Science & the Virgin of Guadalupe

Read what science has discovered about the tilma of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Download a high-resolution image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe here

1. Ophthalmic studies made on the eyes of Mary detected that when the eye is exposed to light, the retina contracts, and when the light is withdrawn, it returns to a dilated state, just as happens with a living eye.

2. The temperature of Juan Diego’s tilma, made of a material that comes from fibers of the maguey cactus, maintains a constant temperature of 98.6 degrees, the same as that of a living human body.

3. One of the doctors who analyzed the tilma placed his stethoscope below the black band at Mary’s waist, and heard rhythmic beats at 115 pulses per minute, the same as that of a baby in the maternal womb.

4. No sign of paint has been discovered on the tilma. From a distance of 3-4 inches from the image, one can see only the maguey cactus fibers of the material: the colors disappear. Scientific studies have not been able to discover the origin of the coloration, nor the way the image was painted. They cannot detect vestiges of brush strokes or any other known painting technique. NASA scientists confirm that the paint material does not belong to any known element on earth.

5. When the material was examined under a laser ray, it was shown that there is no coloration on the front or the back of the cloth, and that the colors hover at a distance of3/10th of a millimeter (1/100th of an inch) over the cloth, without touching it. The colors actually float above the surface of the tilma. Isn’t that amazing?

6. The rough material of the tilma has a lifespan of no more than 20-30 years. Several centuries ago, a replica of the image was painted on an identical piece of maguey cloth, and it disintegrated after several decades. Nonetheless, during the almost 500 years of the miracle, the cloth with the image of Mary remains as strong as it was on the first day. Science cannot explain why the material has not disintegrated.

7. In the year 1791, muriatic acid accidentally spilled on the upper right side of the tilma. During the period of 30 days, without any special treatment, the affected fabric re-constituted itself miraculously.

8. The stars that appear on the Mantle of Mary reflect the exact configuration and positions that could be seen in the sky of Mexico on the day the miracle happened.

• On the right side of the Virgin’s mantle, the southern constellations are indicated:

• At the top are four stars that form part of the Orphiuchus constellation.

• Below it to the left, one finds Libra, and to its right, at what seems an arrow point, is the beginning of Scorpio.

• In the middle are the constellations of Lupus and to its left, an end point of Hydra.

• Farther down, one can clearly see the Southern Cross; above it appears the slightly inclined square of the Centaurus constellation.

Download a high-resolution image of Our Lady of Guadalupe here.

• On the left side of the Virgin’s mantle one sees the northern constellations:

• At her shoulder, a fragment of the stars of the Herdsman constellation; below it and to the left is the Great Bear. To its right is Berenice’s Hair; below it, Hunting Dogs, and to its left, the Thuban, which is the brightest star of the Draco constellation.

• Below the two parallel stars (which still form part of the Big Bear), one finds stars from another pair of constellations: the Auriga and at the bottom, three stars of Taurus.

• Thus, in their totality and proper places, the 46 most brilliant stars that can be seen on the horizon of the Valley of Mexico are identified.

9. In the year 1921, a man concealed a high power bomb in a flower arrangement, and placed it at the feet of the tilma. The explosion destroyed everything around it, except for the tilma, which remained intact.

10. Scientists discovered that the eyes of Mary have the three refractive characteristics of a human eye.

11. In the eyes of Mary (only about 1/3rd inch in size), minuscule human figures were discovered that no artist could have painted. The same scene is repeated in each eye.

It’s evident that these unexplainable things were given to us for a reason:

To catch our attention.

Have they caught yours?

To close, let us look at three surprising facts:

• In the Indian language, “Guadalupe” means to “crush the head of the serpent.” It properly refers to Genesis 3:15: Mary, the conqueror of evil.

• The image also depicts a detail from Apocalypse 12: “And a great sign appeared in Heaven: A woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet.”

• The Virgin wears a black band at her waist, which symbolizes pregnancy, to indicate that God wanted Jesus to be born in the three Americas, in the heart of each American. “While I live I will praise the Lord: I will sing praise unto my God while I have any being” (Ps 146:2).

This presentation has the single purpose of demonstrating to you that the Virgin will be with you always, whenever you need her, that she will never abandon you, and that you will always be her special son or daughter.

• Never forget the words she spoke to Juan Diego: My little child, the smallest of all, let nothing afflict you.

• Do you not know that you are in my lap?

• Am I not here, I, who am your mother?

Download a high-resolution image of Our Lady of Guadalupe here.

This presentation was adapted from a PowerPoint presentation for this Blog. We gratefully acknowledge and appreciate the work of the author, Andre Fernando Garcia.

If you would like the PowerPoint presentation (accompanied with music), please contact us, and we will gladly email it to you.

Some amazing facts here.

1 posted on 12/12/2011 4:22:04 PM PST by Salvation

To: nickcarraway; NYer; ELS; Pyro7480; livius; ArrogantBustard; Catholicguy; RobbyS; marshmallow; ...

Catholic Ping for Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Did you know all these facts? I sure didn’t.

2 posted on 12/12/2011 4:25:08 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

I knew a few (the figures in the eyes, the ‘paint’ appearing to hover above the tilma), but not all. Wow.

3 posted on 12/12/2011 4:38:43 PM PST by Betis70 (Bruins!)

4 posted on 12/12/2011 4:41:47 PM PST by FamiliarFace

LOL! So much for the science. While I believe in miracles and that God can do anything to encourage the faithful or lead the unbelievers to Him, I am skeptical of these sorts of tales.

6 posted on 12/12/2011 5:07:29 PM PST by Paved Paradise

To: Paved Paradise

Umm, are you Catholic? This is a caucus.

