Madre Peregrina statue on US tour brings message of hope, peace and joy, bishop says

ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) — The Madre Peregrina statue visiting the Twin Cities is like Mary visiting Elizabeth — she comes with news of hope and joy, said Auxiliary Bishop Kevin T. Kenney of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The bishop shared a message of peace, joy and healing during a Mass April 23 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul to welcome the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe from Mexico City as the 500th anniversary of the apparition of Mary approaches in 2031.

Madre Peregrina, called Pilgrim Mother in English, was at the cathedral April 22-26, and then was moved to Incarnation Church in Minneapolis, where it will stay from April 27 to May 10.

Before coming to the Minnesota archdiocese, the statue was in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, the last of seven Wisconsin cities that were part of the tour.

Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis presided at Mass at the cathedral, with Bishop Kenney delivering the homily and concelebrating with Auxiliary Bishop Michael J. Izen. A local mariachi band provided the music.

“Our Lady of Guadalupe appears as an Indigenous woman, pregnant, because she wanted the Church, the new world, to give hope to all peoples. She wanted peace to exist. She wanted people to see that they were all children,” Bishop Kenney said in his homily.

Having the statue travel to New York City, Chicago, Milwaukee and other cities in the United States indicates the nation needs Mary’s intercession, Bishop Kenney said.

“(Madre Peregrina) has been traveling throughout the U.S. for the last few months,” Bishop Kenney said. “Back in October, we received an invitation for her to stop here. We accepted that invitation, but at the end of November, when (Operation) Metro Surge started in the Twin Cities, we decided that it wasn’t the time for her to come. So as temperatures went down in the area, she was in Wisconsin (and) we said yes.”

The tour began in Chicago in August 2025 and is traveling to several U.S. states before going on to Europe and Africa.

In St. Paul, after Mass and a video that told the story of Mary appearing to St. Juan Diego in December 1531, two long lines of people formed to venerate the statue.

One volunteer, Marie Zellner, helped usher people up the stairs to the sanctuary and the statue. Zellner wore a broach on her collar depicting the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She got the broach while visiting the real tilma at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“She touches your heart, for sure,” Zellner said, admiring the statue from one of the front pews. “Especially if you’ve been to the basilica (in Mexico City). There’s nothing like it, told The Catholic Spirit, the archdiocesan news outlet.

Two friends, Aiden Schmidt and Luther Steen, attended Mass at the cathedral April 23. Schmidt was confirmed on Easter this year. Steen isn’t a practicing Catholic but said he attends a lot of events and Mass at the cathedral with Schmidt.

“We were going to come to Mass anyways,” Schmidt said. “We completely forgot that there was going to be Our Lady of Guadalupe until we came in here. We were caught completely by surprise.”

Together, after Mass, the two friends wrote prayer petitions on a strip of white ribbon and brought the prayers to a basket set before the statue.

The strips of white ribbons were available to anyone who wished to write their prayer intentions. The ribbons will be delivered to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City where St. Juan Diego’s tilma is kept for veneration.

Estela Villagrán Manancero, the director of the archdiocese’s Office of Latino Ministry, said she brought 10 spools of white ribbon thinking it would be enough for one night. But 10 spools were not enough.

Our Lady of Guadalupe holds a special place in Zellner’s life. She’s a parishioner of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul and took pilgrimages to Mexico City — her parents’ birthplace — with Bishop Kenney when he was pastor of her parish. She’s visited the basilica and tilma throughout her life, often traveling with her husband.

“My husband died a year ago. … It was one of the many beautiful things that we did together,” Zellner said. “As a Catholic family, we brought our kids every now and then, but mainly just he and I, we, would go as often as we could to Mexico City. It holds very special meaning to me, because he was with me at that time.”

She looked up at the statue again, and said, “I know now she’s taking care of him up there. And my mom and dad. The four of us went a lot (to Mexico City). It was always beautiful.”

Zellner has four children, 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is Dec. 12, honoring the Virgin Mary’s appearance to St. Juan Diego. On that day at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, a statue of Mary is given a crown made of gold. Years ago, Zellner said, her uncle from Mexico City made that crown of gold. It was presented during a Mass with Bishop Kenney, then the pastor, presiding.

“My mom and dad presented it at the altar, and it was blessed,” Zellner said. “That same crown is at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church now, and she’s crowned every year with that crown on December 12.”

Zellner recruited her co-worker at the Minnesota Twins ticket office, Dawn Belko, a parishioner of St. Gerard Majella in Brooklyn Park, to volunteer with her to help during the statue’s stay at the cathedral. She told Belko, “OK, you’re going to learn about Our Lady of Guadalupe.”

In addition to the statue placed in the cathedral’s sanctuary, a side chapel held two large paintings of St. Juan Diego and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on his tilma. People were invited to pray there as well. Free rosaries were blessed and available for all who wanted one.

Zellner said she hopes to travel back to see the tilma but hasn’t been able to in recent years.

“With the troubles that this world is in these days, it’s a little difficult to travel. It’s been kind of scary to travel, so that has stopped me these last probably four, five years, but I sure would love to (visit again),” she said.

“We know of the protection of Our Lady, we know of the love of her son, Jesus Christ,” Bishop Kenney said during his homily. “Let us pray for that peace, let us pray for that hope, the healing that so many in today’s world need, but especially here in our archdiocese.”

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