Cardinal Burke’s Second Reflection

During the first apparition to St. Juan Diego, Mary introduced herself as the Virgin
Mother of God and our mother.

These words are as comforting and inspiring today as they were nearly 500 years ago:
“… I am honored to be your compassionate mother, yours and that of all the people that
live together in this land, and also of all the other various lineages of men; those who
love me, those who cry to me, those who seek me, those who trust in me.”
As Catholics, we say that Mary is our Mother a great deal. We call her our Blessed
Mother – enough, perhaps, that we might sometimes lose sight of what an
extraordinary thing it is that we are saying. Mary, the ever-Virgin Mother of God, is our
mother: take a moment today to reflect as deeply as you are able on the beautiful
implications of this statement.

Know in your heart that she is your mother. Know beyond doubt that her maternal care
for you is real. Recognize that she wants what is best for you—and that she desires
nothing more than to bring you in closer relationship with her Divine Son, who,
through her Divine Maternity, has become our Brother. See that it is a sign of the
unfathomable depths of God’s love for us, that He has sent Mary to us in this role, as
mother and Mediatrix of Grace.

Throughout these coming days, make it an express point to ask for Mary’s intercession
to obtain for you the good and holy things you desire, so that what you desire may
conform ever more closely to God’s plan for you.
Let us pray:

Let us pray.

In these early days of the novena, carry the events of the first apparition in your hearts as you pray the following each day:

‍‍‍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.