December 12
A solemnity in Mexico and a feast throughout the Americas — the day the roses fell and the image appeared. Here are the prayers of the day and the customs by which the faithful keep it.
The Collect of the Mass
O God, Father of mercies, who placed your people under the singular protection of your Son's most holy Mother, grant that all who invoke the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe may seek with ever more lively faith the progress of peoples in the ways of justice and of peace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayers for the Feast
Mexico City, 1979 · abridged
O Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, we ask you to accompany the Church on her pilgrim way, that she may be faithful to her Lord. Mother of Mercy, teacher of hidden and silent sacrifice, to you, who come to meet us sinners, we dedicate on this day all our being and all our love. We dedicate to you our life, our work, our joys, our infirmities and our sorrows. Amen.
Traditional
Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, make intercession for the Church, protect the Sovereign Pontiff, help all those who invoke you in their necessities, and since you are the ever-Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from your most holy Son the grace of a firm faith and sure hope amid the bitterness of life, as well as an ardent love and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.
How to Celebrate
Nine days of prayer bring you to the feast prepared. Pray one day each evening from December 3 through December 11, so that the ninth day closes on the vigil of the feast.
In Mexico the faithful gather before dawn on December 12 to sing Las Mañanitas to Our Lady — a birthday serenade to the Mother. Many parishes in the Americas keep the custom; find one near you, or sing it at home before your family's image.
December 12 is a solemnity in Mexico and a feast throughout the Americas. Attending Mass is the heart of the day; everything else adorns it. Where a bilingual or Spanish Mass is offered, consider joining it.
Enthrone an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in a place of honor with fresh roses and a candle. Bless it with holy water if you are able, and gather the household for the Rosary before it.
Because Our Lady appears at Tepeyac bearing Christ within her, she has long been invoked as protectress of the unborn. Offer your Mass, Rosary, and Communion of the day for the defense of every human life.
She asked for a temple where she might show her compassion. Keep the feast by doing one concrete work of mercy — a visit, a meal, an act of forgiveness — for someone poor or forgotten, as she came to the poorest.
Nine evenings of prayer will bring you to the feast with a heart made ready.
Pray the Novena