THE CRISTERO MOVEMENT WAS NOT IN VAIN: HIS HOLINESS PIUS XII

RADIO MESSAGE FROM HIS HOLINESS PIUS XII TO THE MEXICAN FAITHFUL ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CANONICAL CORONATION OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

Friday, October 12, 1945

Venerable Brothers and beloved children, gathered around Our Most Worthy Cardinal Legate, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the canonical coronation of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

More than three centuries had passed since the day the sweet Mother of Tepeyac began to receive the homage of the Catholics of Mexico and all of America, on the throne she herself had chosen; you held her in the center of your hearts and for this reason you had repeatedly proclaimed her your Lady and Patroness;  You had first dedicated a hermitage to her, then a chapel, then a temple, and finally a magnificent Basilica; Mexican voices acclaimed her continually, and the cry never ceased: Noble Indian woman, Mother of God; Noble Indian woman, our Mother. But your piety was still not satisfied; you wanted to see her crowned, as befitted a sovereign. She was your Queen, and the Queen had to be crowned!

And finally, your wish was fulfilled. Fifty years ago today—the chronicles recall—the newly restored Basilica was a blazing hot; tens of thousands of pilgrims thronged its spacious naves and spilled out into the surrounding area; almost forty bishops bowed reverently in the sanctuary; the cheers, hymns, and prayers reached heaven.  And when the golden crown shone upon that angelic brow, the cry, barely contained until then, finally burst forth from every heart and every mouth: “Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe, Empress of America and Queen of Mexico!” The spectacle was so beautiful, it seemed like a sweet dream. In reality, it was nothing more than the conscious and serene triumph of your love and your faith.

A most fitting tribute. For who could ignore what that nation owed to that Lady? Who could fail to remember the crucial role She had played in their vocation to the true Church, in their preservation within the practice and purity of a faith that had been like the crucible in which their young and powerful nation had been forged?

The Blessed Virgin was the providential instrument, chosen by the designs of the Heavenly Father, to give and present His precious Son to the world; to be Mother and Queen of the Apostles, who were to spread His doctrine everywhere;  to always crush heresies, and even to intervene miraculously at all times, wherever necessary for the establishment, consolidation, and defense of the holy Catholic faith. “Through Her,” says a great devotee of Mary, “the Holy Cross is celebrated and adored throughout the universe…; through Her every creature, imprisoned in the errors of idolatry, is led to the knowledge of the truth;… through Her the Apostles preached salvation to the nations” [1].

And so it happened, when God’s appointed time struck for the vast regions of Anáhuac. They had barely opened themselves to the world when, on the shores of Lake Texcoco, the miracle blossomed. On the tilma of poor Juan Diego—as tradition relates—brushes not of this world painted a most sweet image, which the corrosive work of the centuries would miraculously preserve.  The kind young maiden asked for a seat from which to "show and give all her love and compassion, help and defense... to all the inhabitants of that land and to all others who invoked her and trusted in her." From that historic moment, total evangelization was accomplished. And, what is more, a banner was raised, a fortress erected, against which the fury of all storms would break; one of the fundamental pillars of faith in Mexico and throughout the Americas was firmly established. As if the Cross, which, on this very day, across the turbulent waves, the fragile Spanish caravels had carried to the new continent, had been entrusted to the frail hands of that young woman, so that she might carry it triumphantly throughout those lands, plant it everywhere, and then retire to her rocky castle, overlooking ancient Tenochtitlán, to reign from there over the entire new world and watch over its faith;  "For, to use the felicitous expressions of one of your poets, she knows that such a daughter—proclaiming her Queen—faithfully preserves the deposit of faith that saves the world."

Today, beloved American congressmen, Our thoughts, with flight swifter and more certain than the waves that carry Our voice to you, place Us in your midst; and once again Our spirit is comforted by admiring your countless numbers, your boundless enthusiasm: by seeing that at this moment more than fifty Archbishops and Bishops represent there, in your midst, the faith of all the peoples of America; by receiving, in the person of Our Legate, the magnificent testimonies of your filial devotion, which are already known to Us. And by verifying that the center of all these fervors continues to be your Exalted Patroness, by seeing, almost with Our own eyes, that you continue to acclaim the Virgin of Guadalupe as your Mother and your Queen, We raise Our eyes to Heaven and give thanks to the Author of all good, because in this love and in this fidelity we wish to see the guarantee of the preservation of your faith.

For her sake, Mexican Catholics, your brothers and your parents were victims of persecution, and to defend her they faced death without hesitation, with the double cry of “Long live Christ the King! Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe!” Today, the conditions of the Church and of Religion in your homeland have improved remarkably, demonstrating that that invocation and that steadfastness were not in vain. But it is up to you, to you and to all American Catholics, to remain firm in your position, aware of your rights, with your heads always held high before the enemies of today and always: those who do not want Mary because they do not want Jesus, those who would like to sideline or ignore Jesus, thus robbing Mary of the most precious of her titles. Faced with their rebellion, your fidelity. May the dark-skinned Virgin of Tepeyac, the Empress of America and Queen of Mexico, not have to weep for desertions. May she, as she was yesterday, also be proud of her children tomorrow.

Your Congress, gathering thousands of signatures, has acclaimed her as "Sedes sapientiae," the throne of wisdom. Do not forget, Catholics of Mexico and all of America: true wisdom is that which she gave us, that which she teaches us in the name of Incarnate Wisdom. "Hail, most abundant fountain from which flow the streams of divine wisdom, repelling with the purest and clearest waters of orthodoxy the turbulent waves of error![2] Hail, O Virgin of Guadalupe! We, to whom the admirable disposition of Divine Providence entrusted, without regard for Our unworthiness, the sacred treasure of divine wisdom on earth, for the salvation of all souls, today place anew upon your brow the crown, which forever places under your powerful patronage the purity and integrity of the holy faith in Mexico and throughout the American continent."  Because we are certain that as long as You are recognized as Queen and as Mother, America and Mexico have been saved.

Let the Apostolic Blessing, which we wholeheartedly give you, be a pledge of these Our desires at this present time.

* AAS 37 (1945) 264-267

[1] St. Cyril Alexis, Hom. 4 ex diversis: MIGNE, PG, 77, 991.

[2] St. Germain Const., Sermon 1 in SS Deip. Praesent., n. 14: MIGNE, PG, 48, 305-306.