Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity share the story behind the Our Lady of Guadalupe Framed Image that was donated December 2019 by Agustin Lopez Ramirez, uncle of our Sister Maria Guadalupe Martinez Lopez. Typically it is found beautifying our Motherhouse. However, this year we are happy to share this gift with St. Gregory St. Nazianz families. Watch for that post.
Here’s the description of the image as described in our own archives:
“This image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was donated to Sister Natalie Binversie by Agustin Lopez Ramirez and it has been blessed by St. John Paul II. This image was a gift to him from a friend who was a priest. From the town of Degollado in the State of Jalisco in Mexico, there was a priest who was a missionary from the order of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Their headquarters are in the Basilica of Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. His name was Juvenal Garnica. He was a missionary in Japan for some time. He one day went to Rome. He took with him several images of Our Lady of Guadalupe so that Pope John Paul II could bless them. He gave them to his friends as a gift which are original copies of the Image in the Basilica. The so called “Guadalupe Happening,” refers to when the image of Mary was embodied on the tilma of St. Juan Diego when Our Lady appeared to him. And it also refers to how she was venerated until now. During the persecution to Catholicism in Mexico, the holy martyrs would cry out, “Long live Christ the King and Holy Mary of Guadalupe.”