Explain this image?

[jordangeneration]

Can someone help me explain the significance/story of this banner. Thanks so much!

 

[ViaCrucis]

The image isn't very clear, but to me it looks like an image of the Blessed Virgin triumphantly standing on top of a defeated devil, referencing Genesis 3:15. Christ our Lord defeated the devil and destroyed all his evil works.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[kellhus]

In the vulgate, gen 3:15 actually reads "she shall crush your head", not "he", hence the image of Mary holding baby Jesus and trampling the serpent.

 

[Albion]

It's the standard representation of Our Lady of Guadalupe which commemorates an alleged appearance of the Virgin to a Mexican peasant in the 16th (?) century. It's become the emblem of Mexican and Mexican-American demonstrators in our times in addition to being a revered religious icon.

 

[maryofoxford]

The banner is turned sideways (guessing you just didn't know how to turn the photo); anyway it is a copy of the miraculous Tilma of St. Juan Diego. The image is known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, and appeared on the Tilma (a blanket or cloak worn by peasants of Mexico) as proof that the Mother of Our Lord was appearing to him and requesting a Cathedral be built.) This article should explain the image thoroughly. I know it has been scientifically tested and was created using substances unknown to man. Many Mexicans came to Christ because of this event and Mary now carries the title of, Our Lady of the Americas, because of this event. Catholics are encouraged to seek her help in prayer to her son on our behalf. We are also to pray to Christ, but she is a very powerful person to have praying (requesting) Christ with us for any great need.

This image that appeared on Juan Diego's cloak appears to be the image described in Rev.12:1-2. The woman clothed with the sun...

I hope this article will help explain it.
Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe - Guadalupe, Mexico (1531)
Patroness of the Americas
Feast Day in the USA - December 12th

The opening of the New World brought with it both fortune-seekers and religous preachers desiring to convert the native populations to the Christian faith. One of the converts was a poor Aztec indian named Juan Diego. On one of his trips to the chapel, Juan was walking through the Tepayac hill country in central Mexico. Near Tepayac Hill he encountered a beautiful woman surrounded by a ball of light as bright as the sun. Speaking in his native tongue, the beautiful lady identified herself:
"My dear little son, I love you. I desire you to know who I am. I am the ever-virgin Mary, Mother of the true God who gives life and maintains its existence. He created all things. He is in all places. He is Lord of Heaven and Earth. I desire a church in this place where your people may experience my compassion. All those who sincerely ask my help in their work and in their sorrows will know my Mother's Heart in this place. Here I will see their tears; I will console them and they will be at peace. So run now to Tenochtitlan and tell the Bishop all that you have seen and heard."
Juan, age 57, and who had never been to Tenochtitlan, nonetheless immediately responded to Mary's request. He went to the palace of the Bishop-elect Fray Juan de Zumarraga and requested to meet immediatly with the bishop. The bishop's servants, who were suspicious of the rural peasant, kept him waiting for hours. The bishop-elect told Juan that he would consider the request of the Lady and told him he could visit him again if he so desired. Juan was disappointed by the bishop's response and felt himself unworthy to persuade someone as important as a bishop. He returned to the hill where he had first met Mary and found her there waiting for him. Imploring her to send someone else, she responded:
"My little son, there are many I could send. But you are the one I have chosen."
She then told him to return the next day to the bishop and repeat the request. On Sunday, after again waiting for hours, Juan met with the bishop who, on re-hearing his story, asked him to ask the Lady to provide a sign as a proof of who she was. Juan dutifully returned to the hill and told Mary, who was again waiting for him there, of the bishop's request. Mary responded:
"My little son, am I not your Mother? Do not fear. The Bishop shall have his sign. Come back to this place tomorrow. Only peace, my little son."
Unfortunately, Juan was not able to return to the hill the next day. His uncle had become mortally ill and Juan stayed with him to care for him. After two days, with his uncle near death, Juan left his side to find a priest. Juan had to pass Tepayac Hill to get to the priest. As he was passing, he found Mary waiting for him. She spoke:
"Do not be distressed, my littlest son. Am I not here with you who am your Mother? Are you not under myshadow and protection? Your uncle will not die at this time. There is no reason for you to engage a priest, for his health is restored at this moment. He is quite well. Go to the top of the hill and cut the flowers that are growing there. Bring them then to me."
While it was freezing on the hillside, Juan obeyed Mary's instructions and went to the top of the hill where he found a full bloom of Castilian roses. Removing his tilma, a poncho-like cape made of cactus fiber, he cut the roses and carried them back to Mary. She rearranged the roses and told him:

 

[football5680]

I don't know for sure but the horns make me think it is referencing Genesis 3:15. A lot of early Christian art depicted Mary stomping on the serpent in fulfillment of this prophecy.

