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Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
One of My Favorite Feasts
Of the forty-five popes who have reigned since the creation of the miraculous portrait (of Our Lady of Guadalupe), twenty-five have issued decrees concerning it. The earliest recorded decree is that of Pop Gregory XIII, dated 1575, that extended the indulgences granted by his predecessors. This implies that indulgences were granted shortly after the apparitions of 1531. Our Lady of Guadalupe was appointed National Patroness by Pope Benedict XIV in 1754. December 12 was set aside as a Day of Obligation, with an octave which could be celebrated with a special Mass and Office. The same pontiff wrote: “In the image everything is miraculous, an image emanating from flowers gathered on completely barren soil on which only prickly shrubs can grow…an image in no manner deteriorated, neither in her supreme loveliness nor in its sparkling color…God has not done likewise to any other nation.”
– Joan Carroll Cruz, Miraculous Images of Our Lady, P. 296
Let us pray: O God, of infinite compassion, you have revealed your most tender mercy in the consoling words spoken to your servant, Juan Diego, by our Lady of Guadalupe. Bless all the native peoples of the Americas and of every land and may we all come to realize that our true and lasting integrity is in Jesus, our loving Savior. Amen
Quote and prayer from Peoples Companion to the Breviary, published by the Carmelites of Indiana in 1997
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