Some ancient codices locate the origin of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in the first century of Christianity, and its author, St. Luke. "Although the image that today is venerated in this place is a Romanesque carving, in cedar, from the 12th century". This is explained by the Franciscan friars of the monastery and sanctuary of Guadalupe, located in Cáceres (Extremadura).
Account the legend that when St. Luke died, the image was buried next to him. It was then transferred from Asia Minor to Constantinople in the 4th century. From there, Cardinal Gregory took it to Rome (582), where he was elected Pope in 590 with the name of Gregory the Great.
This Pope became the main devotee of the image, which was moved from Rome to Seville, as the Pope gave it to the archbishop St. Leandro. And in the city of Seville it began to be venerated until the beginning of the Arab invasion (711).
In 714, some clerics fleeing from Seville hid her by the Guadalupe River, where she was found by a shepherd, to whom the Virgin appeared. She asked him to dig in that place to find her image and then build a hermitage that would become a monastery and sanctuary. The Franciscans take up this legend, but affirmThe image that today is venerated in this place is a Romanesque carving from the 12th century".
Meaning of Guadalupe
Say GuadalupeThe friars say, "is to permanently bring to memory snippets of the greatness and shadows of the Crown of Castile, of its pilgrim kings, of national unity. Also "of the American epic, of the visits and promises of Christopher Columbus, of the fervor of the discoverers and conquerors of the New World".
And snippets also "of the innumerable series of pilgrim saints (John of Avila, Pedro de Alcántara, Teresa of Jesus, John of God, Cristobal de Santa Catalina, John Paul II...). And "of famous and noble pilgrims (Marquis of Santillana, Cervantes, Hernán Cortés...). Of poor noble pilgrims cared for in its hospitals, in the cupboards of the porter's lodge, in the farmhouses along each of its thirteen pilgrim roads...". The enclave, the friars emphasize, has "a history of Faith and Culture of more than seven centuries".
In the programming In the celebration of the festivities, the Archbishop of Toledo, Msgr. Cerro Chaves, will preside this Saturday the Novenario, whose general theme is "In the one Christ we are one, with St. Mary of Guadalupe".
