https://novena.cardinalburke.com/novena/reflection-four

Introduction

Making the Nine-Month Novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, entrusting ourselves to her guidance and protection and confiding to her intercession our many intentions for the Church and for the world, we rejoice in the perfect union of her Immaculate Heart with the Most Sacred Heart of her Divine Son, Our Lord and Savior.

As the Virgin Mother of God was totally for Christ from the very first moment of her conception, so we, following her example and seeking her intercession, desire to be more and more totally for Christ. We rejoice in the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah regarding the Virginal Conception and Birth of the Savior: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7, 14).

These words attained their fulfillment at the Annunciation. The Virgin Mary, with her “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum” (“Let it be done to me according to your word,” [Luke 1, 38]), became the Mother of God, the Theotokos, “God-Bearer” to the world. She exercised her mission of God-Bearer, in a most extraordinary way, on Tepeyac Hill from December 9th to 12th of 1531 by means of her apparitions to Saint Juan Diego and his uncle Juan Bernardino. Her exercise of the mission continues to our day through the miraculous imprint of her image on the mantle (tilma) of Saint Juan Diego which has been faithfully venerated in her “sacred little house” (Nican Mopohua, no. 26) from the time of her apparitions to the present day.

When, after his first visit with the Bishop, Juan Diego begged Our Lady to choose another more efficacious messenger, Our Lady responded to him:

Listen my youngest son, know for sure that I have no lack of servants, of messengers, to whom I can give the task of carrying my breath, my word, so that they carry out my will; but it is necessary that you, personally, go and plead, that by your intercession, my wish, my will, become a reality. (Nican Mopohua, nos. 58-59)

From Our Lady of Guadalupe, we, together with Saint Juan Diego, learn that we are called to become bearers of God, heralds of Christ, in the world. As bearers of God, we, like Saint Juan Diego, are servants of the Mother of God. Through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, may we become ever more her faithful servants, so that all of our brothers and sisters may know her as the Mother of God and may experience her unconditional maternal love for them, so that, through her maternal care, they may know, love, and serve her Divine Son.

I hope you will share this message with others.

Cardinal Raymond Burke

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.

https://novena.cardinalburke.com/

THE MIRACLE IS STILL HAPPENING.

When Juan Diego opened his tilma and roses poured out, a miracle was set into motion. The miracle continues with our participation in this historic prayer event to Our Lady. Join the world in prayer.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT: https://mailchi.mp/45351d2bf818/novena