Act of Consecration to Jesus Christ The Incarnate Wisdom,
Through the Blessed Virgin Mary -Our Lady of Guadalupe
O Immaculate Mary, Ever Virgin, Mother of the True God, Woman Clothed with the Sun, I, a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before. In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and totally consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity. Amen.
Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe by His Holiness John Paul II Mexico, January 1979.Visiting Her Basilica in his first foreign trip as Pope.
O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of the true God and Mother of the Church!, who from this place reveal your clemency and your pity to all those who ask for your protection, hear the prayer that we address to you with filial trust, and present it to your Son Jesus, our sole Redeemer. 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 also dedicate to you our life, our work, our joys, our infirmities and our sorrows. Grant peace, justice and prosperity to our peoples; for we entrust to your care all that we have and all that we are, our Lady and Mother. We wish to be entirely yours and to walk with you along the way of complete faithfulness to Jesus Christ in His Church; hold us always with your loving hand. Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas,
we pray to you for all the Bishops, that they may lead the faithful along paths of intense Christian life, of love and humbleservice of God and souls. Contemplate this immense harvest, and intercede with the Lord that He may instill a hunger forholiness in the whole people of God, and grant abundant vocations of priests and religious, strong in the faith and zealous dispensers of God's mysteries. Grant to our homes the grace of loving and respecting life in its beginnings, with the same lovewith which you conceived in your womb the life of the Son of God. Blessed Virgin Mary, protect our families, so that they may always be united, and bless the upbringing of our children. Our hope, look upon us with compassion, teach us to go continually to Jesus and, if we fall, help us to rise again, to return to Him, by means of the confession of our faults and sins inthe Sacrament of Penance, which gives peace to the soul. We beg you to grant us a great love for all the holy Sacraments, which are, as it were, the signs that your Son left us on earth. Thus, Most Holy Mother, with the peace of God in our conscience, with our hearts free from evil and hatred, we will be able to bring to all true joy and true peace, which come to us from your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
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juan + diego
Aztec name - Cuauhtlatoatzin or 'Singing Eagle'
born 1474 - died May 30, 1548 at 74
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~ SAINT JUAN DIEGO ~
ATTRIBUTES:
A model of Humility
BORN IN 1474
It is believed that Juan Diego was born in 1474 in the calpulli (ward) of Tlayacac in Cuauhtitlan which is about 20 kilometers north of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). His name was Cuauhtlatoatzin or 'One Who Talks Like an Eagle', 'Eagle That Talks' or 'Singing Eagle'. In the Nican Mopohua, the earliest writings of the Guadalupan event, he was identified as a 'Macehualli' (Poor Indian). He did not belong to any of the social catagories of the Aztec Empire such as warriers, merchants or priests yet he was not a slave. It is recorded that he was a hard worker and was the maker of mats.
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HE AND HIS WIFE BECOME CHRISTIANS
Juan Diego was happliy married but he and his wife had no children. He owned a piece of land and had a house. He was a very devoted man and soon he and his wife converted to the faith of the Christians who had overtaken Montezuma under the command of Cortez in 1521.
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They were baptized into the Catholic Church in or around 1524 - 1525 - probably by the well known Franciscan Fray Toribio de Benavente, called “Motolinia” (Poor One) - deeply loved by the Indians for his kindness and love for them. This, according to the Informaciones Guadalupanas of 1666, which was the first formal investigation of the church re the events of the Virgen (1531). He took on the name of Juan Diego and his wife became, Maria Lucia. He owned a small piece of land with a house.
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DEVOTED TO THE EUCHARIST
He was deeply devoted to the Eucharist and was a mystical and silent man. He received Eucharist 3 times a week by special permission of the Bishop,highly unusual at that time. He walked 20 kilometers (14 miles) from his village to Tenochtitlan to receive his instructions to become a Christian and later to Mass. He would leave before dawn as the walk through the mountains took about 3.5 hours, barefoot since he was not of the social class allowed shoes or sandals.
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WHEN HIS WIFE DIED
When his wife died in 1529, he moved in with his uncle Juan Bernardino in Tolpetlac. He was then only 9 miles from church in Tlatelolco -Tenochtitlan. In the colder months he wore a mantle or 'tilma'. This tilma was a very coarse fabric, woven of Maguey cactus cloth, as cotton was used by the upper classes of the Aztec. .
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MARY'S VISIT TO JUAN DIEGUITO
When he was about 57, Mary visited Juan Diego, old by the standards of his countrymen whose average age was about 40. He was on his way to Tenochtitlán when she spoke to him in his native lauguage of Nahuatl,
“Juanito, Juan Dieguito “, “the most humble of my sons”, “my son the least”, “my little dear”.
It was December 9th, only 10 years after Cortez conquered the Aztec Nation. He was on his way to attend catechism classes and he heard the beautiful singing of birds when she spoke to him on the hill called Tepeyac. She asked him to tell the Bishop she wanted a temple to be built on this spot. He was obedient but the bishop did not belive him. Juan decided to give up on this but she repeated her request. Again he spoke to the bishop but was not believed. Finally, the bishop, sensitive to his sincere request and obedience, asked for a sign of this visitation. He also had his servants follow Juan home but they lost him on the way. The Virgin again spoke to Juan telling him that she would give him proof the following day.
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It was early morning on the 12th of December. His uncle, Juan Bernadino was ill and needed a priest so he tried to avoid the visitation of the Lady by going around the hill another way. She found him and gave him a message of hope. She affirmed her origin and assured him the temple would be a message of great peace to all the world. Then she instructed him to go to the top of the hill where he found beautiful roses blooming in the frosty December morning. He picked them and put them in his cloak and carried them to her. She rearranged them and sent him to the bishop. On arrival, he opened his cloak and the flowers fell onto the floor in front of the bishop. But the bishop was intent on anther miracle as there on his cloak made of coarse cactus cloth, an image of the Blessed Virgin began to appear.
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At the same time, she appeared and healed Juan Bernadino, telling him she was Guadalupe, the Perfect One and the forever Virgin Mother of the True God.
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PILGRIMAGES
After Our Lady's visit, he moved into a small room attached to the chapel where the holy image of Our Lady was hung. He had given his business and land to his uncle so he was free to share the story of the Mary's visitation to the Americas until his death on May 30, 1548. He was 74. Today, the shrine is visited by millions every year and her original image, intact and complete brings a powerful message of life to the unborn.
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"Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything." (Words of Our Lady to Juan Diego)
BEAUTIFICATION AND CANONIZATION
In April of 1990 Juan Diego was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. The following month, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, during his 2nd visit to the shrine, John Paul II performed the beatification ceremony.
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On July 31 st 2002, Juan Diego was canonized a Saint.
The Holy Father is planning to fly into Mexico City after World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto this July. This will be his 5th visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. .
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