Bishop Michael Sis of the Diocese of San Angelo, will preside over a Mass  at two churches on Dec. 12, which is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The bishop will be at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Robert Lee at 11:30 a.m. and at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in San Angelo for a 6 p.m. Mass.

The following excerpt from Franciscan Media tells the legend of Our Lady of Guadalupe:

The feast in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to the 16th century. Chronicles of that period tell us the story. A poor Indian named Cuauhtlatohuac was baptized and given the name Juan Diego. He was a 57-year-old widower, and lived in a small village near Mexico City. On Saturday morning December 9, 1531, he was on his way to a nearby barrio to attend Mass in honor of Our Lady.

“A face of Our Lady of Guadalupe” 
by angelofsweetbitter2009 is
licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Juan was walking by a hill called Tepeyac when he heard beautiful music like the warbling of birds. A radiant cloud appeared, and within it stood an Indian maiden dressed like an Aztec princess. The lady spoke to him in his own language and sent him to the bishop of Mexico, a Franciscan named Juan de Zumarraga. The bishop was to build a chapel in the place where the lady appeared.

Eventually the bishop told Juan to have the lady give him a sign. About this same time Juan’s uncle became seriously ill. This led poor Juan to try to avoid the lady. Nevertheless the lady found Juan, assured him that his uncle would recover, and provided roses for Juan to carry to the bishop in his cape or tilma.

On December 12, when Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop’s presence, the roses fell to the ground, and the bishop sank to his knees. On the tilma where the roses had been appeared an image of Mary exactly as she had appeared at the hill of Tepeyac.