Roses At Our Lady’s Altar
December 12 is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, celebrated as a Solemnity at Our Lady’s Shrine in La Crosse. As in previous years, the Shrine is preparing by inviting all to contribute roses to be placed in the Shrine Church on the great day. Prayer intentions can be sent with these gifts, to be collected and laid before the side altar of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Miraculous Flowers
Roses are a beloved symbol of Our Lady and specifically Our Lady of Guadalupe. The gift of flowers represents love on any occasion. In the indigenous Mexican culture to which Saint Juan Diego belonged, flowers also signified truth and immortality. Thus, the miraculous flowers on Tepeyac made a perfect beginning for the sign Our Lady gave him. They also make a fitting gift for her children to show their love, gratitude, and trust.
Rejoice and Bloom
Flowers are also signs of new life and hope. The first reading of Year A for Gaudete Sunday, which falls near Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast day, proclaims, “The desert and the parched land will exult, the steppe will rejoice and bloom”—precisely what happened on Tepeyac. By the same token, flowers presented to Our Lady express thanksgiving for her abundant care and confidence in seeking her help.
Devotion & Generosity
If you are unable to join us in person on December 12, you can still participate in a meaningful way with a gift of roses. These roses contribute to making the Shrine Church splendid and festive for Our Lady’s Solemnity. Even more significantly, your roses physically represent your devotion and generosity, laying your heart, as it were, before our Mother. To her who came “to cure all their various troubles” in her “sacred little house” (Nican Mopohua), you are invited to entrust your prayer intentions with a rose for that house.
Offer Your Rose
