La Guadalupana
By: Vic Alcuaz
Tags: Mexico, My Catholic Life, Inspiration, Blessed Virgin Mary, Catholic

La Guadalupana

A recollection letter to me from a friend-devotee of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Dear Vic,

Exactly seven years ago today (Dec 11, 2020), my sister Imee, Kirk and I had some great time in Mexico, D.F.

Prior to our coming to this big city, we toured around other states, but spent most of our weeks in Guadalajara. We wanted to have a feel of what Mexican daily life is. It was a shock to me that there are parts of Mexico that still practice traditional things, from food to religious events.

In Puerto Vallarta, after the celebration of the Holy Mass, parishioners would partake of the food prepared by the parish. Parishioners, both old and young, wear white clothes, which I could only surmise, was meant to indicate the purity of their desires and intentions in approaching God. And this goes along well with their spirit, as they enjoy their conversations at the patio of the church after the mass.

When we had to leave Guadalajara for Mexico D.F., we were excited to what awaited us in this grand city. It was winter time, but Mexicans live as though it was either spring or summer. Spring because the cool breeze required them to cover themselves in the winter fashion and style. Summer because all restaurants, streets and parks were full of happy people.

Every day that we were there, it was nothing short of the spirit of Christmas and New Year. Mexicans are a people of joy and hope. No wonder, the Virgin of Guadalupe chose Mount Tepeyac for the conversion of the whole of the Americas.

On the eve of the Virgin’s Feast Day — December 12 -, my sister and I prepared our prayers and our attire. We wanted to be like the Mexicans in the rural areas which we visited, so on the feast day of La Virjen, we both wore the white dress we bought in Guadalajara. While we prepared for what to wear and what to pray, we did not prepare for our transportation to the Basilica. We were so naïve, or perhaps, in our excitement, we overlooked this essential need.

We woke up early for the feast day since we wanted to be at the Basilica for the mass. It was our first time to be there on Her Feast Day.

We waited for any means of transportation possible to get to the Basilica, only to find out there was none! Thus, we decided to go there on foot despite the distance. It was freezing cold on the way but we kept walking and praying.

After about three kilometers on foot, we spotted an old bus on the road. We waived and the bus stopped right before us. There was no one on the bus except the driver. Our knowledge of the Spanish language is as little as the stones we could see on the cemented road, but we managed to ask the driver if it was going to the basilica by asking, “La Virhen?”, to which he replied “Si.”

So, we immediately hopped in!

Finally, we arrived at our destination. The bus stopped right behind the basilica. We got off and started praying while making our way through the millions of pilgrims trying to see the Virgin’s image.

Our joy was complete once inside the basilica.

After doing all we desired to do — participating in the Holy Mass, laying our bouquet of red roses with our prayers inserted within the flowers, we went outside to buy some souvenirs. After some moments, we decided to head back to Centro Historico for lunch. We were ready to walk back to our hotel realizing it might be difficult to find a bus back, hence we started trekking back.

For no reason, after a few steps from the basilica, and to our great surprise, the same bus was still there. It was still empty of passengers! We signalled the same driver once again. The moment we were seated inside, passengers started getting in, too. Did the driver just wait for us? We do not know. What we know is, other passengers waited for us to get inside before they did.

My sister and I were so happy that we did not have to walk back to the Centro Historico. The distance is almost 8kms. It came to our realization that the bus was sent to us by Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Lady took care of us and embraced us with her motherly care. She knew that we would not be able to make it to mass at the basilica if we had to walk all the way.

But that’s not all there is to it. She provided us a ride back to our hotel. Without that lone bus, we would have collapsed of weariness and hunger.

Our Mother knows best, and she knows our every need even without us verbalizing it.

To this day, I still pray my monthly novena in Spanish, and celebrate her feast day every 12th of December. As to my sister Imee, just this morning, she mentioned to me that she has consecrated herself to our Lady of Guadalupe.

It is my wish that in my next visit to the Virgin of Guadalupe,you can come with us.

La Guadalupana,

Pura