But underneath her is an angel which may or may not be Satan so I have no idea. The guess I made was the only thing that came to my mind.

 

[maryofoxford]

I don't know for sure but the horns make me think it is referencing Genesis 3:15. A lot of early Christian art depicted Mary stomping on the serpent in fulfillment of this prophecy.

But underneath her is an angel which may or may not be Satan so I have no idea. The guess I made was the only thing that came to my mind.

This is an very well-known miracle in the Catholic Church, so I'm a little surprised that you're unfamiliar with it as a Catholic. I didn't realize that the entire explanation didn't post, so I'll just say that after Our Lady arranged the roses in Juan Diego's Tilma, he was to keep it closed until he saw the Bishop and then show him. Juan Diego thought that the miraculous sign would be that Our Lady had provided him fresh roses, that didn't grow in Mexico, and were out of season, for any roses. To his surprise after the roses fell out of his Tilma, for the Bishop, this miraculous image was there.

It has been preserved without any decay, fading, etc, for hundreds of years, before any preservation techniques were even available; and has been examined in modern times. Science cannot explain how, or with what substance, it is made.

If the picture was larger you could see that she is standing on a quarter moon. It depicts Rev.12:10-2 "And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child ... (A Jewish woman would tie a ribbon above her waist as a sign that she was pregnant.)

The small angel holding the moon up for her, is most certainly not Satan. When she is depicting crushing the serpent's head, she is always standing on a snake.

Do a search for Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the miracles associated with it, for more info.

 

[football5680]

This is an very well-known miracle in the Catholic Church, so I'm a little surprised that you're unfamiliar with it as a Catholic. I didn't realize that the entire explanation didn't post, so I'll just say that after Our Lady arranged the roses in Juan Diego's Tilma, he was to keep it closed until he saw the Bishop and then show him. Juan Diego thought that the miraculous sign would be that Our Lady had provided him fresh roses, that didn't grow in Mexico, and were out of season, for any roses. To his surprise after the roses fell out of his Tilma, for the Bishop, this miraculous image was there.

It has been preserved without any decay, fading, etc, for hundreds of years, before any preservation techniques were even available; and has been examined in modern times. Science cannot explain how, or with what substance, it is made.

If the picture was larger you could see that she is standing on a quarter moon. It depicts Rev.12:10-2 "And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child ... (A Jewish woman would tie a ribbon above her waist as a sign that she was pregnant.)

The small angel holding the moon up for her, is most certainly not Satan. When she is depicting crushing the serpent's head, she is always standing on a snake.

Do a search for Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the miracles associated with it, for more info.

Thank you for the great information.
I didn't really know what it was about so I just took a guess. I knew she was not standing on a snake but I thought she was standing on something with horns which is how Satan is typically depicted. Then I thought of Revelation 12:9 and connected it to the prophecy in Genesis.

 

[Spaceman 3]

Looks like pagan idolatry, probably originating in Canaan, Babylon, or Rome.

 

[Spaceman 3]

Hi Mary of Oxford

"I know it has been scientifically tested and was created using substances unknown to man."

Really? Is there any evidence to back that claim up?

As for the story of Juan Diego - LOL. Acid's a fantastic drug.

 

[Rhamiel]

Looks like pagan idolatry, probably originating in Canaan, Babylon, or Rome.

nope
it came from Mexico

not pagan at all, it is a picture of the Virgin Mary
and it was this miracle that led many of the indian peoples away from paganism and led them to become Catholic

 

[Rhamiel]

Revelation 12 describes a woman clothed in the Sun and standing on the Moon

that is why Mary is shown with light behind her and standing on the moon

also, the pagan indians worshiped the Sun and the Moon as the major gods of their pantheon

This image shows that Christianity is greater then the pagan gods, that the Virgin Mary has the Moon under her feet in submission
so this image united the Europeans and the Indians and helped to make a "Mexican" culture
very soon after the image was miraculesly created, human sacrifice in Mexico stoped

 

[Spaceman 3]

Hi Rhamiel

Thanks for your replies. I've just read Rev. Ch.12.

