(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a Message to the Americas to mark the Dec. 12th
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is venerated as Patroness of the American continent.
The Holy Father delivered the Message during the course of his weekly General Audience
on Wednesday, the eve of the feast. Below, please find the official English translation
of the full text of the Message. Listen:
********************************************** MESSAGE
TO THE AMERICASfor the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Tomorrow is the feast
of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Patroness of the Americas. I would like to greet all
my brothers and sisters on that continent, and I do so thinking of the Virgin of Tepeyac. When
Our Lady appeared to Saint Juan Diego, her face was that of a woman of mixed blood,
a mestiza, and her garments bore many symbols of the native culture. Like Jesus,
Mary is close to all her sons and daughters; as a concerned mother, she accompanies
them on their way through life. She shares all the joys and hopes, the sorrows and
troubles of God’s People, which is made up of men and women of every race and nation. When
the image of the Virgin appeared on the tilma of Juan Diego, it was the prophecy of
an embrace: Mary’s embrace of all the peoples of the vast expanses of America – the
peoples who already lived there, and those who were yet to come. Mary’s embrace showed
what America – North and South – is called to be: a land where different peoples come
together; a land prepared to accept human life at every stage, from the mother’s womb
to old age; a land which welcomes immigrants, and the poor and the marginalized, in
every age. A land of generosity. That is the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
and it is also my message, the message of the Church. I ask all the people of the
Americas to open wide their arms, like the Virgin, with love and tenderness.