Our Lady of Guadalupe & the Flower World Prophecy 2024
2024
MEXICO
DATES
2024
PLACE
MEXICO
This is an example of a Custom Pilgrimage crafted for a Catholic School located in Northern Virginia. Crafted within the parameters of our Classic line of Pilgrimages, this one was carefully budgeted for the students, chaperones and teachers so that they could experience the unique qualities of Inside the Vatican Pilgrimages at our most affordable price, without sacrificing Inside the Vatican integrity and style.
Our pilgrimage begins with a sweeping reach back in time to 500 years ago — to the early 1500s — when the Spanish conquistadors first encountered the powerful Aztec empire.
So we take you back to that time half a millennium ago, to the years just after the 1492 voyage of discovery by Christopher Columbus, when Christianity first came to the New World…
The Spanish sailors and soldiers brought Franciscan friars with them to preach the Christian faith to the Indigenous People — an entirely new faith for the peoples of the Americas.
However, in just the past few years, two diligent researchers have discovered something astonishing after more than 10 years of scholarly research: the Aztecs, in the early 1500s, had already, and for many centuries, been expressing in their poetry and art a longing for a type of future existence, symbolized by a profusion of beautiful flowers, that transcended their daily life in the Aztec kingdom: a “Flower World Paradise.”
Thus, when the “Good News” of Christ was preached to the Aztecs by the Spanish friars, and when, in 1531, the tilma of Juan Diego was suddenly, miraculously, filled with flowers, the Aztec people throughout the entire region of Mexico began to speak of the new faith as… the fulfillment of their own ancient longing for a “Flower World Paradise.”
In this way, the message of Christ had been prepared for centuries through a network of artistic ideas, which include indigenous flower song poems depicting an afterlife in a “Flower World Paradise” saturated with beautiful colors, sounds and the intoxicating smell of heavenly flowers.
Juan Diego’s flower-filled tilma thus arrived like a bolt of lightning, fusing the deepest faith of the Spanish conquerors with the deepest hopes of the Aztec people as for them, gathering flowers in the tilma was a metaphor for recognizing and possessing the truth.
Joseph and Monique González are the two scholars who have spent years researching the pre-Christian Aztec culture, and they will travel with us on our pilgrimage!
They will shed an entirely new light on why the Aztec people were so receptive to the message of Christianity through the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the story of St. Juan Diego who gathered the flowers of heaven in his tilma on the hilltop of Tepeyac.
Their book, Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy: How God Prepared the Americas for Conversion Before the Lady Appeared, will be one of the key strands with which we will weave the fabric of this extraordinary pilgrimage to Guadalupe, Mexico.
Therefore not only will you see where this all happened, but you also will have a new insight into the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe and why the 8-million-plus Aztec people were so receptive to the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Bernardino de Sahagún, a Franciscan friar, exclaimed that God in His Providence was remedying the decline of the Catholics in Europe due to the Protestant Reformation, which had begun in 1519, through the millions of conversions occurring in the New World – there were between nine and ten million conversions throughout Mexico.
“It certainly seems, in our times, in these lands and with this people, that our Lord God has willed to restore to the Church that which the demon robbed her of in England, Germany, France, Asia, and Palestine.” — Bernardino de Sahagún, a Fransican Friar.
Highlights of our Mexico 2024 Pilgrimage:
- Carefully planned itinerary to provide you with a better appreciation of Our Lady’s apparition and message
- Joseph and Monique González, authors of Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy, will accompany us throughout the pilgrimage, weaving into it newly-discovered history
- Tour of the pyramids at Teotihuacan
- Travel to the beautiful city of Puebla, with stops at historical and religious sites along the way
- Pilgrimage to the birthplace of Juan Diego, the Cortés-built church of his baptism and the “Church of the Fifth Apparition”
- Venerate the tombs of Blessed Miguel Pro and the incorrupt Blessed Sebastian de Aparicio
- Full day at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Daily Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and other beautiful and significant churches
- Unique cultural experiences
- Deborah Tomlinson, the President of Inside the Vatican Pilgrimages, will lead this pilgrimage
- Plus many unexpected stops and grace-filled encounters along the way.
Tour Details & Guidelines
Air Travel:
Participants are responsible for arranging and paying for their own air travel for the Mexico: Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy pilgrimage
Arrival Information:
- Airport: Mexico City International Airport (MEX)
- Date: Friday, September 20, 2024 (Day 1 of the pilgrimage)
- Time: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM (Local Time)
- Transfer: Individual transfer from the airport to the hotel in Rome
We recommend arriving one day early, on Thursday, September 19, 2024, to allow for rest and more flexibility with flight options. If you choose to arrive early, please contact our office for assistance with booking the recommended early arrival hotel.
If you stay at the recommended early arrival hotel, we will provide a transfer from the airport directly to that hotel.
If you decide to stay at a different hotel, we will arrange a transfer from your chosen hotel to the designated hotel where the pilgrimage starts on Day 1.
Departure Information:
- Airport: Mexico City International Airport (MEX)
- Date: Friday, September 27, 2024 (Day 8 of the pilgrimage)
- Time: After 10:00 AM (Local Time)
- Transfer: Individual transfer to the airport at 7:00 AM
It is necessary to depart the hotel 3 hours before flight departure. If you choose a flight with a departure time before 10:00 AM, you will be responsible for the cost of an individual airport transfer.
Recommended Travel Agency: For booking flights, we recommend using an experienced travel agency. They will handle your airline reservations and forward the details to our office, ensuring a seamless process. You will receive the contact information for Inside the Vatican Pilgrimages’ recommended seasoned travel agent in your Welcome Letter, which is sent immediately after you register for the pilgrimage.
If you would like to get an idea of the cost and availability of flights, we suggest checking Google Flights as a helpful and simple tool for initial research.