What is the prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe?

It is a traditional Catholic prayer asking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to St. Juan Diego at Tepeyac in 1531. The best-known form begins, "Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mystical Rose, make intercession for holy Church."

What did Our Lady of Guadalupe say to Juan Diego?

Her most famous words, spoken to comfort him as his uncle lay dying, were: "Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?" The full passage adds, "Am I not your life and health? ... What else do you need?" It is inscribed above the entrance of her basilica in Mexico City.

When do you pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe?

Any time, but especially on her feast day, December 12, and during the nine-day novena leading up to it. Catholics also turn to her for the protection of families and the unborn, and at the end of the Rosary.

Is Our Lady of Guadalupe the patroness of the unborn?

She is honored as Patroness of the Americas and is widely invoked as a patroness of the unborn and the pro-life cause — in part because the sash on her tilma image traditionally shows her as an expectant mother, carrying Christ in her womb.

Do Catholics worship Our Lady of Guadalupe?

No. Catholics worship God alone. They honor Mary and ask her prayers, as they would ask any mother to intercede. Our Lady of Guadalupe never draws devotion to herself — she leads souls to her Son, saying she is the Mother of "the true God for whom we live."

The Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

"Am I not here, I who am your Mother?" The prayer to the Mother who turned a continent to Christ — every word.

Long before the Church called her the Mother of a continent, she called herself the Mother of a frightened man. The Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe reaches for that same Mother — the one who appeared at Tepeyac in 1531 and left her image on a peasant's cloak. Her promise to St. Juan Diego is still the whole reason we pray to her: "Am I not here, I who am your Mother?"

All prayers →

The Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

A traditional prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mystical Rose, make intercession for holy Church, protect the sovereign Pontiff, help all those who invoke thee in their necessities, and since thou art the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from thy most holy Son the grace of keeping our faith, of sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life, of burning charity, and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.

The Memorare to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary of Guadalupe, that in thy celestial apparitions on the mount of Tepeyac, thou didst promise to show thy compassion and pity towards all who, loving and trusting thee, seek thy help and call upon thee in their necessities and afflictions. Thou didst promise to hearken to our supplications, to dry our tears, and to give us consolation and relief. Never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, either for the common welfare or in personal anxieties, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, we fly unto thee, O Mary, ever Virgin Mother of the true God. Though grieving under the weight of our sins, we come to prostrate ourselves in thy august presence, certain that thou wilt deign to fulfill thy merciful promises. We are full of hope that, standing beneath thy shadow and protection, nothing will trouble or afflict us, nor need we fear illness or misfortune, or any other sorrow. O Holy Mother of God, despise not our petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer us. Amen.

Who Our Lady of Guadalupe is

In December of 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on the hill of Tepeyac, outside present-day Mexico City, to a poor native convert named St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. She spoke to him in his own tongue, called herself the Mother of the true God, and asked that a church be built on that hill so she could show her love and compassion to all who sought her. She left her image imprinted on his tilma — the rough cactus-fiber cloak that survives, uncorrupted, to this day.

The Church honors her as Patroness of the Americas, and her feast is kept on December 12. To pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe is to come to her the way those first converts came — not as a stranger, but as a son running to a Mother who has already promised to help.

Her words to St. Juan Diego

When Juan Diego's uncle lay dying and the grieving man tried to slip past her, Our Lady stopped him and spoke the words now enshrined above the basilica that bears her name:

"Listen, my son, to what I tell you now. Do not let anything worry or afflict you; do not fear illness nor any troublesome happening nor pain. Am I not here? I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your life and health? Are you not in the embrace of my arms? What else do you need?"

These are not a prayer we recite back to her — they are her promise to us. Every traditional prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe is simply a way of taking her at her word.

When and how to pray it

There is no wrong hour to turn to her, but Catholics have long brought Our Lady of Guadalupe their heaviest burdens — a sick child, an unborn life, a family that has drifted from the faith, a marriage under strain. Pray one of the traditional prayers slowly, then simply tell her what you need, the way Juan Diego told her about his dying uncle.

On her feast, December 12 — and through the nine days before it, prayed as a novena.
For the protection of the unborn and of families — she is widely invoked as patroness of life in the womb.
At the close of the Rosary, or kneeling before an image of her tilma in the home.

Why it matters

In the years after the apparition, millions of the native peoples of Mexico were baptized — a continent turned to Christ through his Mother. That is what Our Lady of Guadalupe does: she keeps no soul for herself, she carries it to her Son. When she asks, "Am I not here, I who am your Mother?", she is pointing past herself to the God whose life she once carried in her womb.

For the Catholic man, she is the answer to fear. Altar. Arms. Allegiance. — Our Lady of Guadalupe stands at the altar as the Mother of the King we serve, and no soldier fights better than the one who knows his Mother is near.