“Be Confident in Faith, Worry Not”
-Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego
As we celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe this week, let us take to heart the advice our Blessed Mother gave to Saint Juan Diego, a humble member of his Aztec community. We celebrate his feast day on December 9th, the anniversary of the apparition.
“Be confident in faith, worry not.
Let not your heart be disturbed….
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.”
-Mary to Juan Diego, in December of 1531
“Be Confident in Faith, Worry Not”
-Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego
As we celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe this week, let us take to heart the advice our Blessed Mother gave to Saint Juan Diego, a humble member of his Aztec community. We celebrate his feast day on December 9th, the anniversary of the apparition.
“Be confident in faith, worry not.
Let not your heart be disturbed….
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.”
-Mary to Juan Diego, in December of 1531
We are all faced with anxiety, stress, struggles, and challenges. Saint Juan Diego didn’t think he was worthy of such a vision, but Mary reminded him – reminds us – that we are all under her protection as she happily embraces us with love and peace.
On Dec. 9, 1531, when Our Blessed Mother appeared to Saint Juan, she was adamant that a church be built in her honor on the Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City. The bishop of Mexico, Juan de Zumarraga, didn’t believe St. Juan, when he told him about Mary’s apparition and request. So, Mary had him gather roses in his cloak to give to the bishop. These specific roses were impossible to have grown in that region, let alone that season without a miracle. Saint Juan did as Mary instructed and when he went to the bishop and opened his cloak, the roses fell to the ground and to their surprise the cloak had now taken the beautiful image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appearing on it.
The chapel was built, and the bishop made accommodations for St. Juan to live in a small home near the chapel, where the cloak was displayed for veneration. Saint Juan lived the rest of his life taking care of the church, remaining in prayer and boundless love of God and neighbor. He died in 1548 and was declared a saint in 2002.
The cloak is preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, shows a woman with native features and dress. She is supported by an angel whose wings are reminiscent of one of the major gods of the traditional religion of that area. The moon is beneath her feet and her blue mantle is covered with gold stars. The black girdle about her waist signifies that she is pregnant.
The miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a source of hope and comfort for all who face life’s anxieties and struggles, reminding us that we are all under the Blessed Mother’s loving protection and embrace, forever cherished and at peace in her boundless love – a message that transcends centuries and continues to resonate in the hearts of believers worldwide.
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