Our Lady of Guadalupe:

Gilding the Lily

Our dilemma                                                      

The three most famous Marian apparitions are Fatima, Lourdes, and Guadalupe. As confirmation, Fatima presents us with the Miracle of the Sun while Lourdes gives us inexplicable and carefully researched physical healings. Our senses and logic demand that we believe Fatima and Lourdes. That’s not quite the case for Guadalupe. Belief in the divine origin of Our Lady on the tilma takes a subtler route. Certainly, there is hard physical evidence in the tilma and the image itself supporting the divine origin of Our Lady of Guadalupe, but there are gaps and questions. To resolve those questions by reading what others have said about the physical characteristics of the tilma and its history is an excruciatingly difficult task (if not impossible) because we are compelled to choose between competing claims that cannot be independently confirmed. We end up where we started: we believe if we wish to believe, and doubt if we wish to doubt.

Finding our path

Because there are so many uncertainties concerning the tilma, and even if you believe the iconic portrait to be from heaven, I believe it is a mistake to accept all the claims intended to prove its divine origin. To do so could be an invitation to a searing disappointment in the event they are proved incorrect. Instead, consider the very real possibility that the Lord used a two-step process to bring us the portrait of his beloved mother that we now see on the tilma.

God delegates

God sometimes works directly to the completion of a salvation event, as was the case when Jesus uttered his last words on the cross, “It is finished.” Other times God seems to start the ball rolling and then follows up by selecting certain men or women to continue his work. The establishment and growth of his church following Pentecost is an example. In the case of Our Lady of Guadalupe I believe the evidence strongly supports the conclusion that (1) God instantly imprinted the image of Mary on the tilma, and (2) subsequently used a human instrument(s) to complete the image as we now see it.

Step 1. Under this scenario, the portrait would initially have been a simple image of the face, hands, tunic (without the black bow) and mantle (without the stars) – in other words we would have received an unembellished and beautiful image of the Blessed Virgin as she appeared to Juan Diego. When Juan Diego opened his tilma in front of Bishop Zumárraga on December 12, 1531 and the flowers spilled out, this simple portrait of Mary is what the bishop saw. The image on the tilma was so unexpected, beautiful and so compelling that within a couple of weeks (December 26, 1531) the bishop led a procession to a small chapel or hermitage which he had hastily built to house this simple image. Mary had told Juan Diego that this is what she wanted, her image confirmed the message, and the good bishop complied.

Step 2. The second step occurred when at some unknown date, but certainly within a few years, someone decided (there is no record) to embellish the image, to guild the lily so to speak, so that it would deliver an even more powerful message to the natives. The remainder of the image as we now see it (except for a crown upon her head which was removed in the 1800’s) was added. It is generally believed that a gifted native artist (generally identified as Marcos Cipac de Aquino) added these details and embellishments which sent a message that the native Indians understood as proof that she was there to crush the false hideous snake and carry them with motherly love to the religion of the padres.

Despite the two-step process, the image with all its embellishments would become and remain an incredibly rich and divine gift from God.

Eight million converted

From 1531 to 1540 it is estimated that about 8,000,000 natives were converted to Christianity, and there appears to be no explanation for this sudden surge except Our Lady of Guadalupe. Once she appeared, the Aztec culture was doomed. Just as was the case at Lourdes, the opposition had no chance when the mother of the Lord enters the picture.

The original versus the additions

Interestingly, it is almost universally accepted by those who have examined the tilma that there is no sizing, undercoating, or other preparation of the surface where the original image appears. Moreover, the original part of the image has not suffered any deterioration and the colors have retained their luster and brilliance despite the passage of nearly 500 years. The additions, however, have flaked and needed restoration and repair over the years. It’s as though the image was saying that the eternal son within the mother could never pass away, but his creation including the sun’s rays, the moon, and the remainder of the painting could. It reminds us of what Jesus told us, when he said that the heavens and earth will pass away, but his word would remain forever.

