Masses pray to the “Virgin Mother.”

On December 9 and the weekend that followed, six million people descended on Mexico City during the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in order to visit the Basilica of Guadalupe. This shrine contains a cape reported to be miraculously imprinted with an image of Mary—following a vision by a farmer in 1531. Approximately 95,000 people per hour filed past the cape for a fleeting glance at the holy relic.

Simultaneously in Turin, Italy, a replica of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was displayed, while in Rome, the Pope recognized this “holy” day and the loving holiness of the “Blessed Mother” in his Sunday mass (Zenit.org, December 13, 2010).

Although God chose Mary as the physical mother of Jesus, there is no evidence that Mary remained a virgin following Christ’s birth.  In fact, the Scriptures clearly indicate that Mary had additional children (Mark 3:31-35; 6:3; Galatians 1:19).  The First Commandment states that God is to be the object of our worship (Exodus 20:1-3).  Jesus Christ alone is our Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). 

Nowhere does Scripture indicate that any human, including Mary, should be worshiped. Yet, over a billion people around the world pray regularly to Mary. This is one reason why God prophesied that one day soon, the celebration of man-made feasts will end (Amos 5:21; 8:10) and will be replaced by the Feasts of the Lord (Zechariah 14:16-18). 

For more information on this topic, see our free booklet The Holy Days: God’s Master Plan.