The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and San Felipe on Via Aurelia is the national church of Mexico.
It was built between 1955 and 1958 to a design by architect Gianni Mazzocca and was consecrated by Cardinal Vicar Clemente Micara on 12 December 1958.
The church is a parish seat, established on 22 September 1960 by decree of Cardinal Vicar Clemente Micara, and entrusted to the Legionaries of Christ, who are its owners. On 15 January 1991, Pope John Paul II elevated it to the dignity of a minor basilica.
It is the seat of the cardinal title of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Philip Martyr in Via Aurelia, instituted by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1991.
The martyr is St. Philip of Jesus, born Felipe de las Casas (Mexico City, 1572 - Nagasaki, 5 February 1597), a Franciscan monk, missionary and Mexican saint; he was the first native saint of Mexico to be canonised, therefore also called a Mexican protomartyr.
The building with a mixture of styles represents a period of transition to modern architecture, whose techniques are used, but without abandoning the canons of tradition.
The façade, with a neo-Romanesque profile showing a division into three naves, the central one markedly higher, has a tripartite portal with three parabolic arches, all concentrated in the central body and surmounted by an octagonal rose window. The large smooth surface is given movement by the travertine lozenges of the cladding, arranged alternately in rows and diagonally.
Inside, the naves are divided by slender pillars, on which rest reinforced concrete beams that, with a rather daring structural solution, leave a void in place of the capital and bend at an angle both laterally to support the roofing of the outer nave and longitudinally to support the upper walls, in which windows open. The presbytery is separated from the nave by a round triumphal arch; this repeats the arch of the apse, which in turn frames a mosaic depicting seven stars arranged in a radial pattern around the effigy of Our Lady of Guadalupe. At the base of the sunburst is the tabernacle.
Information
Church Opening Times
Weekdays and public holidays
from 1 October until 30 April
from 7.00 until 13.00 and from 16.00 until 20.00
from 1 May until 30 September
from 7.00 until 13.00 and from 16.00 until 21.00
Mass and Confession Times
Mass timetable from 1 October to 30 April
Weekdays: 08.00; 18.00
Sundays and feast days:
08.30; 09.30; 11.00; 12.00; 18.00
Mass schedule from 1 May to 31 June
Weekdays: 08.00; 19.00
Sundays and feast days
08.30; 09.30; 11.00; 12.00; 19.00
Mass schedule July and August
Weekdays: 08.00; 19.00
Sundays and public holidays
08.30; 11.30; 19.00
Mass schedule from 1st September until 30th September
Weekdays: 08.00; 19.00
Sunday and public holidays
08.30; 09.30; 11.00; 12.00; 19.00
Confession Times
- 20 minutes before and during Masses
Adoration
1 October to 30 April
Wednesdays from 19.30 until 21.00
Fridays from 17.00 until 18.00
from 1st May until 30th September
Wednesday from 20.30 until 22.00.
from 1st May until 30th June
Fridays from 18.00 to 19.00
Office timetable
Mondays from 9.30 until 12.30 and from 16.30 until 19.30
Tuesday from 9.30 until 12.30
Wednesday from 9.30 until 12.30 and from 16.30 until 19.30
Thursday from 9.30 until 12.30 and from 16.30 until 19.30
Friday from 9.30 until 11.30
Saturday and Sunday Closed
The timetable can be subject to change, so it is recommended to contact always the Basilica
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Location
To find out about all accessibility services, visit the Rome accessible section.
