2 Guadalupe devotions to share shrines in Mexico and Spain

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Tepeyac, Mexico, has a new image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It’s Our Lady of Guadalupe of Extremadura (Spain), whose image was delivered to the Shrine of Tepeyac this September 3 as part of a "sister shrine" agreement made between the two Guadalupan sanctuaries last February.

This agreement means that both Mexico and Spain will have an image of both advocations so that both nations may pray equally for the Mexican and Spanish people.

In addition, the shrine in Mexico will now solemnly celebrate the feast of the Our Lady of Guadalupe of Extremadura (September 6), and in Spain, they will celebrate December 12, the feast of the Mexican apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

According to information shared by Mexican Catholic media outlet Desde la fe, the image — made by Spanish painter Raúl Berzosa — was delivered to Cardinal Aguiar Retes by Archbishop Francisco Cerro Chávez, so that it could be placed in an appropriate space for the faithful to venerate it.

This advocation of the Virgin Mary has been the patron saint of Extremadura since 1907 and Queen of Hispanity since October 12, 1928, the day she was canonically crowned as such.

According to the legend, in the 13th century, the Virgin Mary appeared to Gil Cordero, a cowherd from the region of Cáceres, and told him that there was a sculpture of her buried next to the Guadalupe River. Subsequently, one of Cordero's cows died and, before butchering it, he made a sign of the cross on the animal's belly and it was resurrected. Being located next to the river, Gil thought that maybe that was the place where the image of the Virgin was buried. He dug and found the image inside a box, located only three feet underground.

Cordero made a small hut to display the image. When he went to the church of Cáceres to report the discovery and the desire of the Virgin to be venerated in that place, he did not get a response, since nobody believed him.

When he arrived home, he found that his son had died. He asked the Virgin to bring him back to life. While his burial was being celebrated, the son came back to life and said that a woman had helped him to get up. From that moment on, the clergy and members of the village believed Cordero’s story. They went together to the place where the image was found to venerate Mary there, and they built a chapel there.

This chapel was eventually converted into a large church with adjacent buildings, thanks to the intervention of King Alfonso XI.

Learn about the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, here.