Inculturation

How the Lord reveals himself and sustains his presence within us may well depend on the culture and time in which we live. The Creator of the universe makes himself understandable to all and to the extent necessary to share in the great mystery of Christ. Sometimes the recognition of who Jesus is and what he did appears to come upon us dramatically, while other times this knowledge takes place gradually with one piece of knowledge building gracefully upon the preceding one. Sometimes this knowledge is best understood by borrowing or incorporating the truth or tradition of a particular culture and applying or extending it to the gospel. One example which is often used by skeptics to attack Christianity is our designation of December 25th as the birthday of Jesus which they mockingly claim was nothing more than the winter solstice holiday celebrated by the ancient Romans. That could very well be the case, but the point is that we celebrate Christ’s birthday, not a particular date, and since we don’t really know what that date was, a day most familiar to the culture to assist in the transition from a pagan belief to Christianity would seem to make a lot of sense.

Viewed in this context, Our Lady of Guadalupe and how she came to us may be a perfect example of how inculturation works. Consider how the Savior is introduced to the Aztecs. First, they know of an ancient legend which stated that a white god from the east would return after having taught them some 500 years earlier. The natives ultimately rejected his teachings, including the teaching that sacrifice of humans was evil, and perverted their culture by offering human sacrifices and the worship of hideous gods. Then the priests came in 1519 and began to lay the foundations for the Christian faith, but these foundations were shaky. The idea of God among them was completely alien to the Aztec culture. But then the iconic image of Our Lady of Guadalupe appears and with such symbols and in a manner that swept aside a religious history and culture which had smothered them for centuries. The symbols of the blue-green mantle, the black sash, etc. mean nothing to us today, but to the Aztec meant everything. The name Guadalupe suggested to the Spanish priests the statue of the Virgin and her Divine Son buried for centuries near the Guadalupe River in Spain. To the Aztec, however, it sounded like “she who crushes the stone serpent.” Our Lady’s immediate message to the Spaniards and the Aztecs was different, but the truth she was offering was identical.

Consider the image of Our Lady as a picture in a very real and literal sense as Mary, the mother of Jesus. Additionally, consider it a book of revelation and instruction intended primarily and initially for the natives. They didn’t use writing in the sense that we do, i.e., letters and words to convey ideas and facts. They used paintings, hieroglyphics or symbols. And this is some of what God told them:

1.  The blue-green mantle draped over her and covered with stars symbolized heaven and royalty. The Lady is from heaven and because the heavenly being at the bottom grasped both the mantle signifying heaven and her robe, which represented earth, they were joined. Yet, she herself was not divine because her head is bowed reverently, and her hands clasped in prayer.

2.  Her face is gentle and compassionate and conveys love, mercy and peace which would conquer the Aztec gods of punishment and death. 

3.  The black sash around her waist signified to the Aztec that she is with child. She is offering a heavenly child to the Aztecs who would bring love, mercy and peace. Over the past few years troubling events had occurred in the Aztec culture, including the appearance of a comet. Aztec seers had foretold the beginning of the end for their civilization beginning in 1519, and this was the year that Hernando Cortez arrived on the east coast of Mexico. While she was not divine, the child she bore would be. Her clothing was neither Spanish nor Aztec but from another culture. Thus the child she was carrying would be neither Spanish nor Aztec, but from elsewhere. Yet he will become one of them.

 4.  On her neck is the emblem of the religion preached by the new priests – a cross. She was, therefore, connected to them and was a messenger from their god.

 5.  The greatest Aztec god was the sun god, who was in constant battle with the moon god – the god of darkness. The Lady of Guadalupe was standing in front of the sun and blotting it out; she was standing atop the moon, putting it under her authority. She was greater than the sun god and the moon god. The image on the tilma told the natives that the Aztec gods were stripped of their power and godly traits by the Lady.

 Our interceding and guiding mother         

In fact, the image with all its embellishments now speaks to everyone. She is the Lady in Revelations 12:1, the woman clothed with the sun and the moon under feet. At the same time the message delivered to Juan Diego (and to us) in 1531 was the same message Jesus gave to John at the foot of cross (and to us): Mary is our mother. But this mother is God’s most favored and she was favored to bring Jesus to us, just as she did 2,000 years ago in Nazareth and 500 years ago in Mexico.

20th Century unbelief

It is claimed that the tilma should have deteriorated centuries ago, and the fact that it has not is proof of its divine origin. I’m not sure where the idea came that God cannot use his perishable creation to reveal himself. Nevertheless, it is interesting that over the centuries witnesses have stated unequivocally that the tilma was perfectly preserved. But towards the end of the 19th century there seems to be a shift and it is reported that the tilma is showing deterioration. And that returns us to Our Lady of Fatima.

