PeopleSpirituality
Guadalupe
quick ideas about Guadalupe (Mexico). The permanent miracle of the image of Guadalupe, and its eyes. The apparitions of Guadalupe.
EspañolA. The permanent miracle
1. Does the Most Holy Virgin work miracles?
Miracles are the work of God, but the Lord often acts in response to the prayers of His Mother (Mother of God), who is our principal intercessor before Him. In such cases one speaks of Marian miracles.
2. Are there many Marian miracles?
Throughout history, Our Lady has devoted herself to her children with displays of affection that are sometimes ordinary, sometimes extraordinary. There have been abundant apparitions and healings. Many of them documented with precision. Guadalupe is a famous miracle that can be verified today.
3. A summary of what happened?
We are on 12 December 1531, during the lifetime of Hernán Cortés, who ten years earlier had conquered Mexico. Our Lady appeared to the Indian Juan Diego and told him to speak with the bishop, as she wished a church to be built there. The bishop asked Juan Diego for proof. Our Lady appeared before the Indian again and told him to bring the bishop some flowers that were there (they do not grow at that time of year). Juan Diego, astonished to see them, gathered them in his cloak or tilma and presented himself before the bishop. When the tilma was unfolded, the flowers fell and the Virgin had imprinted her image on the cloak. From then on, thousands upon thousands of Aztecs were baptized at once.
4. Miracles in the image of Guadalupe?
- This type of tilma made from plant fiber lasts a maximum of 15-20 years. The one of Guadalupe has been preserved for more than 400 years, despite many adverse conditions such as the continuous touching by people (it is now better protected).
- The weave is very coarse, but the image is very detailed. Infrared scans confirm there is no primer, no preliminary sketches, and no brushstrokes.
- In 1936 Dr. Richard Kuhn — future Nobel Prize in Chemistry — analyzed the pigments and concluded they were not of vegetable, animal, mineral, or synthetic origin, and did not match any element of the periodic table.
5. The miracles of the eyes?
- In the image of Guadalupe, Mary's eyes possess the three refraction effects of the image of a living eye. These effects were discovered in optics-physics several centuries later.
- Digitally enlarging the eye 2,500 times, thirteen persons are discovered in the pupil. Comparing them with historical documents, one can distinguish Bishop Juan de Zumárraga, before whom Juan Diego unfolded his cloak. It is concluded that the image of the Virgin was imprinted on the cloak including what Mary saw with her eyes before imprinting her image on the tilma.
- These figures are seen in both eyes and are the same, except for the slight difference due to the distance between the two viewpoints. It is astonishing that this subtle difference was captured in the image.
6. A consequence
- The miracle observed in the digital enlargement of the eyes could only be discovered with the technical means of the 20th century. Since God our Lord does not perform miracles for trivial reasons, we can be sure that this fact about the eyes was accomplished in the 16th century to strengthen the faith of those of us who live in the information age.