MEXICO CITY — Bishop Michael Pham received a relic bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to bring home to the Diocese of San Diego.
He received a replica of the tilma with the image at a special Mass at the iconic Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on July 30 during the fourth of an eight-day pilgrimage to Mexico City and surrounding cities and towns. He had traveled there with Auxiliary Bishop Felipe Pulido and Bishop Ramón Bejarano, from the Diocese of Monterey, along with 150 faithful from their dioceses.
Throughout the journey, they attended daily Mass, and prayed the rosary and sang songs on the bus rides. They had private moments too, amid the grandeur and beauty of the shrines they were visiting, to reflect on their encounter with Our Lady of Guadalupe.
In San Diego, the tilma will visit every parish and school be present at diocesan events in preparation for the celebration in 2031 of the 500th anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego at Tepeyac Hill.
Father Edgar Valtierra, representing the Basilica’s rector, addressed the bishops at the presentation of the relic on the steps of the sanctuary, which is in front of the altar where the original tilma hangs in a beautiful gold frame.
“We give this tilma as what it truly is, not a gift but rather a sign, the same sign that Juan Diego carried in his arms without knowing that what he carried were not flowers, but rather a presence,” Father Valtierra said.
“And in this presence, the Mother repeats to us what she said at Tepeyac: ‘Am I not here, who is your mother?’ And with this question she reaches out to all of us, the ones in this shore and those on the other, because her cloak does not know borders and her tenderness does not ask for a passport.
“And that is why this delivery is made on the road that the Mexican Episcopal Conference and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops travel as sister churches in preparation for the Guadalupan Jubilee. We’re not traveling like neighbors that greet each other, rather as children of the same mother who wants us to be together.
“In your hands, may this tilma be a reminder that we are one single family, and that whoever gazes upon it finds, not an image to be admired, but rather a face to be loved, of Jesus Christ, whom Mary always carries and always delivers,” Father Valtierra concluded.
Father Eduardo Aguilar, coordinator of the Novena Intercontinental Guadalupana, then presented the tilma to the bishops, who held it up as the Mass-goers applauded.
Eva Sánchez Magaña, the executive secretary of the Novena, then presented Bishop Bejarano with another relic of the tilma, to more applause.
The Novena is a nine-year process launched by Pope Francis in 2022 to prepare the Catholic Church to celebrate the 500th anniversary.
The tilma headed to the diocese is made from fibers of the maguey cactus, just like the original. It is considered a third-class relic since it touched the original when it was prepared.
Evangelization Journey
The pilgrimage began on July 27, when the pilgrims flew out of Tijuana, and ended on Aug. 3. They included priests, deacons and their wives, and faithful from parishes located in the San Diego-Imperial Valley region. They ranged in age from eight years old and up, and were from various cultures, including Hispanic, Filipino, Vietnamese and Chinese.
The pilgrims traveled by bus to cities and pueblos in east-central Mexico, where the bishops celebrated Masses at renowned Catholic shrines.
Along the way, they learned about Mexico’s rich history, from around 10,000 BC, when indigenous cultures flourished; to the Spanish colonization (beginning in 1531 with the arrival of Hernán Cortés at Puebla); to the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1822); to the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) to the Cristero War (1926-1929) to modern times.
And they learned about the evangelization process inspired by Our Lady of Guadalupe. And about the influence of Franciscan, Augustinian and Dominican missionaries, starting in the 16th century.
On the first day, the pilgrims visited the miraculous water site at a pueblo in Tlaxcala state called San Miguel del Milagro and attended Mass at St. Michael the Archangel Church. They attended the final Mass in Mexico City seven days later, at the Church of the Holy Family, hours before flying back to Tijuana.
‘How beautiful she is’
The highlight of the pilgrimage was the noon Mass at the Basilica, where the bishops received the tilma relics, and their visit afterward to nearby Tepeyac Hill.
Bishop Pham celebrated the Mass, accompanied Bishops Pulido and Bejarano and priests and deacons from their dioceses. Bishop Bejarano took over the Diocese of Monterey in February after serving as auxiliary bishop in San Diego for six years.
“We, as pilgrims, have come here thanking our Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who responded to our Lord, ‘Yes, yes, I will take on this mission to bring Christ into the world,’” said Bishop Pham in his homily.
According to Catholic Church tradition, Our Lady of Guadalupe’s image appeared miraculously on the fabric of St. Juan Diego’s tilma when he opened it on Dec. 12, 1531, to show the region’s bishop the white roses she had sent him as a sign of her existence. They were not in season at the time.
The Church recognizes her apparitions as the start of the evangelization of the Americas, one that had a maternal indigenous face and language.
Bishop Pham said the tilma was “very, very special.” He noted how it had survived, undamaged, over the centuries of exposure to the elements, an accidental spill of nitric acid and even a bomb that exploded nearby.
“We continue to see it as a living miracle for us in our world today,” he said.
He shared that years ago, when he was a priest, he had traveled to the Basilica “to ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to intercede for graces that I needed” to be a good pastor to the people of God he had been assigned to. When he returned home, one parishioner told him that his preaching was much better than before.
“I don’t know if that’s the case,” he continued, “but I felt that Our Lady had interceded and had journeyed with me.”
He expressed his hope as the 500th anniversary approaches.
“My wish is that every one of us, not just Hispanics, but people throughout the world, of all cultures and tongues, come to know her, how beautiful she is and how she continues journeying with us today.”
