This will be a learning experience for me.
The message (a form letter) from Cardinal Burke:
“Dear Matthias,
There is great spiritual work to be done.
You no doubt know this well, which is perhaps one of the reasons you have decided to join me during our nine-month Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe: our world is in need of God’s grace, and Our Lady‘s intercession is among the surest ways to secure it.
There are other reasons you may have decided to sign up. Perhaps you seek a greater relationship with the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. Maybe you want to grow in knowledge of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe - a singular, defining moment in the history of the Americas and, indeed, the world. Or maybe you are looking to deepen your interior life through regular, heartfelt prayer.
Whatever your aim, know that I am glad you have chosen to join me in this spiritual undertaking, and humbled at the opportunity to help guide you during these nine months. If you give your time in this novena, and if you set your hearts, together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the Sacred Heart of Her Son, she will never fail to intercede on your behalf, and He will never fail to provide an abundance of divine grace.
In the hope that you find this kind of instruction helpful and encouraging, I will send short video reflections each month to help you enter into this novena with all your heart. I will also provide regular written reflections, meditations, and prayers - all in an effort to help keep you under the protection of Mary’s Mantle and, there to find the truth and love of Her Divine Son.
Invoking God’s blessing upon you and your home, while confiding your intentions to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego, I remain
Yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and in the Purest Heart of Saint Joseph,
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke”