Almost 500 years ago, something extraordinary happened on a small hill in Tepeyac, outside of what is now Mexico City.
Our Lady appeared to a humble worker, St. Juan Diego. She asked him to build a church, promised her assistance to all people of good will, and left a miraculous image of herself, pregnant with the Lord, as a “mestizo” of mixed Aztec and European appearance.
Suddenly, the formerly frustrated Franciscan missionaries were flooded with requests for baptism from the native peoples. It was a wave of millions of conversions never before seen in history. It was no less than the birth of Christianity in the Americas.
Archbishop Cordileone launched Project Guadalupe 2031 to inspire more U.S. Catholics, especially English-speaking Catholics, to be aware of this upcoming momentous occasion. The hope is that they may deepen their awareness of and devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and participate in the Intercontinental Guadalupana Novena led by the Mexican bishops.
We do this by encouraging new celebrations of Frank La Rocca’s Mass of the Americas, honoring Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Mexico and all the Americas.
We are also commissioning new works honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe in English, including a Litany to Our Lady of Guadalupe, a new Advent Hymn to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the first English translation of the classic hymn “La Guadalupana” that can be sung to the original tune.
In addition, we are launching a Home Enthronement campaign so that more U.S. Catholics put Our Lady of Guadalupe in their hearts and in their homes.
Archbishop Cordileone will also introduce a new book, The Case for Guadalupe, laying out the historical evidence for the Guadalupe event and the deep meaning of Guadalupanan spirituality…
Composed by Frank La Rocca, the Mass of the Americas weaves the chant of the Roman Rite with melodies and prayers honoring Our Lady, a living offering for the New World she has claimed for Christ.
The Litany of Our Lady of Guadalupe by poet-in-residence James Matthew Wilson is a premiere work of the Project.
The Home Enthronement initiative is one of many efforts of Project Guadalupe 2031, inspiring Catholic families to enthrone an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and consecrate their homes to the Virgin Mary.
Archbishop Cordileone
