Did you know that Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the unborn and the family?
When Mary appeared to Saint Juan Diego, she came as an expectant mother--the Mother of God to be exact. The miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe shows her wearing a black sash, which was a traditional indication of pregnancy in the native culture.
We celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.
This feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was established by Pope Benedict XIV in 1754. Then in 1999, Pope John Paul II declared her “Patroness of the Americas” and “Star of the New Evangelization.”
Saint John Paul II is known for his devotion to the Blessed Mother, his commitment to protecting the sanctity of life, and his love for the family.
During the first year of his pontificate in 1979, he visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico where he recited the prayer below.
Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe by St. John Paul II
O Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas,
grant to our homes the grace
of loving and respecting life in its beginnings,
with the same love with which you conceived
in your womb the life of the Son of God.
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Fair Love,
protect our families so that they may always be united
and bless the upbringing of our children.
Our hope, look upon us with pity,
teach us to go continually to Jesus,
and if we fall, help us to rise again
and return to him through the confession
of our faults and our sins
in the sacrament of penance,
which gives peace to the soul.
We beg you to grant us
a great love of all the holy sacraments,
which are, as it were,
the signs that your Son left us on earth.
Thus, Most Holy Mother,
with the peace of God in our consciences,
with our hearts free from evil and hatred,
we will be able to bring to all others
true joy and true peace,
which come to us from your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
who with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen.
You can find an additional prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe for the protection of the Unborn from the USCCB here.