Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

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Let us begin with the words of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego – words that we need to hear today:

“Hear and let it penetrate into your heart, my dear little son; let nothing disturb you. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else that you need?

“Am I not here who am your Mother…Is there anything else that you need.”

Mary is with us and she brings Jesus, to overcome our fears and to send us on a mission to lead others to Jesus through Mary.

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Mary appeared to Juan Diego in 1531

She left a permanent indestructible sign – the Tilma – the cloak bearing her image and 10,000,000 Aztec Indians convert because they understood the message expressed by the Image. And what was the message?

·       This woman is greater than their Sun god of war whom she blots out

·       Greater than their serpent God – represented by the crescent moon, which is under her feet

·       Both of whom demanded human sacrifice

·       She is a Queen – designated by the blue-green color of her mantle

·       The stars strewn across her mantel depict an exact map of the constellation of stars the moment she appeared on December 12, 1531

·       The design of her rose colored garment match the contour map of the region pinpointing exactly where Mary appeared.

·       By the style of her hair, they knew she was a Virgin

·       At the same time, she was wearing a maternity belt indicating she is pregnant

·       This woman was a Queen, who was also a virgin yet she was pregnant – and pregnant with whom?

·       The four-petal jasmine flower over her womb told them she was pregnant with the One True God

This woman is the Virgin Mother of the One True God

·       But she herself was not a god because she was praying to the one indicated by the black cross on her broch – Jesus Christ – who came to offer his own life in sacrifice to put an end to all human sacrifice.

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Most people do not know the miraculous nature of the Tilma.

A “tilma” is a cloak worn by native Mexicans made from the thread woven from cactus fibers and lasts for no more than twenty  years. The tilma of Juan Diego is 489 years old

·       It laid on the floor before the altar of the Church for the first 116 years, exposed to constant contact by hands, kisses, objects, candle smoke, heat and humidity

·       It repels insects and dust

In 1979 a group of scientists from the Univ. of Florida and NASA studied the image. In their conclusions they reported:

·       The colors are not paint or dye

·       There are no sketch marks or brush strokes

·       The Image does not even rest on the fibers but floats above the Tilma at a distance of 3/10 of a millimeter without touching it

·       Regardless of surrounding temperature, the image of Mary on the Tilma is always 98.6

·       A stethoscope was placed below the black band at the waist of Our Lady (a sign that she is pregnant) and heard the rhythmic heartbeats at 115 beats per minute, the same as that of a baby in the womb.

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The Secret in Her Eyes

Digitally enlarged 2500 times with extremely high resolution there appear within both eyes of Our Lady of Guadalupe the thirteen people who were in the room at the moment the Image of Our Lady appeared before Bishop Zumarraga in 1531

Dr. Tonsmann, in his book, The Secret of Her Eyes, documents the numerous studies that indicate when the eyes of Our Lady are exposed to light, the retina contracts, and when the light is withdrawn, they return to a dilated state, just as it happens with a living eye. Our Lady’s eyes have been ophthalmologically determined to be alive on the Tilma. 

Photographer’s Account

Ivan Esther, one of the best technical photographers in Mexico but an agnostic, was commissioned to photograph the Official Digital Image of the Tilma.

While standing on a ladder to get a better shot, he zoomed in with his camera on the eyes of Our Lady and suddenly became so startled that he fell off the ladder as he began exclaiming, “She’s alive! She’s alive!” He immediately confessed that the eyes of Our Lady reacted just as the eyes of a living person. He subsequently converted.

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Within a few short years, 10,000,000 Aztecs converted the Catholism in an age without social media, the news, or the internet. How did this happen? They were not afraid to tell their family and friends.

When Mary gave Juan Diego his mission to go to the Bishop, Juan begged Mary to find someone else. Our Lady responded:

I have many servants and messengers whom I could send

But I have chosen you…Go and tell the Bishop that I, in person, the ever-virgin Holy Mary, Mother of God, sent you.

Mary says to each one of us: I have chosen you. Jesus confides a mission to each one of you. He wishes to receive something from each one of you.

But we are afraid, or we just don’t know what to do.

Ok, I want to make it a little easier to say yes to Mary and not let her down.

I have picked out 7 of the best Rosary meditations for beginners and bundled them together in a 7 Day Rosary Challenge with a link you can easily share with others.

After 7 days follow up to see how it went. If they completed that then we have two more weeks of beginning Rosary meditations to make for 21 days – perfect to build the habit.

You can find the link to share in the podcast description or the email or go to SOF.com.

Copy the Link and send it to that person