8 posted on 12/12/2011 5:35:34 PM PST by sayuncledave (et Verbum caro factum est (And the Word was made flesh))

To: Salvation; StrongandPround; lilyramone; crusadersoldier; Ellzeena; Anvilhead; stonehouse01; ...

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.

9 posted on 12/12/2011 5:37:26 PM PST by narses

I didn’t know about the temperature of the tilma at all times or the baby heartbeat.

10 posted on 12/12/2011 6:53:45 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

12 posted on 12/12/2011 7:07:19 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

From “The Tilma of Guadalupe: A Scientific Analysis”
Written by Br. Thomas Mary Sennott
Friday, 02 December 2011

“Some time after the original image was formed, the moon and the tassel were added by human hands, perhaps for some symbolic reason since the moon was important to both Moorish-Spanish and Aztec mythologies. Some time after the tassel and the moon were added, the gold and black line decorations, angel, Aztec fold of the robe, sunburst, stars and background were painted, probably during the seventeenth century. The additions were by human hands and impart a Spanish Gothic motif to the painting. In all probability, at the same time the tilma was mounted on a solid support, the orange coloring of the sunburst and white fresco were added to the background. The entire tilma for the first time was completely covered with paint....”

There has been paint added to the Tilma. The above can be found at the link below.

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=163

The image of Our Lady remains miraculous.

13 posted on 12/12/2011 7:28:39 PM PST by dominic flandry

This Religion Forum thread is labeled “Catholic Caucus” meaning if you are not currently, actively Catholic then do not post on this thread.

14 posted on 12/12/2011 8:00:04 PM PST by Religion Moderator

Love this! I have my mother’s old picture of this miracle hanging in our kitchen.

15 posted on 12/12/2011 8:02:30 PM PST by Domestic Church (AMDG ...)

To: forgotten man

This Religion Forum thread is labeled “Catholic Caucus” meaning if you are not currently, actively Catholic then do not post on this thread.

16 posted on 12/12/2011 8:05:38 PM PST by Religion Moderator

Our priest this morning HAD to mention how bad the Spaniards were. He mentioned Mary's apparition as a means to convert the Spaniards from their evil ways.

He did NOT mention that the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice, killing about 20% of their infants in sacrifice. [I heard THAT on EWTN at the same time I heard MUCH of what you wrote here, Salvation.]

Our Blessed Mother came to CHANGE the Aztec culture, end the murder of their children. Her image has the black sash of impending motherhood. She DID end the human sacrifice...and some 9 million Indians were converted over a very short period of time.

Lesson to the USA: we murder, via abortion, about 25% of our unborn babies which makes us WORSE than the un-evangelized Aztecs. We could use Mary's help here, couldn't we?

Wonderful post, Salvation. It's no wonder she is revered so much by the Mexicans. It's a living miracle that we can see by a visit to Mexico City....not too far away.

17 posted on 12/12/2011 8:40:59 PM PST by cloudmountain

Catholic Ping for Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Did you know all these facts? I sure didn’t.

I visit Mexico City every two years or so. I visit the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe too. I've had the tourist lecture and it was amazing....too much information.
I saw the EWTN show about Our Lady of Guadalupe this past weekend and it was STILL "too bigga eat." It's just too much to fathom: a real live miracle continuing to be miraculous in our time and hemisphere.

The show also had people who were cured...our very own "Lourdes" on this side of the Atlantic.
Can you imagine how impressed those Indians of 500 years ago much have reacted? No wonder nine million of them converted.

18 posted on 12/12/2011 8:49:34 PM PST by cloudmountain

In his 02 December 2011 article, “The Tilma of Guadalupe: A Scientific Analysis,” Br. Thomas Mary Sennott does *not* assert that anything was added “by human hands.” He quotes Dr. Philip Serna Callahan, a biophysicist at the University of Florida, who allegedly examined and photographed the image in 1979, to that effect.

Brother Thomas then presents some very good arguments in rebuttal of those assertions. “Callahan’s conclusions regarding extensive human additions to the tilma might well be true, but I suspect he is overdoing it. This suggestion of a seventeenth century date for most of them can’t possibly be true. In 1570, just thirty-nine years after the apparition, Archbishop Montúfar sent King Philip II of Spain a copy of the miraculous Image which was placed in the flagship of Admiral Andrea Doria in anticipation of the Battle of Lepanto. This copy is now enshrined in the Church of San Stephano in Aveto, Italy. The Lepanto Image is identical to the original Miraculous Guadalupe Image, which means that any additions had to have been made well before 1570.”

This indicates that any additions made could not have postdated 1570, which casts doubt on the assertion of any additions “by human hands” at all.

As for the statement that the retina expands and contracts rather than the pupil, well, I was a translator long enough to know how this sort of error can creep in. I’d bet the farm that the original document uses the word for “pupil” in whatever language it is written.

It doesn’t seem very “scientific” to me to take a typo as proof that an assertion is false.

As for the careful establishment of Dr. Callahan’s bona fides as a Catholic, lots of people don’t understand that there are Catholics who regard such things as embarrassing superstitions and are as fervent to cast doubt upon them as the most tendentious of skeptics.

19 posted on 12/12/2011 8:51:13 PM PST by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)

To: cloudmountain

Our priest this morning HAD to mention how bad the Spaniards were. He mentioned Mary's apparition as a means to convert the Spaniards from their evil ways.
Were you lucky enough to hear him mention how wonderful the muslims were during the crusades?

Sigh.

20 posted on 12/15/2011 6:34:01 AM PST by thesaleboat (Pray The Rosary Daily (Our Lady, July 13, 1917))

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