Sixth Reflection |  May 28

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Introduction

We consider Saint Juan Diego, heroic messenger of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as our model in showing forth the mercy of God in our homes, in our local communities, and in our world. At the same time, we call upon the help of his prayers, so that we may be able to carry out the Christian mission of merciful love with fidelity and generosity, as the Virgin of Guadalupe instructs us.

The best way to know Saint Juan Diego is to study the account of the apparitions of the Mother of God to him. The Nican Mopohua, the account of the apparitions written by Antonio Valeriano, a good friend of the Saint and a well-respected Native American scholar of the time, is the fruit of their many conversations about the apparitions. Saint Juan Diego dedicated the 17 years of his life after the apparitions to describing Our Lady and her message to pilgrims of her “sacred little house,” in which they could venerate her miraculous image on his tilma or mantle. His good and learned friend, Antonio Valeriano, never tired of hearing again from Saint Juan Diego the account of the visits of Our Lady to Tepeyac Hill from December 9th to 12th of 1531. He became a privileged messenger of Our Lady by employing his literary skills to hand on her message of Divine Love Incarnate as she communicated it to Saint Juan Diego.

In the Nican Mopohua, what is immediately evident is the intimacy of Saint Juan Diego’s relationship with the Mother of God and, through her, with the Lord. Our Lady speaks to him in the most endearing terms, in the language of a mother for her child, and he responds, always with the greatest respect, in an equally affectionate manner. It is clear that his relationship with God, through the Virgin Mother, is the center of his life. In fact, when the Mother of God called upon him to be her trusted messenger to the Bishop and her trusted herald for pilgrims, he put all other concerns aside, until he had first accomplished what she was asking of him. His words to her, in their simple yet beautiful eloquence, inspire us:

My Lady, my Queen, my Little Girl, let me not anguish you or grieve your face, your heart; truly with gladness I will go to carry out your venerable breath, your venerable word; I absolutely will not fail to doit, nor does the road trouble me. I will go now, to carry out your will (Nican Mopohua, nos. 63-64).

As we persevere in carrying out Our Lady’s intention during this Nine-Month Novena and Consecration, let us pray that God, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, will drive away from us, from the Church, and from the world all the influence of the Evil One. Satan makes bold to sow his lies, the seeds of confusion and destruction, especially within the Church. Let us pray, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, that Christ Who alone is King of Heaven and of Earth may reign in our hearts, may reign throughout the world.

Let our homes be, first and foremost, a place in which the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Christ the King, symbolizes his rule over the hearts of all and inspires a life always more faithful to His grace at work within us for the salvation of the world. Let our homes be a place in which the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, draws every member of the household to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Divine Heart full of truth and love.

Sixth Reflection

Those wishing to read a transcript for the video reflection will find this text and other supplementary reading at the bottom of this page.

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Write in your prayer using the form below. Cardinal Burke will pray for your intentions every day and offer Mass on the 12th of each month for your prayer requests.

Let us pray.

‍O Virgin Mother of God, we fly to your protection and beg your intercession against the darkness and sin which ever more envelop the world and menace the Church. Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, gave you to us as our mother as He died on the Cross for our salvation. So too, in 1531, when darkness and sin beset us, He sent you, as Our Lady of Guadalupe, on Tepeyac to lead us to Him Who alone is our light and our salvation.

Through your apparitions on Tepeyac and your abiding presence with us on the miraculous mantle of your messenger, Saint Juan Diego, millions of souls converted to faith in your Divine Son. Through this novena and our consecration to you, we humbly implore your intercession for our daily conversion of life to Him and the conversion of millions more who do not yet believe in Him. In our homes and in our nation, lead us to Him Who alone wins the victory over sin and darkness in us and in the world.

Unite our hearts to your Immaculate Heart so that they may find their true and lasting home in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Ever guide us along the pilgrimage of life to our eternal home with Him. So may our hearts, one with yours, always trust in God's promise of salvation, in His never-failing mercy toward all who turn to Him with a humble and contrite heart. Through this novena and our consecration to you, O Virgin of Guadalupe, lead all souls in America and throughout the world to your Divine Son in Whose name we pray. Amen.

AUDIO | Cardinal Burke reciting the Latin Novena Prayer
 

Additional Material

Those seeking a transcript of His Eminence's reflection from the above video can find a copy of the text here:

Read the meditation

Those wishing to learn more about the Apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe can find the text of the Nican Mopohua at the link below. The translation that we cite in this novena is found in Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love (New York: Doubleday, 2009) by Carl A. Anderson and Msgr. Eduardo Chávez..

Nican Mopohua

Those interested in learning even more might enjoy a presentation that His Eminence recently delivered, which examines the the immense literary and spiritual merit of the Nican Mopohua. It is available at the link below.

the Cardinal's Presentation

Download the Prayer Card