celebrate another beautiful feast to honor our Blessed Mother under the title, Our Lady of Guadalupe. One of the gifts that I received as State Chaplain for the Knights of Columbus came when I attended the Supreme Convention in 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona. After the convention, the Order help sponsor the first conference on Our Lady of Guadalupe and it concluded with the Guadalupe Festival at the local hockey arena. For the Masses during the conference, the concelebrants wore an off-white chausable with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the front and the K of C emblem on the back. The Order let us keep those vestments as a reminder of this great event. I proudly wear that vestment on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Lady of Guadalupe is venerated as the Patroness of America and Protectress of the Unborn. As Blessed John Paul II prayed, "Virgin of Guadalupe, intercede with the Lord that he may instill a hunger for holiness in the whole people of God." Our present Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI says, "I invoke the maternal protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe so that she may protect and inspire those who govern in their difficult task as promoters of the common good, and renew the bonds of Christian fellowship for the good of all people" (Magnificat, 161). During this Year of Faith, may we grow in living our faith and the Universal call to holiness. Let us be assured that the prayers and intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe will be with us!!! Have a blessed day!!!