You will recall from Our Lady of Fatima 1917: The First Four Appearances that on August 13, 1917 the three children were kidnapped by the town authorities in an attempt to discredit them and their claimed visions of Our Lady of the Rosary. It didn’t work. The Heavenly Lady told the children that the miracle they were to witness October 13th would have been greater if not for the disbelief shown by the authorities. This seems a bit strange, but her statement reflects a central theme of Christianity. We are all members or parts of the Body of Christ. Whatever we do, good or bad, as individuals affects the remainder of the Body. If someone jams a knife into your arm, your whole body suffers. That’s why in Christian theology there is no such thing as a private sin. Whatever one of us does in defiance of God affects us all.

Beginning in the 1800’s faith was declining. Science was pushing aside what it considered superstition. All smart people knew how foolish it was to believe in this mythical being called god. As faith diminishes, so does God’s grace. The lack of faith at Fatima resulted in more subdued miracles on October 13th. Similarly, as mankind draws away from God, as we did in, beginning in the 19th century, it seems that God would inevitably withdraw his favors and grace. Could this be the reason why the tilma began to deteriorate as we moved into the 1900’s?

Don’t know – just asking. Something to keep in mind.

Attacking Christ

In the early 20th century the efforts to destroy Our Lady of Guadalupe never ceased. Once again, let’s return briefly to Fatima. On March 6, 1922, two bombs were planted, one in the church and the second on the oak tree on which the Heavenly Lady appeared. The bomb in the church blew the roof off the small chapel that had been built. The effect was to build a newer, bigger church, which has now grown into the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, the eighth largest Christian church in the world. The second bomb planted on the oak tree failed to detonate. It’s hard to demolish a place that Mary, the mother of God, has touched. See Our Lady of Fatima: The Effects of Her Appearances.

On November 14, 1921, in Mexico City, a man placed a bomb in a bouquet of roses on  the altar just a few feet from the tilma bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Shortly thereafter and during Mass it exploded shattering the altar and breaking windows 450 feet from the explosion. Every stained glass window in the Basilica was shattered and chunks of marble were blasted out of the sanctuary. As shown by this photograph, a brass crucifix near the altar was severely twisted by the explosion. Both the tilma and the glass which enclosed it escaped unscathed and without a mark. None present in the Basilica at the time of the explosion was injured. There is no scientific explanation as to why the tilma survived and why this ferocious explosion didn’t hurt anyone. As was the case at Fatima, the treachery of God’s opponents was converted into one more miraculous story to confirm Mary’s 1531 appearances in Mexico City.

Our never-ending battle

The story of Jesus is the story of love revealed. It’s the story of how God took upon himself all our imperfections and sin so that we could live with him in eternity. It is a very simple message that conveys an extraordinarily complex truth. The world of the Aztec was a world of fear and death. Twenty percent of the Aztec children were sacrificed. Christ brought hope and life. Just as she did 1,500 years earlier, Mary once again intervened in the affairs of the world in a way which we can all understand, and she intervened to rout Satan from the New World.

It seems, however, that our battle is never-ending. Despite the United States of America being founded as a country under God you can see it falling away, even now as it happens. As was the case in Aztec Mexico, 20% of our children are sacrificed in the womb of their mother. Another example – we all recognize the Ave Maria composed by Schubert in 1825. The Barbara Streisand YouTube version is a sad commentary of self-involvement that permeates today. The Ave Maria words were there, but the images that accompanied the song were various poses of Barbara Streisand (it is extravagantly and egoistically silly). We need to pray and ask Our Lady to help us return our nation to one that is truly under God in spirit as well as in words.

Mother Mary

We need to remember the message of Guadalupe. Mary is our mother so that anytime we’re having a rough time we ought to meditate on what she told Juan Diego: “Do not be troubled or weighted down with grief. Do not fear any illness or anxiety. Am I not here? I, who am your mother. Are you not under my protection? Do I not hold you in the folds of my mantle? Am I not here – I who am your mother?” Is she not the Ark of the New Covenant, the New Eve, the daughter of the Father, the bride of the Holy Spirit, the mother of the Son? She is all these and more because God granted these most singular privileges to her. She who is most favored can help us along as well. What mother wouldn’t?

Further references and reading

Last modified September 9, 2019