December 12, 2014

A pilgrim carries an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe during celebrations marking her feast day, Dec. 12, 2012, outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Mary is associated with everything from national identity in Mexico to the mother earth in Chile to the national patroness of many of the countries in between. (CNS photo/Edgard Garrido, Reuters)

"O God of Unexpected Places, fill us with the strength and conviction to find you as we journey through this Advent season. Juan Diego was not sure who was guiding him, yet he persevered, bringing the gift of flowers. Many today face similar uncertainties: the immigrant, the person being trafficked, the victim of abuse, victims of typhoons and tornadoes. Who are the Juan Diegos in our life? If we open our mantel of love, what might we find? In faith and trust, we move forward with gifts of love, patience, awareness, sensitivity, compassion."

- Sr. Mary Beth Niehau, OSB

During Advent 2013, NCRonline.org invited the sisters of the Monastery of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kan., to contribute O Antiphons; Global Sisters Report is sharing some of them this year in Visual Life. You can read the full series as it is republished this month here.

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