Our Lady of Guadalupe

Wednesday, December 12, 2012, marks the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  This follows Saturday’s Feast of the Immaculate Conception which follows the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  All of this is very appropriate this month in which we celebrate the birth of Christ.  After all, the baby comes from his mother.  Here, the baby Jesus comes from the mother Mary who bore him for 9 months.

The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe and her appearance to the native peasant is very remarkable in so many ways.  She appeared to a peasant nearly 500 years ago outside what is now Mexico City and not to a Spanish conquistador.  The Bishop did not believe Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin ("speaking eagle") who reported the miracle to him.  The Bishop, the story goes, asked for a sign that the lady who appreared to Juan Diego was, indeed, the Blessed Virgin.  It was December and roses did not grow in the vicinity but, as Juan Diego walked along, he came upon a rose bush full of roses.  Juan Diego, put these in his peasant apron called a tilma and took them to the Bishop.  When Juan Diego emptied the roses from his tilma for the Bishop, there appeared the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the tilma.  The tilma was made from fibers from a cactus plant and do not usually last very long.  The tilma of Juan Diego with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe still remains in tact and shows no sign of aging.  

This is truly an amazing story and a true, indisputable, miracle.  A few years ago, Catholic scientists with digital cameras asked for and were granted permission to further photograph and study the tilma.  Their cameras discovered an amazing thing - on the retina of Our Lady’s eyes on the tilma shows what she observed which included the Bishop and those with him in his room!

This story never ceases to amaze me and my reverence for Our Lady of Guadalupe continues to grow.  I hope that you think the same.

Share your thoughts with me and please...

Let me know what you think.

Let the light of our Lord shine upon you!

REM (Ray Makowski) Co-Founder, Director and Secretary-Treasurer