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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made on the eyes of Mary detected that when the eye is exposed to light, the retina contracts, and when the light is withdrawn, it returns to a dilated state, just as happens with a living eye. 2.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...

When I first heard "For Greater Glory" (originally titled "Cristiada," which I prefer) was being shot, I was stunned -- and skeptical. It never could be produced by Hollywood. In fact, it wouldn't be a theatrical release, maybe a short documentary, certainly with a small budget. On the former, I was correct; it was made in Mexico. On the latter, I was wrong; it's a full-fledged major motion picture with grade-A talent. And it's wonderful. The cast includes Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, Peter O'Toole (in a cameo role as a murdered priest, the octogenarian is splendid), Ruben Blades and...

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas--North, Central and South. The feast commemorates the day on which she imprinted her image on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego, whose feast Catholics celebrated on December 9th. It is a beautiful story that took place in 1531, a decade after Cortez's conquest of Aztec Mexico, and just 14 years after Martin Luther's publication of his Ninety-Five Theses, the event which precipitated the Protestant Reformation in Europe. December 9, 1531 is the day on which she first appeared to Juan Diego, an Indian convert...

Mary, Mother of Life Our Lady of Guadalupe By: Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, miraculously imprinted on St. Juan Diego’s cloak, speaks a message about life. First, it shows that Mary is carrying Christ within her. She is wearing a dark cord with two tassels hanging down from her waist, called a cinta, which was worn only by pregnant women. And photographs of the image, studied by scientists, reveal a slight protrusion of the abdomen, indicating Our Lady is carrying the Christ Child in her womb. An interesting symbol of life on the...

On November 8, 1519 - only two years after the start of the Protestant Reformation in Western Europe - a Spanish conquistador named Hernando Cortes, led his army into the sprawling city of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire in modern-day Mexico. This was the symbolic start of the conquest of the Meso-America by the Spanish. The Spanish conquistadors were seeking fame and fortune. They were accompanied, however, by Catholic missionaries who were seeking to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the indigeonous peoples of Meso-America. For more than a decade, the labor of the Catholic missionaries among...

[SNIP] "He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." Scripture scholars over the years have debated regarding the word he. Should it be translated he or she or even they? But does it matter? In another words, does the he refer to the Messiah who is to come? Does the she refer to Mary? Does the they refer to the descendants of Mary; i.e., Christ and the Church? [SNIP] ...all three lead us to the same conclusion. Since it depends which original text is being used for the translation into our modern languages (the Septuagint or...

Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548) St Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548). Little is known about the life of Juan Diego before his conversion, but tradition and archaelogical and iconographical sources, along with the most important and oldest indigenous document on the event of Guadalupe, "El Nican Mopohua" (written in Náhuatl with Latin characters, 1556, by the Indigenous writer Antonio Valeriano), give some information on the life of the saint and the apparitions. Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin" ("the talking eagle") in Cuautlitlán, today part of Mexico City, Mexico. He was a gifted member of the Chichimeca people, one of...

Source URL's used/referenced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutarco_El%C3%ADas_Calles -- In particular, the heading Cristero War: Anticlerical [Anti-Catholic] legislation enactmenthttp://milujciesie.org.pl/nr/catholic_church/painted_by_a_heavenly.html -- Painted by a Heavenly Hand In the 1920s and 1930s, the infamous Calles Persecution occurred in Mexico. During this time, Freemasons tried to bomb the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The bomb did go off, but not even the glass was cracked, which was not bullet proof and very thin [supernatural protection, apparently]. A 5 foot brass cross on the altar was not as fortunate. The tremendous force of the blast caused the cross to be curved. Many Roman Catholic priests were martyred...

(Reuters) - Light up the grill for July 4 and get six months in jail under stringent new burn rules imposed by one Texas county in response to a devastating and record-breaking drought. An effort to stem wildfires, which have already taken out millions of acres of ranch land here, has encroached on the unofficial Texas pastime of backyard grilling -- as much a part of Texas as football and pick-up trucks.