Fair enough.

 

[Root of Jesse]

Can someone help me explain the significance/story of this banner. Thanks so much!

Look up Our Lady of Guadalupe That's the image of Mary who manifested herself to Juan Diego in Mexico. The image that Hillary Clinton saw in a Cathedral in Mexico. She asked the rector of the cathedral "Who painted that?" He said "God."

 

[Root of Jesse]

Hi Mary of Oxford

"I know it has been scientifically tested and was created using substances unknown to man."

Really? Is there any evidence to back that claim up?

As for the story of Juan Diego - LOL. Acid's a fantastic drug.

Scientific testing isn't enough evidence? What evidence would you like?

<ignoring the other comment>

 

[Spaceman 3]

Scientific testing isn't enough evidence? What evidence would you like?

<ignoring the other comment>

Well... yes. But can you present any?

Here's mine:

‘Miraculous’ Image of Guadalupe

Volume 12.2, June 2002


Mexico’s Image of Guadalupe is a sixteenth-century depiction of the Virgin Mary that, according to pious legend, she imprinted miraculously on an Aztec convert’s cloak. The Indian, Juan Diego, is expected to be canonized as a saint, although new evidence confirms skeptics’ claims that the image is merely a native artist’s painting, the tale apocryphal, and “Juan Diego” probably fictitious.

The story of Juan Diego is related in the Nican Mopohua ("an account”) written in the native Aztec language and sometimes called the “gospel of Guadalupe.” According to this account, in early December of 1531 (some ten years after Cortez’s defeat of the Aztec Empire) Juan Diego was a recent convert who supposedly left his village to attend Mass in another. As he passed the foot of a hill named Tepeyac he encountered a young girl, radiant in golden mist, who identified herself as “the ever-virgin Holy Mary, mother of the true God” and asked that a temple be built on the site. Later, as a sign to a skeptical bishop, she caused her self- portrait to appear miraculously on Juan’s cactus-fiber cloak.

The legend obviously contains a number of motifs from the Old and New Testament as well as statements of specific Catholic dogma. Indeed, the tale itself appears to have been borrowed from an earlier Spanish legend in which the Virgin appeared to a shepherd and led him to discover a statue of her along a river known as Guadalupe ("hidden channel”). Moreover, the resulting shrine at Tepeyac was in front of the site where the Aztecs had had a temple for their own virgin goddess Tonantzin (Smith 1983). Thus the Catholic tradition was grafted onto the Indian one, a process folklorists call syncretism.

The image itself also yields evidence of considerable borrowing. It is a traditional portrait of Mary, replete with standard artistic motifs and in fact clearly derived from earlier Spanish paintings. Yet some proponents of the image have suggested that the obvious artistic elements were later additions and that the “original” portions-the face, hands, robe, and mantle-are therefore “inexplicable” and even “miraculous” (Callahan 1981).
Actually, infrared photographs show that the hands have been modified, and close-up photography shows that pigment has been applied to the highlight areas of the face sufficiently heavily so as to obscure the texture of the cloth. There is also obvious cracking and flaking of paint all along a vertical seam, and the infrared photos reveal in the robe’s fold what appear to be sketch lines, suggesting that an artist roughed out the figure before painting it. Portrait artist Glenn Taylor has pointed out that the part in the Virgin’s hair is off-center; that her eyes, including the irises, have outlines, as they often do in paintings, but not in nature, and that these outlines appear to have been done with a brush; and that much other evidence suggests the picture was probably copied by an inexpert artist from an expertly done original.

In fact, during a formal investigation of the cloth in 1556, it was stated that the image was “painted yesteryear by an Indian,” specifically “the Indian painter Marcos.” This was probably the Aztec painter Marcos Cipac de Aquino who was active in Mexico at the time the Image of Guadalupe appeared.

In 1985, forensic analyst John F. Fischer and I reported all of this evidence and more in “a folkloristic and iconographic investigation” of the Image of Guadalupe in Skeptical Inquirer. We also addressed some of the pseudoscience that the image has attracted. (For example, some claim to have discovered faces, including that of “Juan Diego” in the magnified weave of the Virgin’s eyes-evidence of nothing more than the pious imagination’s ability to perceive images, inkblot-like, in random shapes) (Nickell and Fischer 1985).

