The Our Lady of Guadalupe Prayer Program began August 3 at the 129th
Supreme Convention in Denver. This program features an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Supreme Convention in Denver. This program features an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, as patroness of the Americas, has special significance to the Knights of Columbus. When the Order sponsored a tour of a relic of St. Juan Diego's tilma in 2003, Our Lady of Guadalupe's role as mother of all in the Americas became very clear.
In city after city, crowds of tens of thousands of people came to venerate Our Lady of Guadalupe. What was most striking was not the number of people, but the number of nationalities and ethnicities represented in each gathering. Likewise, at the Guadalupe Festival sponsored by the Knights of Columbus in 2009 in Phoenix, more than 20,000 people came to venerate and celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is our hope that this prayer program will continue to expand devotion to Our Lady and the evangelization of the Americas.
But the images we will be displaying are unlike any others used before. Not only are they blessed by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, but each one was also touched to the original image of Holy Mary of Guadalupe on St. Juan Diego’s tilma, when Supreme Knight Carl Anderson and Supreme Secretary Emilio Moure traveled to Mexico City on June 1. Each image bears the signature of the Rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and was sealed with a bit of soil from the first Church at Tepeyac Hill – the very terrain on which Our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego almost 480 years ago. Arizona is scheduled to receive 2 of these Images for this program. We have currently received the first and now need to make plans with our Pastors and Parishes to sponsor this Prayer Program.
CLICK HERE To see the events already scheduled thus far.
For more information on the Our Lady of Guadalupe image and devotion, please see this letter from Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson.
State Warden Sean Halpain is the Chairman of the Prayer Program in Arizona. CLICK HERE for his letter to the Knights of Arizona.
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