Our Lady of Guadalupe & How God Speaks to Us

During the month of May we’ll be highlighting our Marian dolls (which are all on sale this month!) and exploring ways to incorporate these apparitions into a play based Catholic faith formation. Today we look at Our Lady of Guadalupe! (shown here as our classic doll with Mary Around the World book)

The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is incredibly rich and offers so many opportunities to teach different aspects of the faith!

One of our favorite ways to engage children in the story is through Our Lady’s outfit.  Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared dressed in way that communicated God’s message to the Aztecs.  You can point out the black sash that shows she’s pregnant with baby Jesus, her blue mantle covered in stars to signify she comes from heaven, and the flowers on her dress that told the Aztecs she was the Mother of God. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe is a powerful tool to teach children that God loves us so much that he, and his Mother, find ways to communicate to people in ways that they will understand.  God’s love is not exclusive, but inclusive. 

Asking questions is a great way to reinforce the lessons learned during play.  Encourage children to think about how God can communicate to them in their own lives.  Discuss the five senses, and how they are entry points for God’s love to speak to us.  Ask your children to think of other parts of our faith that speak to our senses (for example, we ‘see’ stained glass windows, we ‘smell’ incense, we ‘hear’ sacred music, we ‘taste’ the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, we ‘feel’ holy water).

This is just one example of how to use this story to explore and expand on an aspect of our faith.  Together with your child, I’m sure you will unpack even more! God bless!