Recently our findings were confirmed when the Spanish-language magazine Proceso reported the results of a secret study of the Image of Guadalupe. It had been conducted - secretly - in 1982 by art restoration expert José Sol Rosales. Rosales examined the cloth with a stereomicroscope and observed that the canvas appeared to be a mixture of linen and hemp or cactus fiber. It had been prepared with a brush coat of white primer (calcium sulfate), and the image was then rendered in distemper (i.e., paint consisting of pigment, water, and a binding medium). The artist used a “very limited palette,” the expert stated, consisting of black (from pine soot), white, blue, green, various earth colors ("tierras”), reds (including carmine), and gold. Rosales concluded that the image did not originate supernaturally but was instead the work of an artist who used the materials and methods of the sixteenth century (El Vaticano 2002).

In addition, new scholarship (e.g. Brading 2001) suggests that, while the image was painted not long after the Spanish conquest and was alleged to have miraculous powers, the pious legend of Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego may date from the following century. Some Catholic scholars, including the former curator of the basilica Monsignor Guillermo Schulemburg, even doubt the historical existence of Juan Diego. Schulemburg said the canonization of Juan Diego would be the “recognition of a cult” (Nickell 1997).

However, the skeptics are apparently having little if any effect, and Pope John Paul II seems bent on canonizing “Juan Diego” who is as demonstrably popular among Mexican Catholics as he is, apparently, fictitious.

Acknowledgments

I appreciate the assistance of John Moffit and César Tort who helped update me on this topic, as well as CFI staff members who helped in various ways, including Tim Binga, Kevin Christopher, Ben Radford, and Ranjit Sandhu.

References

• Brading, D.A. 2001. Mexican Phoenix: Our Lady of Guadalupe Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
• Callahan, Philip Serna. 1981. The Tilma under Infra-red Radiation. Washington, D.C.: Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate.
• El Vaticano. 2002. Proceso, May 19, 29-30.
• Nickell, Joe. 1997. Image of Guadalupe: myth- perception. Skeptical Inquirer 21:1 (January/ February), 9.
• Nickell, Joe, and John F. Fischer. 1985. The Image of Guadalupe: A folkloristic and iconographic investigation. Skeptical Inquirer 9:3 (spring), 243-255.
• Smith, Jody Brant. 1983. The Image of Guadalupe. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday.

 

[Root of Jesse]

Infallible Catholic: Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

​

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been the subject of numerous technical studies since 1751 and extensive scientific investigations in recent years, and none of the result offered any sound scientific explanation which, up to this very day, defies science and all human reasoning as it continuous to baffle scientists and even skeptics.​

Below are only some of the findings that were drawn from the scientific investigations conducted on the image and the fabric itself which were commissioned by the authorized custodians of the Tilma in the Basilica, and in every case the investigators had direct and unobstructed access to it:​

The Fabric​

The "Tilma" (a kind of cloak worn by native Mexicans) of Juan Diego that bears the miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a coarse fabric made from the threads of the maguey cactus fiber which usually lasts no more than 20 to 30 years, and yet the fabric has maintained its structural integrity - without cracking or fading, or any sign of deterioration for nearly 500 years. It consists of two pieces of coarse cloth fibers of about 1.70 by 1.05 meters (69.99 by 41.3 inches) held together in the center by a seam of thread made of the same material and is typical of the cloaks used by the Nahuas in the 15th and 16th centuries called "Ayates." The seam is visible up the middle of the figure, turning aside from the face.​

For centuries the Tilma was exposed to the rigors of all natural elements without any kind of protection against infrared and ultraviolet radiations from the tens of thousands of candles near it and the humid condition, dusty and salty air around the Basilica. Despite the constant contact of hands and kisses of thousands of pilgrims who venerated the Image and the continuous manual handling of the Tilma including the many different objects that touched it during the countless times it was subjected to scientific examinations, the Tilma remained in a state of perfect condition. No explanation was also offered by scientists as to why the Tilma is repellent to insects and dust.​

​

In 1789, Dr. José Ignácio Bartolache had two copies of the image painted on an identical piece of maguey cloth using the best techniques of that time and placed them in the same salty and humid environment around the Basilica. After several decades, the two replicas disintegrated. An attempt to "embellish" the Tilma was made which also proved futile: a crown was painted on Our Lady’s head and angels in the clouds. However, unlike the Tilma, these additions have faded away and are no longer visible. The rays of the sun, for example, were coated with gold and the moon plated with silver, but these embellishments also worn away. In fact, the silver-plated moon turned black.​

