Our Heavenly Mother, Marcel, and us!

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

Where I live, there are many Mexicans, and so Our Lady gets the honor that is her due, with her children rising before dawn to sing to her, and many others sure to make it to Holy Mass to receive her Divine Son.

But you know what? We are all Mexican today! Our Lady returns to us in every one of her true apparitions so that we will know her tender maternal love, and I will tell you something I discovered today: I'm convinced this appearance of Our Lady to St. Juan Diego in 1531 is Marcel's favorite. 

How do I know? Well first off, it's mine, and I'm sure my little brother and I think alike on this score.
Secondly, though, I think Our Lady is at her most maternal when she appears to St. Juan Diego - calling him even, as a mother will, "Juanito, my Juan Dieguito" - "Little Juan," and "My Juan little Diego!" St. Juan was a widower at this point, not a little boy, but to a mom, her son is always her little boy!

I found two things this morning that confirm my opinion that Marcel''s Our Lady and Our Lady of Guadalupe are essentially the same. (Okay, yes, I suppose I have to concede that all the Our Ladies are essentially the same! But still, who can resist Our Lady of Guadalupe as the most Our Lady-ish of Our Ladies?!)

My first discovery has delighted me to no end, and will continue to delight me until I get to Heaven and then some! For this morning I found that the words of Our Lady to all of us through Juanito on this day are ACTUALLY in the Church's official Liturgy of this day!! To be more specific, the Office of Readings (part of the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours which all priests are obliged to say, and most religious and many lay people say too) has for its second reading (the "non-Biblical reading") today the account of Our Lady of Guadalupe's visit to Juan and it includes my favorite words ever. I'll share the whole story with you here (from the Office) with the best part highlighted (though it's all wonderful) -

At daybreak one Saturday morning in 1531, on the very first days of the month of December, an Indian named Juan Diego was going from the village where he lived to Tlatelolco in order to take part in divine worship and listen to God’s commandments. When he came near the hill called Tepeyac, dawn had already come, and Juan Diego heard someone calling him from the very top of the hill: “Juanito, Juan Dieguito.”

He went up the hill and caught sight of a lady of unearthly grandeur whose clothing was as radiant as the sun. She said to him in words both gentle and courteous: “Juanito, the humblest of my children, know and understand that I am the ever virgin Mary, Mother of the true God through whom all things live. It is my ardent desire that a church be erected here so that in it I can show and bestow my love, compassion, help, and protection to all who inhabit this land and to those others who love me, that they might call upon and confide in me. Go to the Bishop of Mexico to make known to him what I greatly desire. Go and put all your efforts into this.”

When Juan Diego arrived in the presence of the Bishop, Fray Juan de Zumarraga, a Franciscan, the latter did not seem to believe Juan Diego and answered: “Come another time, and I will listen at leisure.”

Juan Diego returned to the hilltop where the Heavenly Lady was waiting, and he said to her: “My Lady, my maiden, I presented your message to the Bishop, but it seemed that he did not think it was the truth. For this reason I beg you to entrust your message to someone more illustrious who might convey it in order that they may believe it, for I am only an insignificant man.”

She answered him: “Humblest of my sons, I ask that tomorrow you again go to see the Bishop and tell him that I, the ever virgin holy Mary, Mother of God, am the one who personally sent you.”

But on the following day, Sunday, the Bishop again did not believe Juan Diego and told him that some sign was necessary so that he could believe that it was the Heavenly Lady herself who sent him. And then he dismissed Juan Diego.

On Monday Juan Diego did not return. His uncle, Juan Bernardino, became very ill, and at night asked Juan to go to Tlatelolco at daybreak to call a priest to hear his confession.

Juan Diego set out on Tuesday, but he went around the hill and passed on the other side, toward the east, so as to arrive quickly in Mexico City and to avoid being detained by the Heavenly Lady. But she came out to meet him on that side of the hill and said to him: “Listen and understand, my humblest son. There is nothing to frighten and distress you. Do not let your heart be troubled, and let nothing upset you. Is it not I, your Mother, who is here? Are you not under my protection? Are you not, fortunately, in my care? Do not let your uncle’s illness distress you. It is certain that he has already been cured. Go up to the hilltop, my son, where you will find flowers of various kinds. Cut them, and bring them into my presence.”

When Juan Diego reached the peak, he was astonished that so many Castilian roses had burst forth at a time when the frost was severe. He carried the roses in the folds of his tilma (mantle) to the Heavenly Lady. She said to him: “My son, this is the proof and the sign which you will bring to the Bishop so that he will see my will in it. You are my ambassador, very worthy of trust.”

