Cardinal Burke's Novena & Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Cardinal Burke’s Nine-Month Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe culminated on Our Lady’s Feast Day, on December 12, 2024. The praying of the Nine-Month Novena prayer concluded with the December 12th recitation of the Consecration Prayer, written by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. Over 190,000 faithful people participated in the preparatory Nine-Month Novena. His Eminence encouraged pilgrimage to the Shrine in La Crosse, Wisconsin to make the Consecration, and hundreds traveled here, in the cold weather, to participate. The bilingual 12:15pm Mass, celebrated by His Eminence, was recorded and can be watched here.

FAQ

Daily Novena Prayer

Daily Consecration Prayer

Solemnity Mass with Consecration

If I couldn’t come to the Shrine on December 12th, will there be other opportunities for me to make a Pilgrimage there?

Yes, the Shrine welcomes both individual and group pilgrimages daily. During 2025, the Shrine has been designated as a pilgrimage site for the Holy Year 2025, which has been named the Jubilee Year of Hope. This means that, even if you cannot travel to Rome for the Holy Year, the faithful have local opportunities to receive the same pilgrimage graces and indulgences. This year, pilgrims can gain a plenary indulgence every day at the Shrine until the close of the Holy Year on December 28, 2025. The conditions for the Jubilee Indulgence are: making a visit to the Shrine Church, praying for the Holy Father while there, receiving Holy Communion, and making a good confession during the pilgrimage or within 20 days before or after, all while being detached from sin, including venial sin. This is a powerful way to allow the Lord to purify our souls and flood our hearts with the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 5:5). While pilgrims can offer the pilgrimage to God, asking for their own purification from all effects of the habits of sin, pilgrims can even more generously offer their Jubilee Indulgence back to God to be applied to the souls being purified in Purgatory. While the Shrine encourages personal or group pilgrimages at any time, perhaps you can join us for one or more of Cardinal Burke’s public Masses at the Shrine this year. From March-August and October-December, His Eminence has at least one public Mass per month at the Shrine. Watch the Shrine website GuadalupeShrine.org/Events/ for more details.

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How do I go about making the Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe if I missed Consecration Day on December 12th?

One could make the Consecration on any day, either in their home parish prior to Mass or, we would always encourage a pilgrimage to La Crosse to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe here if it is possible. The Consecration can be made individually in any church and does not require the presence of a priest to receive the prayer of Consecration. As with other consecrations, it is ideal to seek out a priest for Confession and to attend Holy Mass on the day you choose for the consecration. If a suggestion for a date is desired, the 12th day of any month would be fitting.
Do I need to make the Act of Consecration in front of a priest?

One could make the Consecration on any day, either in their home parish prior to Mass or, we would always encourage a pilgrimage to La Crosse to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe here if it is possible. The Consecration can be made individually in any church and does not require the presence of a priest to receive the prayer of Consecration. As with other consecrations, it is ideal to seek out a priest for Confession and to attend Holy Mass on the day you choose for the consecration. If a suggestion for a date is desired, the 12th day of any month would be fitting.
I participated in the Nine-Month Novena but missed some of the months. Can I still consecrate myself to Our Lady by watching the Mass and saying the Consecration prayer?

Choosing to consecrate oneself to Our Lady is a personal act of the will and can be done at any time. The preparatory phase for a Consecration is laudable because it prepares the soul for a more consistent rejection of sin and a clear desire to remain firmly in the hands of Our Mother, whose whole vocation is to lead us to her Son.
Does someone have to go through a nine month or nine-day Novena in order to consecrate oneself to Our Lady of Guadalupe with this prayer?

Choosing to consecrate oneself to Our Lady is a personal act of the will and can be done at any time. The preparatory phase for a Consecration is laudable because it prepares the soul for a more consistent rejection of sin and a clear desire to remain firmly in the hands of Our Mother, whose whole vocation is to lead us to her Son.
Will we be doing the Nine-Month Novena again?

No. The intention is to use the Daily Consecration Prayer until Dec. 3 each year and then begin the annual nine-day Novena as one would do ahead of any feast day in preparation for which they were praying a Novena. On Dec. 12th, the full Consecration Prayer will be used again, and afterwards, the Daily Consecration Prayer which serves as a constant renewal of one’s Consecration.
Will you be doing a Novena or Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe again this year?

As with other consecrations, we will certainly repeat the full Consecration Prayer annually on Dec. 12th. There will be a nine-day Novena in December leading up to Our Lady’s Feast day, but the Nine-Month Novena beginning in March will not be repeated. However, the daily prayer composed for use after one has made the initial Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe is the preferred way to daily implore her help.
What prayer am I supposed to be saying daily right now, if I already made my Consecration?

Once a person has made their Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Daily Consecration Prayer is the best way to articulate, in one’s personal prayer, the daily desire to allow Our Lady to more closely lead us to the Heart of her Son. The Daily Consecration Prayer is meant for use after one has consecrated themselves to Our Lady.

The Daily Consecration Prayer can be printed or purchased here.