In August 7, 2009, researcher and physicist Dr. Aldofo Orozco told participants at the International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe in Glendale, Arizona that there is no scientific explanation for the 478 years of high quality-preservation of the Tilma, or for the miracles of its preservation.​

One of the most bizarre characteristics of the cloth is that the back side is rough and coarse, but the front side is as soft as the most pure silk, as was noted by painters and scientists in 1666, and confirmed one century later in 1751 by Mexican painter, Miguel Cabrera. But to the eye, it suggested a coarse weave of palm threads called "pita" or the rough fiber called "cotense", or a hemp and linen mixture: an ixtle - an agave fiber. An analysis of the fibers in 1946 concluded that the fibers came from the Agave plant, however, researchers could not figure out which of the 175 Agave species the Tilma was made from.​

The Image of Our Lady​

There is no explanation offered by NASA scientists on how the image was imprinted on the Tilma. There are no brush strokes, or sketch marks on it. The image also seems to increase in size and change colors owing to an unknown property of the surface and substance of which it is made. The colors actually float above the surface of the Tilma at a distance of 3/10th of a millimeter (1/100th of an inch), without touching it. When examined less than 10 inches of the image, one can only see the maguey cloth; the colors totally disappear.​

In 1936, biochemist Richard Kuhn, a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, analyzed a sample of the fabric and ascertained that the pigments used were from no known source; whether natural, animal, mineral, or vegetable.​

On May 7, 1979, Americans Dr. Philip Serna Callahan, a biophysicist at the University of Florida and an expert in infrared photography, and Jody B. Smith, a professor of aesthetics and philosophy at the College Pensacola, who are both specializing in painting and members of NASA, photographed the image under infrared light and scanned at very high resolutions. After filtering and processing the digitized images to eliminate "noise" and enhance them, they discovered that portions of the face, hands, robe, and mantle had been painted in one step, with no sketches, or corrections, and no visible brush strokes or sizing used to render the surface smooth, no protective varnish covering the image to protect its surface. The Image changes in color slightly according to the angle of viewing, a phenomenon known as "Iridescence", a technique that cannot be reproduced with human hands. Scientists were unable to find any trace of paint residue or dye of any sort on the Image and yet the the colors maintain their luminosity and brilliance. What produced the colors on Juan Diego's cloak or how they were applied remains a total mystery of science. The quality of the pigments used for the pink dress, the blue veil, the face and the hands, or the permanence of the colors, or the vividness of the colors after several centuries, during which they ordinarily should have deteriorated, defy all scientific reasoning. The Image still retains its original colors, despite being unprotected by any covering during the first 100 years of exposure.​

The bluish-green color of Our Lady's mantle is unique. It seems to be made of an unearthly shade that as yet no artist has been able exactly to duplicate. Moreover, scientists argued that a painter would be incredibly foolish to choose an Indian's tilma to work on and even more to paint right over the center seam of the cloak. And had the Virgin not turned ever so slightly to the right, the stitch would have divided her face. Just as astonishing is the fact that only the seam still holds the Tilma together. The law of gravity does not allow a single flimsy cotton thread to bind two heavier materials of cloth for more than ten years, much less four hundred and fifty. In addition, the coarse weave of the Tilma was utilized in such a precise manner as to give depth to the face of the Image.​

According to the specialists of Kodak Corporation in Mexico, the Image is smooth and bears more resemblance to a color photograph than anything else. The Image has consistently defied exact reproduction, whether by brush or camera.​

​

All who have scientifically examined the image of Our Lady over the centuries confess that its properties are absolutely unique and so inexplicable in human terms that the image can only be supernatural:​

Our Lady's height in the Image measures four feet eight inches tall, from head to toe, and is represented as a young woman of 18 to 20 year old. The face is that of a "mestiza" - a mixture of Spanish and Indians race brought about by intermarriage.​

Callahan and Smith further discovered that the Tilma maintains a constant temperature of 36.6º to 37º, (98.6 Fahrenheit) the same as the body of a living person.​

