The novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe is prayed from December 3 to 11, ending on the eve of her feast on December 12. In December 1531, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared four times to St. Juan Diego, an Indigenous convert, on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City, and left her image on his cloak (tilma). Today the Basilica of Guadalupe is the most visited Marian shrine in the world, and Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of Mexico and of all the Americas.
This novena follows the story of the apparitions day by day, with a reflection, a novena prayer written for this page, and the Hail Mary.
How to pray the novena
- Make the Sign of the Cross and name your intention.
- Read the part of the story for the day and its reflection.
- Pray the novena prayer below.
- Pray one decade of the Rosary, or at least three Hail Marys.
- End with: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, pray for us.
The novena prayer
Written for this page:
Holy Mary of Guadalupe, Mother of the true God, for whom we live,
you came to St. Juan Diego as a mother, speaking the language of his people,
and you left us your image as a sign of your love.
Look upon me and my family with the same tenderness.
I bring you my need: (name your intention).
Take it into the folds of your mantle and present it to your Son.
Protect the unborn, the poor, the migrant and all who suffer,
and make me a messenger of your Son’s love, as you made Juan Diego. Amen.
Day 1: Juan Diego, the humble messenger
Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was born around 1474 in the Aztec world and baptized as an adult by Franciscan missionaries. A widower of about fifty-seven, he walked many miles each Saturday to attend Mass and religious instruction. Reflect: God chooses the humble. Ask for a humble and faithful heart.
Day 2: Music on Tepeyac
Before dawn on Saturday, December 9, 1531, as Juan Diego passed the hill of Tepeyac, he heard beautiful birdsong and a voice calling him tenderly by name: “Juanito, Juan Dieguito.” Reflect: God calls each of us by name. Listen for his call today.
Day 3: “I am the Mother of the true God”
A radiant lady told him that she was the ever-virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the true God, and asked that a church be built there, where she would show her love and compassion to all who called on her. Reflect: Mary wants a “house” for her Son in every place and every heart.
Day 4: The bishop who doubted
Juan Diego went to Bishop Juan de Zumárraga, who listened kindly but did not believe him. Discouraged, Juan asked the Lady to send someone more important. She answered that she had many servants, but had chosen him. Reflect: When you feel unworthy or rejected, remember that you are chosen.
Day 5: The request for a sign
On his second visit, the bishop asked for a sign. Juan Diego promised to bring one. Reflect: Pray for faith that seeks God sincerely, and for patience with those who doubt.
Day 6: The sick uncle
Juan Diego’s uncle, Juan Bernardino, fell gravely ill, and Juan spent the day caring for him. On December 12 he went to fetch a priest and tried to avoid the Lady by taking another path. Reflect: Bring to Mary the sick you love; you cannot hide from a mother’s care.
Day 7: “Am I not here, I who am your mother?”
The Lady came down to meet him on his new path. She told him not to be troubled, and asked: “Am I not here, I who am your mother?” She told him that his uncle was already healed. At that very hour Juan Bernardino was cured, and the Lady appeared to him too. Reflect: Hear her words spoken to you in your own worries today.
Day 8: Roses in December
She sent Juan Diego to the top of the hill, where, in the frost of December, he found Castilian roses in bloom. He gathered them into his tilma and she arranged them with her own hands. Reflect: God can make roses bloom in the coldest season of our lives.
Day 9: The image on the tilma
Before the bishop, Juan Diego opened his tilma. The roses fell to the floor, and on the cloth appeared the image of the Virgin, as it is still venerated today. The bishop fell to his knees. A church was built, and within a few years millions of people in Mexico were baptized. Reflect: Give thanks for the gift of faith, and ask Mary to make you her messenger.
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The image shows a young woman with features of the native peoples of Mexico, standing before the sun, with the moon beneath her feet and a mantle covered with stars, like the woman of the Apocalypse (12:1). She wears a black sash, the sign of a woman expecting a child; that is why she is the patroness of the unborn. Her hands are joined in prayer: she is not a goddess but the servant and Mother of the true God. The tilma of rough cactus fiber, which would normally decay in a few decades, has lasted nearly five centuries.
Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Church
- December 12 is a feast in the United States and in all of Latin America, and an optional memorial in the General Roman Calendar.
- Pope Pius XII called her “Empress of the Americas” (1945), and St. John Paul II named her patroness of all America (1999).
- St. Juan Diego was canonized in 2002; his feast is December 9.
See the saint of the day calendar for the feasts of December.
Frequently asked questions
When does the Our Lady of Guadalupe novena start in 2026?
On Thursday, December 3, 2026, ending on Friday, December 11. The feast is Saturday, December 12, 2026.
Is December 12 a holy day of obligation?
No, but in Mexico and in many Hispanic communities in the United States it is one of the most important celebrations of the year, often beginning with Las Mañanitas at dawn.
Why is Our Lady of Guadalupe the patroness of the unborn?
Because the image shows her as a pregnant woman, carrying Christ within her.
What did Our Lady of Guadalupe say to Juan Diego?
That she was the ever-virgin Mary, Mother of the true God; that she wanted a church built at Tepeyac; and, most famously, “Am I not here, I who am your mother?” Her words are preserved in the sixteenth-century Nahuatl account called the Nican Mopohua.
More Marian novenas
- Immaculate Conception novena
- Our Lady of Guadalupe feast day
- Las Posadas
- St. Juan Diego prayer (December 9)
- The Miraculous Medal novena
- The Mother of Perpetual Help novena
- The prayers of the Rosary
- The Immaculate Conception (December 8)
- Advent 2026
- Novenas: how to pray a novena
Texts and sources
- The account of the apparitions follows the Nican Mopohua (Antonio Valeriano, sixteenth century) as summarized in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Shrine of Guadalupe.”
- John Paul II, apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America (1999), no. 11; homily for the canonization of St. Juan Diego (July 31, 2002).
- The novena prayer and daily reflections were written for this page.