A multi-year project is underway to inspire more Catholics in the U.S. to prepare to celebrate the upcoming the 500th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas. 

“Our Lady of Guadalupe’s appearance in 1531 is nothing less than the birthday of Christianity in the Americas, spurring a wave of conversions in the hearts of Indigenous and Spanish peoples alike,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who is leading the project, stated in a recently emailed press release about the project. 

He is working with the Benedict XVI Institute on Project Guadalupe 2031, which includes several new initiatives as a “way of recognizing the significance of that moment and giving its anniversary its proper reverence,” according to the archbishop.

“Our Lady of Guadalupe has always been a significant figure in the Spanish speaking Americas. Our hope with this project is to elevate her significance in the English speaking part of the Americas, and to bring together all of the Catholic Americas with proper reverence for Our Lady,” Archbishop Cordileone said in the release.

The project features a Home Enthronement Initiative for Our Lady of Guadalupe, including a new Litany to Our Lady of Guadalupe in English that Archbishop Cordileone commissioned Catholic poet James Matthew Wilson to write.

Archbishop Cordileone will lead the faithful in praying the new litany Nov. 5 on Zoom. Those interested can register to attend here. 

Via the Hallow app, Archbishop Cordileone will shepherd a novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe leading up to her feast day, Dec. 12. 

The Home Enthronement Initiative’s free kit includes a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe and a prayer ceremony to consecrate homes to Our Lady. According to the initiative’s webpage, the Benedict XVI Institute’s goal is for at least 100,000 homes to participate within the next three years. 

According to Project Guadalupe 2031’s website, the Benedict XVI Institute will announce a conference for the Project that will feature “leading Guadalupe scholars developing a fierce intellectual defense of Our Lady.” 

In December, the institute also will launch the first English translation of “La Guadalupana” to be sung in the original melody. 

Mexican Catholics have sung this hymn for centuries, according to Wilson, who worked on the translation. 

“By adapting this hymn into the first singable English translation, my hope is that families across North America will finally be able to raise their voices together in a shared song of devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe,” he said in the release. 

Another initiative is increasing celebrations of the Mass of the Americas, which includes music written by Frank La Rocca. This Mass has been celebrated in Ordinary Form and Extraordinary Form. 

On Dec. 12, several churches in the U.S. will celebrate the Mass of the Americas: the Basilica Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dallas, the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Basilica of St. Mary’s in Alexandria, Virginia will celebrate the Mass of the Americas on Dec. 12 in 2026.

According to the release, Archbishop Cordileone commissioned the Mass to honor Our Lady under her titles Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Mexico and all the Americas, and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the U.S. 

“The Mass incorporates classic Mexican hymns (including La Guadalupana) but elevates them into the high sacred music tradition of the Church,” the release noted.

In August, Archbishop Cordileone celebrated this Mass at the Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin, with Cardinal Raymond Burke, who has spread devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe for many years. In October, the archbishop celebrated Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Tepeyac, Mexico, where the tilma is preserved. A 60-voice festival choir led the music. 

According to the release, Arturo Rocha, the academic director at the Shrine’s College of Guadalupe Studies, attended the Mass and was in awe of the liturgy’s music. 

“I have been to hundreds of Masses here — great Masses with orchestra for visiting dignitaries — but never have I ever heard such beauty in this place,” Rocha said, “I have never heard such profound and intimate music as on this occasion.” 

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