Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe is apparition of the Virgin Mary. This image is located in Mexico City. This image is still present in the Tilma of Saint Juan Diego. The apparition of our Lady of is one of the most venerated images in the world.

Mary is the mother of Jesus. The Angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her that she is going to be the mother of Christ. Catholics do not worship Mary. They venerate her. As Catholics we only worship God. There is only one God in the trinity. Which is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Virgin Mary is the mother of God. She is also the mother of the Catholic Church. God crowned Mary because she said yes to God. The Virgin Mary intercedes for her people. Mary is also our mother. Mary is the queen of heaven. Her soul and body were taken up to heaven. This is known as the Assumption. Because Mary is the mother of Jesus, he cannot refuse her request. Like in the wedding of Cana when Mary told Jesus to make more wine. Mary has a way of touching Gods’ heart. Mary was always there for her only son Jesus. She suffered in silence. Mary is the ideal mother. One of the most famous apparitions of the Virgin Mary is Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.

In 1531 the Virgin Mary appeared to a poor Indian named Juan Diego at Tepeyac. Tepeyac is a hill northwest of Mexico City. She identified herself as the mother of the true God, Jesus Christ. The hill was a temple of an Aztec goddess. The Aztecs did human sacrifices on the hill. The Virgin Mary told Juan Diego to have the bishop build a temple on the hill of Tepeyac. The bishop did not believe the poor Indian, and asked him to bring back evidence. On December 12, 1531 the Virgin appeared and showed Juan Diego a rosebush in full bloom on top of the hill. Which is a highly unusual event in the middle of winter. “She instructed him to gather the roses to bring to the bishop as proof.” (Dreher, Rod 2) When Juan Diego appeared before the bishop he opened his tilma to spread the roses on the floor. A tilma is a white cloak. They were stunned to see the image of the Virgin Mary on the tilma of Juan Diego. The tilma is made from a poor quality, cactus-cloth. The tilma, which should have been destroyed within 20 years, is still present. It has no sign of decay 473 years later. There is no scientific explanation of its origin.

The Virgin Mary appeared in Mexico to stop the war between the Spaniards and Aztec. She appeared shortly after the Spanish conquered Mexico. The Virgin of Guadalupe was a sign of conversion to all of Mexico and then the entire world. She appeared to an Aztec Native American. The reason she appeared to the Aztec tribe was to stop the sacrifices of at least 20 thousand people each year. The sacrifices where made to their goddess the serpent. She also appeared to the Aztec tribe to show them the true God. She showed the Aztec Native Americans that their God was not the true living God. She went to stop the suffering and the killing between the Spaniards and Aztecs. The Virgin of Guadalupe converted more than 9 million inhabitants of Mexico to Catholicism.

“It is believed that Our Lady used the Aztec Nahuatl word of coatlaxopeuh which is pronounced “quatlasupe” and sounds remarkably like the Spanish word Guadalupe. Coa meaning serpent, tla being the noun ending which can be interpreted as “the”, while xopeuh means to crush or stamp out. So Our Lady must have called herself the one “who crushes the serpent.”(Our lady of Guadalupe, 1) She is seen stepping on top of a serpent. She also has a crown on her head. She stands in front of the old goddess of the Aztec tribe. She overcame all old religions and sacrifices.

In the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe there is a mystery. Scientist who has inspected the image can see a reflection in her eye. Both of her eyes and in the precise location there is a reflection, which is also reflected by a living human being. In 1929 Alfonso Marcue, found a clear image of a bearded man reflected in the right eye of the Virgin. Alfonso Marcue was the official photographer of the old Basilica of Guadalupe. More than 20 years later Jose Chavez rediscovered the image of a bearded man reflected in the right and left eye of the Virgin.

An ophthalmologist, Dr. Rafael Torrija Lovoignet, examined the eyes of the Virgin. He saw human figures in the corneas of both eyes. He saw a unique appearance in the eyes. He said they looked strangely alive when examined. The eyes reflect like if the tilma was alive.

Our Lady of Guadalupe did not only leave her miraculous image as proof of her apparition, but some important messages. These messages are hidden in the eyes of the image. In her eyes we see a family. It is seen when families are under serious attack in our modern world. The image includes children and a baby carried in a women’s back in the center of the pupil of the right eye of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The image also shows