Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the Redeemer
9 days of personal and community preparation to celebrate with joy and devotion Our Lady of Guadalupe, almost 500 years after the miracle of her loving encounter with us.
What is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe?
The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe takes place every year on 12 December, and traditionally, Christians in many parts of the world prepare to celebrate with joy and devotion to the Virgin, offering personally or as a community a Novena, that is, a 9-day journey of prayer and reflection leading up to an important celebration.
What is the Intercontinental Guadalupana Novena and why is it important?
It is a 9-year journey of preparation for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Guadalupan Event in 2031, which begins with the meeting of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego in 1531, which transcends to the present day thanks to the miracle of her presence among us.
From 12 December 2022, praying this Novena takes on a special character, as Pope Francis pointed out that in 2031 it will be 500 years since the Guadalupan Event, that is, that tender and loving encounter in 1531 between Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego, in whom the whole world is represented.
The Holy Father invited us to start a 9-year journey through the Intercontinental Guadalupana Novena.
Objective of the novena:
As an evangelising process, the Intercontinental Novena seeks as its main objective that people can re-encounter God through the Virgin of Guadalupe, seeking new ways in the reconstruction of the social and ecclesial fabric of our towns and communities, to celebrate together the Guadalupan Event.
The Novena is an invitation to live this re-encounter with God, not only around the month of December or only on the 12th of December when we celebrate the Guadalupana, but also during the whole liturgical year, at different times and especially on Marian feasts.
In addition, other ways to prepare ourselves year by year may be:
- listening to and deepening our understanding of her message of tenderness,
- imitating the way of being of St. Mary of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego, giving witness with our lives,
- to share our devotion to Our Lady,
- to speak of Mary to those who do not yet know her and,
- to ask for a special grace...
Why an intercontinental novena?
Because Our Lady's message knows no borders and devotion to our Mother has spread from Tepeyac to the whole world. She is Queen of Mexico and Empress of America, Patroness of the Philippines and of many causes throughout the Universal Church.
It is Intercontinental because the Virgin of Guadalupe is the Mother of humanity. She unites us!
To whom is this novena addressed?
To the whole Church, to all devotees of Our Lady of Guadalupe and people of good will. The Novena will bring us closer to the Guadalupan message in its actuality and relevance for this moment in the history of humanity, in which unity, encounter, dignity, tenderness, conversion and many other actions and attitudes are very necessary in order to be one and for the world to believe, building the "sacred little house" that the Virgin of Guadalupe asked of St. Juan Diego, a little house that is a sign of familiarity, of closeness where everyone has a place, where no one is left out and where we can share life.