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Today is the feast of Saint Juan Diego - you can read his beautiful story here. Juan Diego (canonized in 2002) is the patron saint the indigenous people of the Americas. His feast day is a prelude to the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (patron of the Americas) which will be observed on Monday, December 12. In my homily at mass this morning, I shared this prayer from the site of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. The prayer addresses the plight of indigenous and migrant people - whose stories are in the news every day...
St. Juan Diego,
our first saint from the Americas, pray for us.
We ask God the Father to pour forth the protecting love of his Spirit
upon all migrants, taking special heed of those in need of support,
who
are isolated or separated from their native lands,
whether by choice or
necessity.
St. Juan Diego, intercede for those torn away from their families
in
pursuit of work that they may be reunited:
husbands with wives and
parents with children.
As the Virgin of Guadalupe promised you her compassionate prayers
for
the poor of Mexico,
so now raise your merciful pleading for migrant
women and children
who are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of
human trafficking.
Seek for them protection from all evil.
May we, O Blessed Juan Diego, receive through your prayers,
the grace
to welcome with love to our country all migrants
who seek a home in our
parishes and communities.
And we ask that you join your prayers to those of Our Lady,
who
appeared to you as your Mother and as Mother of all in our land.
May she
wrap her mantle of protection around all migrant people.
We beg for her love, compassion, help, and protection
on all
immigrants who today experience great sufferings, sorrows,
necessities,
and misfortunes.
In the shared power of Christ
and the union of the Holy Spirit,
we say: Amen.
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