Ordinarily, December 9 is the feast day of Saint Juan Diego and an important day at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This year, the Shrine will be celebrating the Masses for his feast on Tuesday, December 10. “We always celebrate him as a feast, which means we pray the Gloria and we use his particular readings that were set forth at the time of his canonization,” says Fr. Edgar.

Mass Schedule on December 10, 2024.

8:30 a.m.

12:15 p.m.

The Blessed Mother Appears to St. Juan Diego

On Saturday morning, December 9, 1531, Juan Diego was on his way to church to participate in the Mass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and in the catechetical instruction which would follow. As he reached Tepeyac Hill, he heard beautiful music and a beautiful voice calling out his name. Our Blessed Mother appeared to him as the “woman clothed with the sun” of the Book of Revelation, pregnant with the Child Jesus. She instructed Juan Diego to go to the house of Bishop Juan de Zumárraga and to request that a chapel be built in her honor on Tepeyac Hill so that she might show the infinite majesty and mercy of God to all His children of America.

Juan Diego went to the Bishop’s house at which he was received with great respect but also with hesitation regarding his story of the apparition and of our Blessed Mother’s request. The Bishop, who was praying and working to bring together the native Americans and the Spanish conquerors and settlers, requested time to consider the matter. Read more