In a letter published on Monday, Pope Francis celebrated the brotherhood of the sanctuaries dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe in Spain and Mexico, which took place on February 13th. 

Pope Francis directed this message to the Archbishop of Toledo (Spain), Mons. Francisco Cerro Chaves, and Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, Archbishop of Mexico. 

In his letter, published by the Holy See Press Office, the Holy Father noted, “Mary, our Mother, is always a bond of communion for her people.” 

For Pope Francis, “this has been expressed in many places in the world with the invitation to build a temple that would be a house with open doors for everyone, a house of prayer and communion.” 

He then remembered that “today we are called by the sweet Name of Mary, more precisely by a millennial invocation that already in its etymological root speaks to us of miscegenation, of meeting with God and with men.” 

The Pontiff also spoke of the “love of God” that the Virgin shows us and assured us that “everything would change if, like the Virgin, we could see in the other that hidden secret, how many failures and conflicts would we avoid.” 

“The Virgin Mary challenges us to be leaven for communion and reconciliation between God and men, encouraging so many faithful who come to the sanctuary with this purpose,” he added. 

Later, the Pope explained that “combining with the Mexican root, our Lady of Guadalupe proclaims herself as the one who conquers the serpent.” 

“The Immaculate is thus the true mother of all who lives; of those who have been called today in this sanctuary, together with their pastors, to proclaim their faith in the Son of God, in He who, making all things new, has reconciled the world with himself,” he affirmed. 

Finally, the Pope asked God, “at every time and place where Mary our Mother calls us, we give witness to that intimate union of which only the Spirit can be the artifice.” 

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.