Carlos Fernandez del Castillo, a gynecologist, examined the image and has determined that the gynecological measurements of Our Lady's physical dimensions indicated a woman who is pregnant entirely consistent with the stage of pregnancy on December 9th for Jesus birth to occur on Christmas day. A stethoscope was placed below the black band at the waist of Our Lady (a sign that she is pregnant) and heard rhythmic repeating heartbeats at 115 beats per minute, the same as that of a baby in the maternal womb.​

On December 22, 1981, at the Observatory Laplace Mexico City, Father Mario Rojas and Dr. Juan Hernández Illescas, a medical doctor and amateur astronomer, performed an astronomical study of the Image and analyzed the stellar arrangement that appear in the Mantle of Our Lady. They surprisingly discovered that the stars stunningly and accurately map out the various constellations of the Mexican sky. Even more remarkable is the "star map" on the mantle is in the reverse (the cardinal axis rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise): providing a view of the constellations from beyond them, as would be seen looking through them towards the earth. The constellations are consistent with what astronomers believe was in the sky above Mexico City on the day the apparition occurred - in the winter-morning solstice of December 12, 1531, Saturday, at 10:26AM.​

​

Our Lady's cloak has 46 stars: 22 on her right side, and 24 on her left side. These 46 stars are the most brilliant stars that surround the horizon of the Mexican Valley which have been identified. The main constellations of the Northern sky can be seen on the right of the mantle. On the left, the Southern ones which can be seen from the Tepeyac in winter at dawn. The East is situated in the upper part and the West in the lower part. The Mantle is opened and there are other groups of stars which are not marked in the Image, but they are present in the sky. The Boreal Crown is located above the Virgin's head; Virgo is on her chest, in the region of her hands. Leo on Her womb, precisely above the sign of Nahui Ollin, with his main star Regulo, the small king. Gemini, the twins, is found in the region of the knees and Orion is located where the Angel is.​

 

[Root of Jesse]

It has also been found that by imposing a topographical map of central Mexico on the Our Lady's dress, the mountains, rivers, and principal lakes coincide with the decoration on the dress.​

​

Our Lady's Eyes

Scientists from the NASA Research Centre have conducted extensive tests on the fabric and image and have discovered no scientific explanation, since the picture is neither painted, dyed, or woven. Digital enlargements of the Image were made and it was discovered that the reflection of Bishop Juan de Zumárraga looking in astonishment could clearly be seen in the pupil of Our Lady's eyes. Further study of the photographic enlargements and rigorous investigations of Our Lady's eyes (only about 1/3rd inch in size), have revealed not only the minuscule human image of a bearded man clearly identifiable in the eyes that no artist could have painted, but all the optical imaging qualities of a normal human eye, such as light reflection, image positioning, and distortion on the cornea which are impossible to obtain on a flat surface. When the eye of Our Lady is exposed to light, the retina contracts, and when the light is withdrawn, it returns to a dilated state, just as happens with a living eye. Our Lady's eyes have been ophthalmologically determined to be alive on the Tilma!

In 1929, Alfonso Marcué González, the Basilica's official photographer, took black and white photographs of the Image and after careful examination of the photographic negative, found a clear image of a bearded man reflected in the right eye of the Virgin. He immediately informed the authorities of the Basilica who sworn him to complete silence about the discovery, which he complied.​

​

More than 20 years later, on May 29, 1951, Jose Carlos Salinas Chavez, while examining a good photograph of the face, rediscovers the same image of a bearded man reflected in the right eye of the Virgin, in the same place which it could be projected in an alive eye. Since then, many people had the opportunity to examine closely the eyes of the Virgin on the Tilma, including more than 20 physicians, ophthalmologists.

The first one was on March 27, 1956, when Dr. Javier Torroella Bueno, MDS, a prestigious ophthalmologist, discovered the presence of the triple reflection (Samson-Purkinje effect) in the eyes of the Virgin - a characteristic of all live human eyes wherein the images are located exactly where they are supposed to be according to such effect, and also that the distortion of the images agree with the curvature of the cornea. In July of the same year, another noted ophthalmologist, Dr. Rafael Torrija Lavoignet, similarly examined the eyes of the Image with an ophthalmoscope in great detail and discovered that the eyes have the three refractive characteristics of a human eye. He also found human figure in the corneas of both eyes, with the location and distortion of a normal human eye and specially noted a unique appearance of the eyes: they look strangely "alive" when examined. By 1976, some twenty doctors had confirmed, orally and in writing, the "unexplainable presence" of a man with a beard in the cornea and lenses of the Virgin's eyes.

