Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect emeritus of the Apostolic Signatura and archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, celebrated his first public Mass after an arduous battle with COVID-19, having been placed on a ventilator in August.
Burke gave thanks to God for his recovery at a Votive Mass of Our Lady on December 11 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
My heart is filled with deepest gratitude to almighty God Who, from August 10th last, has brought me, through a great suffering which seemingly would have ended in death.
In a particular way, Burke expressed his personal spiritual experience of feeling cared for by Our Lady of Guadalupe in his recovery, as if she were holding him in her arms.
In thanking God for having conserved me in life, I also thank Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Virgin Mother of God, and Saint Joseph, her True and Most Chaste Spouse, and the company of saints who interceded so powerfully for me during my time of trial. When I regained consciousness after spending nine critical days on a ventilator, I was filled with the knowledge that Our Lady of Guadalupe had been constantly holding me in her arms and keeping me one in heart with the glorious pierced Heart of her Divine Son, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
This experience has given Burke a renewed zeal in promoting devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, as he expressed in his homily for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 13.
Now that God is restoring me to health, I am determined to be a more faithful, generous and pure messenger of Our Lady of Guadalupe, especially through my dedication to the mission of the Shrine here.
Afterwards, Cardinal Burke greeted many of the pilgrims present at the Masses he celebrated at the Shrine.
