This week, the Church celebrates the solemnity of the birth of St. John the Baptist. This may seem a little odd to those who follow the feasts of saints. Typically, a saint’s feast day is the day that they died, and yet here we have the celebration of John the Baptist’s birth. This is something that we really only do for Mary and Jesus. So what makes John so special?

This past week, the Church celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This feast celebrates the apparition of our Lady to Saint Juan Diego. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has since gone on to become one of the most famous images of Mary as well as one of the most unique. The image itself contains some of the deepest symbolism of any such images. Let’s take a look at some of this symbolism.