An enlarged digital photograph of the image in the eye of our Lady on the Tilma












In 1979, Dr. José Aste Tonsmann, PhD, a Peruvian ophthalmologist and an expert at IBM in the digital processing of images, and who for over 20 years studied the Tilma, digitally enlarged the Image of Our Lady's eyes by 2,500 times the actual size under extremely high resolution and had found not only a single figure, but images of all the witnesses present when the Tilma was first revealed before de Zumárraga in 1531, plus a small family group of mother, father, and a group of children, in the center of Our Lady's eyes, 13 persons in all. The size of that scene is about 1/100th of an inch. The Iris of the eye magnified, and through mathematical and optical procedures, Dr. Tonsmann was able to identify highly detailed images of at least 13 people imprinted in the eyes who are all present in both eyes: "the Indian", "bishop Zumárraga", the "translator", "Juan Diego showing the tilma" and below said images, "the family", but different in proportions, as would happen when human eyes reflect the objects before them. There are two scenes: the first contains the Bishop Zumárraga gawking at Juan Diego opening his Tilma and discover the image of Mary; the second scene, much smaller than the previous one, is located in the center of the eye and contains a typical family picture of Native Americans: a couple with several children around. The two scenes are repeated in both eyes with amazing accuracy, including the size difference caused by the greater proximity of an eye to the other, against the objects portrayed.

Dr. Tonsmann used digital technology similar to that used in the images received from satellites and space probes in transmitting visual information. The image of Bishop Zumárraga in the eyes of Our Lady was also digitally enlarged 1,000 times than the actual size to be able to see what is reflected in his eyes. The eye of the Bishop contains the image of Juan Diego opening his Tilma before the bishop. The size of this image? A quarter of a micron, which is ¼ of a millionth of a millimeter!

In summary, the Our Lady's eyes bear a kind of instant picture of what actually occurred at the moment the image was unveiled in front of the bishop and other witnesses on December 9, 1531.

The figures are not visible to the human eye, except for one: that of the Spaniard, which is the largest. Nobody could have painted such tiny silhouettes. In the center of the pupils on a much smaller scale you can see another "scene", totally independent of the first. This is an Indian family composed by a woman, a man and some children. In the right eye, there are other people standing behind the woman. Below are the descriptions of each of the 13 figures as found in the eyes of Our Lady:

Figure (1) An full-length Indian seated on the ground with head lightly lifted as if looking up, sign of attention and reverence. He has a kind of hoop in his ear and sandals in his feet.

Figure (2) A white bearded elderly man with a bald patch, prominent straight nose, deep-set eyes that are looking down, believed to be Bishop Zumárraga as he appears at Miguel Cabrera's 18th century painting.

Figure (3) A young man whose features show amazement, seemingly speaking to Bishop Zumárraga. Since the bishop did not speak Nahuatl, it is believed that this young man was an interpreter named Juan Gonzalez, a Spanish born between 1500 and 1510.

Figure (4) Juan Diego, a middle-aged man, with indigenous aspect, with light beard and mustache, hook nose and half-opened lips, and wearing a coned hat - a kind of hat commonly worn by indigenous people working in the fields at that time. He has a Tilma tied around his neck, seemingly extending his right arm and unfolding his own Tilma before the bishop.

Figure (5) A black woman. Behind Saint Juan Diego, appears a woman of dark complexion, possibly a slave who was in the bishop's service. Father Mariano Cuevas wrote in "Church History in Mexico" that Zumárraga said in his will that he released the slave. She was called Maria.

Figure (6) In both corneas, there appears an unknown man with Spanish features who looks on pensively, stroking his beard with his hand. He is looking to the place where Juan Diego is unfolding his Tilma.

Here is a mystery inside the mystery composed by Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. In the center of both eyes, there appears a group of denominated indigenous family. These images (Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13) have different sizes compared to the other figures. However, these people have the same proportion and are part of a different scene:

Figure (7) A young woman with delicate features seemingly looking down. She has her hair wove with flowers. Over her back is a baby in a "rebozo" Figure(8) - a long woolen or linen scarf covering the head and shoulders (also used as a sling for holding a baby; traditionally worn by Latin-American women).