Encinitas, CA residents in bogus construction worker uniforms installed a 10x10 foot stained glass mosaic of La Señora, riding a surf board a few days before Easter. Since the Easter appearance of this artwork that celebrates surfing culture, the Virgin Mary and ocean conservation, all at the same time, calls have been pouring into the office of Encinitas Councilman Jerome Stocks, some begging the official to not take down the luscious stained glass piece, some calling for the immediate destruction of a blasphemous image that defaces public property. Stocks, who used to be a cartoonist said he likes the piece...

GUNMEN have kidnapped the sole police officer in a northern Mexican town, a 28-year-old woman working alone after her colleagues resigned or were killed in the region's brutal drug war. A dozen unidentified gunmen set Erika Gandara's home ablaze last week and torched two cars parked outside before abducting her, the Chihuahua state prosecutor's office. Guadalupe, the town of 9000 inhabitants she helped keep safe, is located just off the US-Mexico border in the heart of one of the country's most violent regions where 3100 people were killed this year alone. In late November, unidentified gunmen killed another female crime...

St. Juan Diego's tilma: "completely outside" science Monday August 24, 2009 Take a look: A physicist who has spent years researching the tilma bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is affirming that there is no scientific explanation for the phenomenon. Adolfo Orozco stated this in a presentation given at an International Marian Congress that took place Aug. 6-8 in Phoenix. The congress, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, the Phoenix Diocese and the Institute of Guadalupan Studies, was dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Orozco gave a presentation on the image of the Virgin imprinted on St. Juan...

Science Sees What Mary Saw From Juan Diego’s TilmaZENITDigital technology is giving new leads for understanding a phenomenon that continues to puzzle science: the mysterious eyes of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Digital technology is giving new leads for understanding a phenomenon that continues to puzzle science: the mysterious eyes of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The image, imprinted on the tilma of a l6th-century peasant, led millions of indigenous Indians in Mexico to convert to the Catholic faith. Earlier this month in Rome, results of research into the famed image were discussed by engineer José...

Guadalupe: A Living ImageSun. September 26 at 10 PM ET, Tue. September 28 at 1 PM ET & Thu. September 30 at 5 AM ET Msgr. Eduardo Chavez, postulator of the cause for canonization of St. Juan Diego, discusses the importance of the Nican Mopohua, a document that presents the original authentic history of the Miracle of Guadalupe. Narrative of the apparition of the Virgin of GuadalupeAppearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe The Nican Mopohua is considered a kind of “gospel� of Mexico, and reports on how the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531, about ten years after the conquest of...

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - He may have sanded his jagged edge, but Joe Eszterhas still, apparently, has the basic instinct. The polarizing scribe, who hasn't had a film released theatrically in the U.S. in more than a decade, has signed on to a project about the mystical sighting of a virgin in 16th century Mexico. Eszterhas will write the screenplay about the virgin of Guadalupe, a vision that appeared to the Aztec peasant Juan Diego in 1531. While some scholars question Diego's existence, the event is credited with helping to spread Catholicism at a time of economic and social...

Dr. Adolfo Orozco at the International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe in Glendale, Arizona. Phoenix, Ariz., Aug 7, 2009 / 04:10 pm (CNA).- Researcher and physicist Dr. Aldofo Orozco told participants at the International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe that there is no scientific explanation for the 478 years of high quality-preservation of the Tilma or for the miracles that have occurred to ensure its preservation.Dr. Orozco began his talk by confirming that the conservation of the Tilma, the cloak of St. Juan Diego on which Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared 478 years ago, “is...

Congressmen Chris Smith Washington D.C., Apr 2, 2009 / 01:25 pm (CNA).- In an impassionate address to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Congressmen Chris Smith (R-NJ,) argued that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the speech delivered immediately after, in Houston, Texas, during Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger Award  were completely  inexcusable. Smith said that Clinton’s visit to the Catholic Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, where she presented a bouquet of flowers on behalf of the American people, was “a very nice gesture.” But the gesture...

Secretary of State Clinton expresses admiration for Margaret Sanger and confusion about Our Lady of Guadalupe. A day before receiving the Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s highest honor – the “Margaret Sanger Award” – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, leaving a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” and asking the basilica’s rector, “Who painted it?”

A classic gaffe, as reported by the Catholic News Agency and a couple of Mexican papers, out of Mexico City Friday: During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” after asking who painted the famous image. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s...

