(Vatican Radio) The Vatican announced in a press release on Tuesday that Pope Francis will preside at the Mass in honour of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Peter's Basilica on December 12, for the second consecutive year.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is both the Patron Saint of Mexico and Patroness of the entire American continent.
The popular devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe can be traced back to the 16th Century, when a Native American peasant named Juan Diego received a vision of the Virgin Mary, on a hill near to Mexico City. The Virgin asked that a church be raised in her honour on the spot where Diego was standing. She also left a miraculous image of herself on the lining of Diego’s cloak. The image on that cloak now hangs above the High Altar at the Guadalupe Basilica in Mexico City.
Pope Francis is the second Pope to celebrate the Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe inside St Peter's Basilica. Pope Benedict VXI was the first to do so, in the year 2011.
The Mass is not limited to Latin Americans within Rome. Tickets will be available to anyone in Rome who wishes to attend, and may be requested from the Prefecture of the Papal Household.
The full press release is below:
Eucharistic Celebration presided by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
On December 12th, 2015, the Holy Father Francis will preside a Eucharistic Concelebration in St. Peter’s Basilica. This will be the second consecutive year in which the Holy Father celebrates Holy Mass at St. Peter’s Altar of the Cathedra in honor of the Patroness of Mexico, who is also the Patroness of Latin America and Empress of the whole American Continent.
It may be remembered that Pope Benedict XVI presided Holy Mass in St. Peter’s on December 12th, 2011.
This initiative is another sign of the filial devotion that the Holy Father Francis nourishes toward the Morenita, and it acquires special significance in the fact that the Concelebration will take place four days after the solemn inauguration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The Holy Father desires to confide to the Virgin of Guadalupe the fulfillment of this Holy Year in the American continent.
Moreover, this Concelebration could be an important and significant moment in preparation for the apostolic journey of the Holy Father to Mexico.
The Eucharistic Concelebration will take place in the Vatican Basilica at 6.00 pm and will be preceded by the recitation of the Holy Rosary. Being a Saturday, the liturgy will be that of the third Sunday of Advent. Priests who wish to concelebrate should contact as soon as possible the Pontifical Commission for Latin America in order to receive the necessary tickets.
The invitation to participate in the Holy Mass is not reserved only to Latin-Americans working in the Holy See and living in Rome or in Italy, but is extended to all the faithful and to all pilgrims who may wish to take part in this Eucharistic Celebration. Tickets may be requested directly from the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household.
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