Daily Consecration Prayer
Is the daily prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe the prayer you said at the Dec. 12th Mass?

No. That was the formal prayer of Consecration, or the full Consecration Prayer, which is only prayed annually. Once a person has made their Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Daily Consecration Prayer is the best way to articulate, in one’s personal prayer, the daily desire to allow Our Lady to more closely lead us to the Heart of her Son. The Nine-Month Novena prayer was preparatory. The Daily Consecration Prayer is meant for use after one has Consecrated themselves to Our Lady.

The Daily Consecration Prayer can be printed or purchased here:

The Daily Consecration Prayer
What is the process for making a Consecration?

The process for any Consecration has several phases, in general: Commit to a Consecration for the first time; undergo a time of daily prayer in preparation; make the Consecration; choose a way to make the Consecration a part of your daily life; formally renew it annually.
What is the source of the darkness we prayed against for nine months?

In spiritual warfare, in which Our Lady is a source of humiliation to the Devil and the other demons because she never sinned, we ask for her intercession against the darkness of the demonic and all the ways they propose temptation. She perfectly allowed the Lord Jesus, at every moment of her life, to win this victory in her soul, and so the stain of sin was never able to reach her. Praying against the darkness in our times also recognizes the negative effects of sin chosen by individuals throughout the world, and is calling on all people to reject sin, make reparation, and live in the light of Christ, which is the true purpose for which we were created.
Could the Novena still be helpful for me if I did it, or want to do it, as a fallen away Catholic or as a non-Catholic?

Every sincere prayer that elevates one’s heart and mind to God, especially asking for help and protection in a consistent, daily way will 1) always have the potential to bear good fruit, and 2) is a response to God’s actual grace being constantly proposed to everyone.
What was Cardinal Burke’s inspiration for the Nine-Month Novena and Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe?

Cardinal Burke recognized a similarity between global conditions in 1531, when Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Saint Juan Diego, and global conditions today. Human sacrifice, wars in the Middle East, rampant disease, and more, were as present then as they are now. Cardinal Burke believed that the answer to our global problems today is the same answer to the global problems then: Our Lady of Guadalupe, who leads us to her Divine Son. After her apparitions 500 years ago in Guadalupe, Mexico, millions of souls converted to Christ. Cardinal Burke began the Novena and Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the hope of the conversion of millions of souls to Christ, especially before 2031, which is the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego.
And what help does the Mother of God bring to our world in these tumultuous times? What help did she bring at Tepeyac in 1531? Our Lady brings her Divine Son, Christ the Lord Who alone is the salvation of the world. Our Lady does not propose some idea or some political action to address the various crises confronting us. No, she proposes a person, the person of her Divine Son. She proposes the most intimate union of heart with Him, with His Most Sacred Heart, as the only way to obtain mercy and ultimately eternal life.
She thus also shows us what is the help which we offer to the world and the Church in a time of great turmoil. We offer Jesus Christ.
Would you please explain what being consecrated to Our Mother means? What should we be doing? What should our lives look like now?

After first recognizing that we are radically dependent on God for all things, we look to the lived example of the Blessed Mother who lived the life of grace perfectly. Because sin never damaged her ability to perfectly reflect the love of God in her Immaculate Heart as a creature, unlike the rest of us, she is uniquely suited as an intercessor and as our Mother to help bring us to Jesus, her Son, especially when our own sins and battles begin to cause us to waver. Evil has no place to take root where God’s light is. Mary is a powerful intercessor, then, perfectly reflecting the love of God as a creature, against every possible spiritual obstacle. Choosing to take refuge under her mantle in our daily spiritual battles, by way of Consecration as a means of spiritual protection (especially surrendering to Jesus and Mary all that we are), is a profound but uncomplicated way to confidently let the Lord defeat the effects of our choosing to sin in the past. The Lord teaches us to imitate His virtues as we see them perfectly expressed in His Mother’s life. Letting Our Lord and Our Lady teach us to truly let go of daily habits of sin, yields the main benefit of Marian Consecration, which is true interior freedom in the soul to live for God alone. By consecrating oneself to Mary, one seeks to become more closely united with Christ through her intercession and example. The consecration is seen as a way to detach from worldly things and align one’s life more perfectly with God’s will each day, learning from Our Lady, the one who never failed at that task.
The daily practice of renewing one’s Consecration, praying other Marian prayers like the Holy Rosary, the Memorare, meditating on her 7 Sorrows and 7 joys, or her exhortation in John chapter 2 at the Wedding at Cana to always do whatever Jesus tells us to do, enrolling in the Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, or other Marian Sodalities or Confraternities, these are daily practical ways to let Mary lead us to Jesus in vocal, meditative, and contemplative prayer.
Above all, the point of Consecration is a childlike trust to place our entire lives, all that we are and all that we have, surrendering both the positive and the negative, completely and confidently into the hands of Our Mother, knowing that her whole vocation is to lead us to Jesus, Who will never fail to provide for us.
How can I view the Solemnity Mass?