- Apparition shrine
- Patroness of the Americas
Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Guadalupe gathers the Americas at Tepeyac: pilgrims bring family, suffering, gratitude, and hope before the image venerated on the tilma of Saint Juan Diego.
- Location
- Mexico City
- The Americas
- Shrine type
- Apparition shrine
- The tilma image
- Recognition
- Established devotion in the life of the Church
- Feast December 12
- Marian title
- Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas
- Visionary
- Saint Juan Diego
- c. 1474–1548, according to shrine tradition
- Time needed
- 1 hour to a full day
- Allow a full day to pray, attend Mass, and walk Tepeyac; December 12 changes the rhythm of the whole sanctuary.
Mary comes close to the poor.
Guadalupe is the great Marian shrine of the Americas, gathered around the image venerated on the tilma of an Indigenous Christian named Juan Diego in the shrine's traditional account. Pilgrims come with family needs, illness, gratitude, questions of belonging, and hope. In the account, Mary addresses Juan Diego with tenderness and trust. Pilgrims pray before the image, attend Mass when the current schedule permits, walk Tepeyac, and entrust their families to Our Lady.
What happened here.
A man, a hill, an image.
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December 1531
The encounter at Tepeyac
According to the traditional Guadalupan account presented by the Basilica, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego at Tepeyac and asked for a church where those who seek her help could come.
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The sign in the account
Roses and the tilma
The same account tells how Juan Diego carried roses to Bishop Juan de Zumárraga in his tilma, and how the image now venerated as Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared when he opened it.
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The early shrine
A place of devotion at Tepeyac
The Guadalupan tradition places an early chapel at Tepeyac. The sanctuary that grew there has held generations of prayer, pilgrimage, and Mexican Catholic memory.
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1895
The image is crowned
The image received a pontifical coronation, a documented moment in the public history of Guadalupe's long-established devotion.
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2000–2002
The Church's liturgical and saintly remembrance
The Holy See extended the December 12 celebration throughout the Americas in 2000, and Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego in Mexico City in 2002.
A shrine day at Guadalupe.
A common pattern of prayer. Most pilgrims keep some of it, few keep all of it.
- 01 Prayer before the tilma Let the image above the altar of the New Basilica set the pace of the visit.
- 02 Mass Confirm the current schedule with the Basilica before building the day around a particular celebration.
- 03 Confession Follow the Basilica's current guidance, especially in pilgrimage seasons and around the feast.
- 04 The Rosary Prayed before the image and across the plaza.
- 05 Walking Tepeyac Up to the Capilla del Cerrito and the gardens of the apparition.
- 06 The Pocito A pause at the well chapel associated with the spring of Tepeyac.
- 07 Family entrustment Pilgrims bring family needs and photographs to Our Lady.
- 08 The feast of December 12 Expect the sanctuary's ordinary rhythm to change for vigils, song, dancers, and major liturgies.
Six things, not fifty.
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01
The image on the tilma
The image venerated as Our Lady of Guadalupe, set above the high altar of the New Basilica. Pause for prayer while following the sanctuary's current crowd guidance.
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02
Tepeyac Hill and the Capilla del Cerrito
The hill of the apparition account, reached by stairs and gardens above the basilicas. The Capilla del Cerrito crowns the site traditionally associated with the encounter.
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03
The Old Basilica
The 18th-century basilica beside the New Basilica, which held the image for generations and still gathers centuries of pilgrimage memory.
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04
The Capilla del Pocito
The small round well chapel associated with the spring of Tepeyac, an unusual late-Baroque building between the basilicas and the hill.
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05
The night vigil of the feast
On the eve of December 12, pilgrims keep an all-night vigil in the plaza, many having walked for days, carrying images of Our Lady through the cold.
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06
The feast of December 12
Traditional dancers, song, and Mass fill the sanctuary on the feast, the great Marian day of Mexico and the Americas.
How long to stay, and what to pray.
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1 hour A focused shrine visitTime-pressed visitorsThis plan saves
- The image on the tilma
- A quiet prayer in the New Basilica
- The plaza of the sanctuary
3 stops -
Half day Basilica, Tepeyac, and Mass if scheduledFirst-time pilgrimsThis plan saves
- The image and Mass if it fits the official schedule
- The Old Basilica
- Tepeyac Hill and the Capilla del Cerrito
- The Capilla del Pocito
4 stops -
Full day A deeper day at the sanctuaryUnhurried pilgrimsThis plan saves
- The image, Mass if scheduled, and confession
- Tepeyac and the gardens
- Pocito and Old Basilica
- Time for family prayer
4 stops -
Half day or more Walk with Juan Diego in memoryPilgrims following the Guadalupan accountThis plan saves
- Prayer before the tilma
- Tepeyac Hill and the Capilla del Cerrito
- A pause at the Pocito
- A closing prayer for the people you carry
4 stops
The lives this shrine remembers.
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Witness in the Guadalupan tradition
Saint Juan Diego
c. 1474–1548Cuauhtlatoatzin is remembered as the Indigenous Christian messenger of the Guadalupan account. The Basilica presents his witness as the path by which the devotion came to Tepeyac; Pope John Paul II canonized him in 2002.
Open life -
The devotion
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Marian titleThe Marian title venerated here, Patroness of the Americas, received in the account at Tepeyac and carried across a continent.
How Guadalupe gathers around Tepeyac
Everything at Guadalupe is arranged around one hill and one image. The basilicas stand at the foot of Tepeyac, the chapels climb its slope, and the plaza gathers the pilgrims who arrive from across the Americas.
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The image The New Basilica The modern circular basilica that holds the tilma above its high altar.
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The old shrine The Old Basilica The 18th-century basilica that held the image for generations.
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Apparition hill Tepeyac and the Capilla del Cerrito The hill of the account, crowned by the Cerrito chapel.
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The well The Capilla del Pocito The round well chapel associated with the spring of Tepeyac.
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Gathering space The plaza of the sanctuary The great atrium where pilgrims and processions gather. Marker is approximate within Atrio de America.
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Wider context Mexico City The Metropolitan Cathedral and the wider Catholic city below Tepeyac.
Official shrine · virgendeguadalupe.org.mx
How we treat the devotion.
Catholics are not required to believe private revelations as part of the deposit of faith, even when devotion is permitted or encouraged.
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is an apparition shrine whose apparitions the Church has recognized as worthy of belief. That recognition permits and encourages the devotion. It is not a definition of the faith, and it is distinct from the public revelation that closed with the apostles.
Where a pilgrimage goes next.
Also in the area, guides to come: Tepeyac and the gardens (On site) · The Old Basilica and the Pocito (On site) · Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral (City center) · Plaza of the Three Cultures (Nearby).
Photo credits
- Hero. Jarek Tuszyński / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Source. CC BY 4.0.
- Detail. Janothird / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Source. CC BY-SA 3.0.
- The image on the tilma. José Luiz / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Tepeyac Hill and the Capilla del Cerrito. Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The Old Basilica. José Luiz / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The Capilla del Pocito. José Luiz / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The night vigil of the feast. Sigrid Marisol Aguilar Jocol / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.
- The feast of December 12. ProtoplasmaKid / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.