St. Philip Neri kindergartner has strong devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe

By Kim Roberts
Kids' Clarion 

From the time he was 2 years old, St. Philip Neri kindergartner Benicio Mejia has had a special place in his heart for Our Lady of Guadalupe. Even at such a young age, he was drawn to her and preferred playing with Christian statues and dolls instead of other toys.

“Benicio has never really played with mainstream toys; he has always chosen to play with and even sleep with Christian toys, mostly of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Tran Mejia, his mother, said. “From the time he was about 1 1/2 years old, he would wear a rosary and raise it up to the sky and smile.”

“When he first started pre-school, he attended a Baptist school and noticed that there was not a body on the cross,” she said. “And he asked me why? That’s when I knew we needed to move him to a Catholic school, and we fell in love with St. Philip.”

Benicio’s devotion started with the crucifix, but he always loved Mary, who he calls “Mary Shiny” because when he sees her she is surrounded by bright light.

“He can name all of the different Marys, but Our Lady of Guadalupe is the one he talks about and talks to,” said Luis Mejia, his father. “I think my mom bought him his first ‘Mary Shiny’ picture when we were in Texas after a Mass when he was about 3, and from then on he has directed his attention to her.

“He doesn’t really watch cartoons, he is always watching something religious,” Luis added. “He told us he wanted to go see Mary, so for his fourth birthday, we went to Windsor, Ohio, to visit the world’s largest statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Actually, I didn’t know anything about her until he started telling us about Our Lady of Guadalupe and showing us videos.”

His mother said Benicio doesn’t like fairy tales or fantasy stories, just Bible stories and storybooks about Mary. He says Our Lady of Guadalupe is protecting us.

“He prefers to wear clothes with Mary on them, so I either make them or order them,” she said. “He has a Juan Diego and priest costume and an Our Lady of Guadalupe lunch kit. For Halloween, Benicio and his dad painted ‘Mary Shiny’ on a pumpkin. I think he has everything Our Lady of Guadalupe.”

Benicio watches videos in both English and Spanish as well as watching the Stations of the Cross in Spanish. He has also started talking in Arabic and Russian as well as Spanish and English. His father said that even as a baby he was always very still during Mass and would pay attention while in church.


“He likes to sit on the edge of the pew and watch the procession, or the parade as he calls it, coming in and out of Mass,” Tran said. “He also wants to stay after Mass and look at all of the statues and crucifixes in the church.”


Father Andrew Rudmann, pastor of St. Philip Neri, said that whenever he is on campus, Benicio seeks him out to talk to him, when he’s not playing with his friends.

“He’s showing me how to love my Mother (Mary) more,” Father Rudmann said. “And one thing he also does is draws these incredible pictures of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and they’re like they’re incredible. It’s a visible sign for us of the invisible realities of our faith. Especially with these drawings, they’re so intricate and so detailed. I really feel like it’s straight from heaven.”

Tran said “Mary Shiny” talks to Benicio. She can hear him having a conversation with somebody or something in the room, and he sees things in the sky sometimes. She added that he does say things that a child his age would not usually say and has said that she is calling to him.

“I don’t know for sure what the conversations are, but if I ask him too many questions, and he doesn’t tell me, then we weren’t privileged to know what they were talking about,” she said. “Sometimes he tells us what he sees, like the day he told us she was so bright, and that was so the bad guys couldn’t see her or get to her.”

Benicio’s parents surprised him with the news that they would be traveling to visit family in Guatemala over the Thanksgiving holidays and stopping in Mexico City on Thanksgiving Day to see the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“He kept on saying that Mary wanted to see him very much, so we decided to do all we could to make this trip work out,” Luis said. “We’re along for the ride with him.” 

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