In a lower level, and to the right, there is a man with a hat Figure (9) and a couple of children, a boy Figure (10) and a girl Figure (11). Two other figures, a middle-aged man Figure (12) and a middle-aged women Figure (13) who stood behind the young mother Figure (7).

Dr. Tonsmann, in his book, "El Secreto de sus Ojos" (The Secret of Her Eyes), complete with details and photographs of his last studies of the eyes of Our Lady on the Tilma, and perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of the studies, concluded that Our Lady of Guadalupe not only left us her miraculous Image as proof of her apparition but some important messages which were hidden in the eyes on the Image until our times, when new technologies have allow them to be discovered, when they are most necessary.

Photo by Jim Creighton
In 1991, an analysis made by outstanding ophthalmologists, identified normal microscopic network of veins and artery circulation in the free edge of Our Lady's eyelids and the cornea. According to the ophthalmologists who examined the eyes, no painter would have been able to humanly reproduce such precise microscopic details.

Miracles Attributed to the Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

While the above findings are miracles in itself, the following are some of the recorded miracles attributed to the Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe:

Only a few days after the miracle, on December 26, 1531, while the Indians were celebrating the swiftly completed construction of the chapel, and as was the custom of the Chichimecas playing with bows and arrows and dancing. While some celebrants fired arrows into the air in jubilation, one of them shot an arrow, and accidentally pierced the throat of an Indian who was walking with a group carrying the Tilma to the hill of Tepeyac. The Indian was killed instantly when the arrow pierced his neck. The corpse was carried into the chapel and laid beneath the sacred image. The crowd prayed aloud to Our Lady of Guadalupe for a miracle. Minutes later, after having extracted the arrow right in front of the mantle, the man regained consciousness and rose, completely healed. Only the scar remained visible until the day he died. Following this impressive feat, 9 million Indians converted to Christianity. Spaniards and Mexicans who were mortal enemies embraced one another with joyous affection.

In 1785, a worker, while attempting to clean the glass covering of the Tilma, accidentally spilled a 50% nitric acid solvent on the upper right side of the Tilma that did considerable damage. During the period of 30 days, without any special treatment, the affected fabric re-constituted itself miraculously.

Photo of the twisted brass crucifix after the blast of 1921On November 14, 1921, a bomb with 29 sticks of dynamite was planted by Luciano Perez, a Spanish anarchist, in a flower arrangement on the altar under the Tilma which exploded and broke the marble altar rail, the marble floor and widows 150 meters from the explosion, but unexpectedly, neither the Tilma nor the normal glass that protected the image was damaged or broken. The only damage near the Tilma was a heavy brass crucifix twisted by the blast. Since 1993, the Tilma is protected by a bullet-proof glass in the Basilica of Guadalupe.

Recently on July 31, 1997, Father Xavier Escalada, S.J., presented to the public an extraordinary evidenciary document in a sheet of parchment which contains written records of the Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego which occurred on four separate occasions in December 1531 on the hill of Tepeyac north of central Mexico City. The parchment first came to light in 1995, and in 2002 was named "Codex 1548" or "Codex Escalada" in honour of Fr. Xavier Escalada S.J. who brought it to public attention and who published it in 1997.

For the full account of the apparition, please click the Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego as it appeared in the Codex Escalada.​

 

[Spaceman 3]

Some of that, sorry, most of that is a bit dated, no? Some of that 'resurrection' stuff is brilliant though! Must admit, my first thought while reading that bit was to wonder where all the arrows that they were firing in the air would come down. Firing arrows in the air above crowds of jubilant people doesn't sound like the actions of the brightest sparks.

Anyway, in truth, this is hardly convincing evidence, and sounds like dogma to me. But fair play - you did present something.

Strangely enough, the thing that sticks most in my mind over what you've pasted is this:

"On November 14, 1921, a bomb with 29 sticks of dynamite was planted by Luciano Perez, a Spanish anarchist, in a flower arrangement on the altar under the Tilma which exploded and broke the marble altar rail, the marble floor and widows 150 meters from the explosion, but unexpectedly, neither the Tilma nor the normal glass that protected the image was damaged or broken. The only damage near the Tilma was a heavy brass crucifix twisted by the blast. Since 1993, the Tilma is protected by a bullet-proof glass in the Basilica of Guadalupe."

Why on Earth would you feel the need to protect such a thing with bullet proof glass? LOL - it's just (apparently) survived a bomb blast for pete's sake!