Thus far, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made two diplomatic blunders during her visit to Mexico that the U.S. Old Media are shockingly uninterested in highlighting. One was a policy blunder and the other a cultural/religious one. Clinton's first mistake was in imagining she is still a Senator that can make pronouncements on pending laws and policy plans instead of a mere envoy of the president, a mouth piece that hasn't the same freedom to invent policy prescriptions and laws that a Senator does. Last week, Clinton told Mexican officials that "we" -- as in the U.S. government --...

A day before receiving the Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s highest honor – the “Margaret Sanger Award” – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, leaving a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” and asking the basilica’s rector, “Who painted it?” In response to Clinton’s question, basilica rector Msgr. Diego Monroy responded, “God!” The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the cloak of St. Juan Diego in 1531. According to a report from Catholic News Agency, Msgr....

Mexico City, Mexico, Mar 27, 2009 / 04:59 pm (CNA).- During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” after asking who painted the famous image. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was...

Congress, Festival for Our Lady of Guadalupe   Events will take place Aug. 6 -8 in Phoenix following Supreme Convention. The Knights of Columbus will hold its First International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe from August 6-8, 2009, following the organization’s 127th annual convention in Phoenix.  The Congress will conclude with a Guadalupe Festival at Jobing.com Arena on August 8. Nearly 20,000 attendees are expected from throughout the United States and from Mexico.Co-sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, the Diocese of Phoenix, the Archdiocese of Mexico City and the Center for Guadalupan Studies, the Congress will be held at...

     Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in Mexico as the pregnant Mother of God to Saint Juan Diego, a Chicemeca Indian, on December 9, 10 and 12, 1531. She left a Miraculous Image of her appearance on his cactus fiber cloak, or "tilma", which still exists today for all to see in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.       Our Lady came to offer faith, hope and consolation to the oppressed natives of Mexico and to reconcile then with their Spanish rulers.  She put an end to the bloody human sacrifice of the Aztecs and converted nine million natives...

This is indeed a difficult blog to write. Not only because my favorite book on the subject went missing, but I believe, if I write this story just right, millions of souls will convert to Christ ...

Ok, first off, I really don't write vanities, I even searched for help on how to write them so I am trying not to do this wrong. Also this is not a topic that one needs to get wrapped up about. Just mere questions. This first one is just a point of information but it is not easily answered. 1. Has there ever been a feast day for the Holy Lance or Holy Spear (and Nails even I've believed I have also seen) (the spear meaning the one that pierced the side of Our Savior crucified)? I read about this...

ST. JUDE ELECTION NOVENA We have an opportunity as Catholics to elect a President and Vice-President whose political platform is largely favorable to and supportive of Catholic moral and social teaching, especially on the pre-eminent Catholic moral issue of the right to life, and to keep out of power a President and Vice-President whose political platform is largely hostile to Catholic moral and social teaching, especially with regard to the respect and protection of all life from conception to natural death. Let us pray a nine day novena to St. Jude, the patron of hopeless causes, for John McCain and...

A new chapter in the life of the... Catholic church in the Coulee Region begins today, the first day the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe is open to the public. Nine years after Archbishop Raymond Burke, former bishop of the La Crosse Diocese, first announced plans for the shrine, he dedicated the church at a Mass on Thursday that lasted more than three hours. Now... the success of the shrine lies largely in how the public, locally and around the world, receives the site Burke calls a place of pilgrimage.... Corinne Dempsey, an associate professor of religious studies...

The apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe which occurred in Mexico in 1531 were an evangelization experience unsurpassed in all of Church history with the possible exception of the Day of Pentecost. December 12th marks the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who I believe can be titled, Patroness of the Church Militant. I say this because, in that experience, She brought together all of the elements of a spiritual army that conquered what was then a total culture of death; if She could overcome the evil forces that directed the massacre of thousands of innocent human beings in 16th...

Mark Armstrong  Other Articles by Mark ArmstrongPrinter Friendly Version   The Story of Guadalupe: Hope for Our Violent World December 12, 2006 Just four days ago we celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception. On that day, Mel Gibson released his epic movie, Apocalypto. Without giving away too much of the plot, I believe we can hope that many eyes are opened by this movie's portrayal of the evil of human sacrifices practiced by the Aztecs and other Indian cultures in what would become Mexico. The movie provides the historical backdrop of today's Marian celebration: the Memorial of Our...

