This Tuesday we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.    His Holiness,    Pope John Paul II, has proclaimed the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary under her Title of Our Lady of Guadalupe as the Patroness of both North and South America.     He asks us all on her feast day this week to invoke her intercession on all facets of our lives.

In Advent, 1531 an Aztec peasant named Juan Diego (whose birth name in the Nahuatl language was "Cuautlatohua") saw an astounding sight --- a radiant woman clothed in the stars, with the moon at her feet.    She bore the appearance of an ordinary Indian woman, like those living in South Mexico or Central America.    She also was dressed in the native garb of the local Indian women.    She even wore the traditional sash of a pregnant woman.    This was a paradoxical image, for at the time when the Lady of Guadalupe manifested herself to Juan Diego, the Indian people were deeply oppressed by their Spanish conquerors.    In fact, Bishop Bartolome de las Casas of San Cristobal was in Rome fighting for Indian rights and seeking the help of the Holy Father.    The every day experience of the native Indians was one of profound powerlessness.    Indian women, especially, were cruelly treated by their conquerors.

The radiant woman of Tepeyac spoke to Juan Diego tenderly, calling him her beloved son ("!Mi hijito!").   Juan Diego, the peasant, was a convert to the Catholic Faith.    At the Lady's request, Juan Diego went to see his Bishop in central Mexico City, but the Bishop did not think it possible that the Queen of Heaven would appear to a poor man on a barren hillside just outside of town.   As a sign of her presence, the skeptical, unbelieving Bishop asked for some roses.   Roses do not bloom during the winter in Mexico City, as it is quite cold and even at times there is snow, as there was that winter.    On December 9th, Juan Diego again saw the Lady and told her what the Bishop wanted.    The Lady told Juan Diego to turn around and to look behind him on Tepeyac Hill.    There on the hill were roses blooming amid the snow.    Juan Diego picked the roses and put them in his tilma (the agave cloak poor Indians wore to keep warm).     When Juan Diego opened his tilma to give the Bishop the roses he had asked for, the Bishop fell to this knees.    Not because of the roses that came tumbling out, but rather because the Lady of Guadalupe had left her glorious image on Juan Diego's tilma (cloak) of agave cactus cloth.    That tilma today hangs in "El Sanctuario de la nuestra Senora de la Guadalupe Basilica" on Tepeyac Hill in Mexico City.    For at Our Lady's request, a church was built at that site where she appeared to Juan Diego.   

Today pilgrims from many nations around the world come to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe, especially on her feast day: December 12th.    Even Pope John Paul II has twice visited this famous site.

The oppressed native people recognized "El Sanctuario de la Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe" as a promise of justice and a cause for hope.   Peace treaties have been signed in the basilica that bears her name.     Under this Title, the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary is the Patron Saint of Mexico.     

Juan Diego has been declared "Blessed Juan Diego" by Pope John Paul II, and given the feast day of December 9th.           

We pray as the Opening Prayer of the Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe states:

"God of power and mercy,
You blessed the Americas at Tepeyac
With the presence of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.
May her prayers help all men and women
To accept each other as brothers and sisters.
Through Your justice present in our hearts
May Your people reign in the world.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ….

For centuries the custom existed in Austria, Bohemia, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia of celebrating the Advent Mass of the Blessed Mother commemorating the Incarnation of Eternal Word of God coming down and becoming God-Man.    In these places, this Mass was said on all Advent weekdays very early in the morning.    In fact, these Masses came to be known as the "Mass of the Cock Crow."

In Spain and its colonies, this Mass was only celebrated the last nine days of Advent.   Of course, Mass in those days was celebrated in Latin.    The Mass text began with the words: "Rorate caeli de super" ["Drop down dew from heaven"], referring to God the Father sending down to earth His Son to be our Savior.    As elsewhere, these Masses were celebrated before the sun rose, before the crowing of the cock.   Spain left this tradition in the different places it colonized.    In the Philippines, this Advent Mass came to be known as "Simbang Gabi".   

Even today this custom continues in the Philippines.   In some areas an hour or so before Mass, a band plays traditional hymns all over town and the whole town is up for the Simbang Gabi Mass.    The "parol" (a lantern), adorns homes and churches.    The "parol" is a very Filipino symbol for the Star of Bethlehem, reminding us of a guiding light that leads us to Jesus.    The "parol" announces to one and all, here is a family that has accepted the Messiah into their hearts and lives.   The "parol" says loud and clear: a Catholic Christian family lives in this house!

Continuing this long-standing tradition, with some accommodating for modern life circumstances, our Archdiocesan Filipino Ministry has scheduled local Masses throughout our Deanery Four the nine days before Christmas.    Each Deanery will have its own nine day celebration.    In Deanery Four (4), our Deanery, this will also happen.   

Our parish, will host this Mass this Saturday, December 16th, at 5:00 p.m.    Our Filipino Choir will lead us in sung praise.     One and all are cordially invited to join with our Filipino brothers and sisters, and loudly proclaim we have accepted Jesus as the Messiah.    And the "parol", that will begin to hang in our church that day, will loudly proclaim:   We are Catholic Christians here!     A Potluck Dinner will follow after Mass in the Parish Hall, with an opportunity for fellowship. 

December 16th - St. Jude the Apostle, Westlake Village, 5:00 p.m.
December 17th - St. Rose of Lima, Simi Valley, 4:00 p.m.
December 18th - Mary Star of Sea, Oxnard, 7:00 p.m.
December 19th - St. Maximillian Kolbe, Westlake Village, 7:00 p.m.

December 20th  - St. Paschal, Thousand Oaks, 7:00 p.m.
December 21th - St. Julie, Newbury Park, 5:30 p.m.   
December 22nd - Mary Star of Sea, Oxnard, 7:00 p.m.
December 23rd - Padre Serra, Camarillo, 5:00 p.m.
 
For more information, please contact Aurora Elyada at 805 - 495 - 3721.