瓜達露佩聖母瞻禮
路加福音 1:39-47
瑪利亞就在那幾日起身，急速往山區去，到了猶大的一座城。她進了匝加利亞的家，就給依撒伯爾請安。依撒伯爾一聽到瑪利亞請安，胎兒就在她的腹中歡躍。依撒伯爾遂充滿了聖神，大聲呼喊說：「在女人中妳是蒙祝福的，妳的胎兒也是蒙祝福的。吾主的母親駕臨我這裡，這是我那裡得來的呢? 看，妳請安的聲音一入我耳，胎兒就在我腹中歡喜踴躍。那信了由上主傳於她的話必要完成的，是有福的。」
瑪利亞遂說： 「我的靈魂頌揚上主，我的心神歡躍於天主， 我的救主。」
雖然在十六世紀時已有方濟各會的傳教士到達拉丁美洲傳福音，但基督信仰為當時美洲中部的印第安人還是不太受歡迎。當地人拜偶像，甚至會舉行人祭。
在1531年12月9日，聖母在墨西哥城的台培亞的 (Tepeyac) 小山上顯現給一個57歲貧苦的印第安人；他名叫若望迪戈 (Juan Diego)，是當地少數的天主教徒。
為了令主教相信若望這個卑微的農民的說話，並給她建造聖堂，聖母行了數個奇蹟，包括在12月結霜的荒山上開滿了玫瑰和花朵，並在若望盛著花朵的斗篷外衣上，出然了聖母身披星星長袍，腳踏月亮，四周發光的聖像。若望患重病的叔父，也奇蹟地得到痊癒，還告訴若望醫好他的人——聖母——自稱為瓜達露佩。瓜達露佩聖母這名字由此而生。
這些奇蹟很快傳揚開去，在短時間內令六百萬印第安原住民領洗為信徒，令墨西哥成為一個天主教國家。基督的福音從那時起就在當地紮根，直到今日。
出現在斗篷外衣上的肖像，至今仍懸掛在瓜達盧佩聖母大殿內，供朝聖者瞻仰。教宗若望保祿二世把12月12日定為瓜達露佩聖母瞻禮，紀念這個聖母顯現的奇蹟。
天主透過聖母的顯現，令美洲的各民族感受到天主的愛，轉化了他們的心靈，然後透過他們把天主的愛與福音繼續傳揚開去。
Luke 1:39-47
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”
Luke 1:39-47
Although there had been Franciscan missionaries ministering to the Mexican locals in the sixteenth century, Christianity was not that popular among the locals at first. The locals worshiped idols and even practiced human sacrifices.
On December 9th, 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a poor Indian farmer Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill while he was on his way to Mass to celebrate Mass. He was a humble man and one of the first baptized Indians.
In order to help the bishop believe what this humble farmer said about her apparition, and to have them build her a church, Mary showed them a number of miracles, including blossoming roses and flowers on a barren hill, and printed her portrait on the tilma that Juan used to carry the roses to the bishop. Juan's seriously ill uncle was also miraculously healed, and told Juan that a beautiful lady appeared to him and told him her name: Guadalupe.
Words about these miracles spread quickly; within a short time six million Indians were baptized, which very soon made Catholic the dominant religion in Mexico. It is still so today.
The portrait on Juan's tilma is still being displayed in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, making it the most visited Marian shrine in the world. In 2002, Pope John Paul II set December 12 as the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Through the Blessed Virgin Mary's apparitions, God is again showing His love for all people, and continue to transform the hearts of those who believe.
參考 References:
Our Lady of Guadalupe - EWTN
Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe - RCSpiritualDirection.com
Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin - Vatican.va
神修話語 – 何神父談墨西哥瓜達露佩聖母顯現
問問程神父 – 為何天主教與新教對聖母的看法有如此大的差別？