Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Story, the Image and a Prayer for December 12

On December 12, Catholics across the Americas celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe. For many families it is one of the most beloved days of the year, with early morning songs, roses and processions. Her story is one of tenderness: a mother who came to a humble man and said she would never leave her children alone.

The story of Juan Diego

In December 1531, ten years after the fall of the Aztec capital, a poor Indigenous man named Juan Diego was walking past the hill of Tepeyac, near what is now Mexico City. There he saw a young woman, radiant like the sun, who spoke to him in his own language, Nahuatl. She told him she was the Virgin Mary and asked him to go to the bishop, Juan de Zumárraga, and ask for a church to be built on that spot.

The bishop was cautious and asked for a sign. A few days later, worried about his dying uncle, Juan Diego tried to avoid the hill. But Our Lady met him on the road and spoke the words that are still treasured today:

"Am I not here, I who am your mother?"

She assured him his uncle would recover and sent him to the top of the hill, where he found Castilian roses blooming in the December cold. He gathered them in his tilma, his cloak, and brought them to the bishop. When he opened the tilma, the roses fell to the floor and an image of Our Lady appeared on the cloth.

The image on the tilma

The tilma is still displayed in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, one of the most visited Marian shrines in the world. Every detail of the image speaks:

• Her face is gentle and her eyes are lowered in humility.
• Her hands are joined in prayer: she is not a goddess, but one who prays to God.
• The dark sash at her waist was a sign of a woman expecting a child. Mary is shown carrying Jesus, which is why she is honored as a patroness of the unborn.
• The stars on her mantle and the sun behind her recall the woman "clothed with the sun" in Revelation 12.

Why she belongs to Advent

Our Lady of Guadalupe appears as a mother waiting for the birth of her child. That is exactly the spirit of Advent. Her feast, coming just days after the Immaculate Conception, invites us to wait with her and to bring Christ to others, as she did.

Juan Diego was canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 2002, and his feast is celebrated on December 9. Our Lady of Guadalupe is honored as Patroness of the Americas.

A prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the true God and our Mother, you came to Juan Diego with tenderness and called him your little son. Look upon us too. Keep us under your mantle, protect the unborn and their mothers, comfort the poor and the forgotten, and lead us to your Son, Jesus. Am I not here, you said, I who am your mother? Help us to trust that you are. Amen.

Ways to celebrate at home

• Place fresh roses before an image of Our Lady on December 12.
• Sing or listen to Las Mañanitas to her in the morning, as many families do.
• Pray for expectant mothers you know, and send them a card of Our Lady.
• Read Luke 1:39–56, the Visitation and the Magnificat, as a family.

A card for expectant mothers

Like the image of Guadalupe, our Our Lady of Hope Magnificat prayer card shows Mary waiting for the birth of her Son. It is a gentle Advent gift for an expectant mother or a family praying for a child. Our Queen of Heaven prayer card, with Mary in a star-covered blue mantle and Revelation 12:1 on the back, is another beautiful card for her feast. Explore more images of Our Lady in our Marian Prayer Cards collection, or request a custom card with your own prayer.