Juan Diego set out on his way, now content and sure of succeeding. On arriving in the Bishop’s presence, he told him: “My lord, I did what you asked. The Heavenly Lady complied with your request and fulfilled it. She sent me to the hilltop to cut some Castilian roses and told me to bring them to you in person. And this I am doing, so that you can see in them the sign you seek in order to carry out her will. Here they are; receive them.”

He immediately opened up his white mantle, and as all the different Castilian roses scattered to the ground, there was drawn on the cloak and suddenly appeared the precious image of the ever virgin Mary, Mother of God, in the same manner as it is today and is kept in her shrine of Tepeyac.
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The whole city was stirred and came to see and admire her venerable image and to offer prayers to her; and following the command which the same Heavenly Lady gave to Juan Bernardino when she restored him to health, they called her by the name that she herself had used: “the ever virgin holy Mary of Guadalupe.”

*    *     *

I do admit that the part about the Castilian roses and then Our Lady's image are pretty exciting and beautiful moments too, but I can never get over her words to us, which I usually read in this translation:

Hear and let it penetrate your heart, my dear little one:
Let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you.
Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance.
Am I not here who am your Mother?
Are you not under my shadow and protection?
Am I not your fountain of life?
Are you not in the folds of my mantle?
In the crossing of my arms?
Is there anything else that you need?
Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain.

My guess is that our little brother Marcel never knew, in his life on earth, the words of Our Lady to our little brother Juanito, but thankfully he knew words nearly as gentle, compassionate, and loving, if not more so - words from Our Lady, or better yet, our Mother, to Marcel himself! 

Just today I had a blast reading Marcel's Conversations entry for May 13 - which is the feast of Our Lady of Fatima (though I don't think Marcel knew about that apparition either), but also another important feast of Our Lady, especially for those who claim Therese as their sister: May 13 was the day Our Lady smiled on Therese and cured her of her mysterious childhood illness!

Well, reading the pages Marcel wrote for us on May 13, 1946, I alternated between laughter and, no, not tears, but simple joy at the words Marcel and Our Lady exchanged. 

You see, Marcel was very concerned about (and frankly against) people calling Mary "Queen" because he saw and felt that she was our Mother, and why in the world would she be anything else, especially something (namely, Queen) that puts distance between herself and her children?

And so, Marcel asked Mary straight out:

Mother, later in heaven, you will continue to call me your child, is that not so? And I, I will give you the name of Mother to the exclusion of any other name. And similarly, if I do not call you by the name of "Queen", will you be pleased with me? Is there anything wrong in not calling you "Queen"?

To which Mary replies, equally straight forwardly:

My child, let me put it another way. Before dying, did Jesus tell you to call me "Queen" or did He tell you to call me "Mother"? Did He say: "Here is Mary, your Queen?" No, He never said that. In giving me to you to be your Mother and in giving you to me to be my child, He simply said, "Here is your Mother, there is your child." Consequently, not calling me "Queen" has no importance. I am not a queen; I only have the power of a queen. In relation to men, my children, I am simply and always your true Mother. I would never deal with you as a queen with her subjects, for fear of contradicting Jesus' last words to me. The Trinity never established me as a Queen; it has established me only as  a Mother. So, in heaven, you will never hear the word "Queen" but only the word "Mother."

Hooray, Marcel! You have found for us the true name of Mary, and even beguiled from her the
true reason for her true name!

And so, on this Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I can only bid you in the words of St. Paul repeated on Advent Sundays, Evening Prayer II (again, from the Church's solemn Liturgy):

Rejoice in the Lord always; I say it again, rejoice! Everyone should see how gentle you are. The Lord is near. Dismiss all anxiety from your minds. Make known your needs to God in every form of prayer, and in petitions full of gratitude. Then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Philippians 4: 4 - 7)

I hope today is a day of great rejoicing for you! Our Lady loves you so very much, and she repeats to you her words to Juan Diego, meant for all of us. Let's close with her words so they might surround us like the fragrance of Castilian roses surprising us in winter.

Hear and let it penetrate your heart, my dear little one:
Let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you.
Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance.
Am I not here who am your Mother?
Are you not under my shadow and protection?
Am I not your fountain of life?
Are you not in the folds of my mantle?
In the crossing of my arms?
Is there anything else that you need?
Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain.

Mary, our dear Mother, we love you!
St. Juan Diego, pray for us!
Our Lady of Guadalupe bless us and all those we love with your maternal solicitude.

Draw me, we will run!