December 12, 2006 Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Psalm: Tuesday 49 Reading 1Zec 2:14-17 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,and they shall be his people,and he will dwell among you,and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,and he will again choose Jerusalem.Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling. or Rev 11:19a; 12:1-6a,...

Celia Medina said that the first time she went to the base of the Interstate Highway 74 bridge across the Rock River, she saw lots of things--cars and trucks rumbling along, streetlights casting a glow over the water, night falling over the city of Moline in western Illinois--but not the vision she had hoped to see. That visit was about 8 p.m. on March 19. Relatives had told her if she looked hard enough at one of the bridge supports poking out of the river, the shadows cast by streetlights above would reveal the outline of a veiled Virgin Mary,...

December 12, 2005Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Psalm: Monday 1 Reading IZec 2:14-17 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,and they shall be his people,and he will dwell among you,and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,and he will again choose Jerusalem.Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling. or Rev 11:19a; 12:1-6a,...

Though suburban parishes have experienced explosive growth, older parishes also are changing with newcomers from countries around the globe. St. Cecilia Catholic Church, established in 1956, draws crowds from tony Memorial neighborhoods, but it also has become the church home to many Latino immigrants. The church offers six Sunday Masses that start at 7:30 a.m. and end with a 7 p.m. service. Two are celebrated in Spanish. The Rev. Jesus Lizalde, the parochial vicar and main celebrant of Mass in Spanish, estimates that 37 percent of the parish is Hispanic. About 10 percent of the Hispanics are longtime Houstonians, established...

St. José María Robles Hurtado by Pedro A. MorenoPriest, Martyr and Knight : A Special Heart With a Special Beat In this article: A Heroic Priest Christ, the King of Mexico Help from the Vatican The Ultimate Witness Almost 80 years ago, on a hill outside of the small town of Quila, Jalisco, Mexico, there was a deafening and deadly silence. A special heart, a priestly heart united with Christ’s own, was stilled. Its special beat, a loving palpitation for the Eucharist, was now silent. The silence became one with the predawn darkness in which a group of soldiers finished...

December 11, 2004Saturday of the Second Week of Advent Reading ISir 48:1-4, 9-11 In those days,like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijahwhose words were as a flaming furnace.Their staff of bread he shattered,in his zeal he reduced them to straits;By the Lord's word he shut up the heavensand three times brought down fire.How awesome are you, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds!Whose glory is equal to yours?You were taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire,in a chariot with fiery horses.You were destined, it is written, in time to cometo put an end to wrath before the day of the LORD,To...

The 150th anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is coming up this December, as is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas. Are you interested in getting clear, concise material that helps spread Marian devotion? Take a look at: http://www.bridegroompress.com/guadalupe.htm and http://www.bridegroompress.com/snippets/Guadalupe.pdf As you can see from the excerpt, the 64-page book Artfully Teaching the Faith has an entire chapter devoted to explaining why the Guadalupe image had such an enormous impact on the Aztecs and how the image is interpreted. But it gets better. The book also describes 16 additional masterpieces of medieval...

Cuellar files for office Times staff reports Former state representative Henry Cuellar announced his filing for candidacy for the new 28th Congressional District, Monday. In a press release issued by his campaign headquarters, Cuellar announced his decision to run for the Democratic nomination in the March 9 primaries. He filed with state Democratic Party headquarters in Austin Sunday afternoon. The newly created congressional district is made up of Atascosa, Frio, Guadalupe, La Salle, McMullen, Wilson, Zapata and part of Bexar, Comal and Webb counties. "As a state representative for 14 years, I fought to bring improved funding for education, healthcare...

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Virgin of Guadalupe -- whose feast is celebrated today (December 12) -- is growing in popularity not only among Catholics, but among Protestant denominations. "In some Catholic parishes it's a bigger day than Christmas or Easter: the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe," says the newspaper. "Beginning well before dawn, worshipers today will gather to celebrate the brown-skinned mother of Jesus who, legend says, appeared before a poor Mexican peasant in 1531. "But the celebration isn't just for Catholics anymore. Increasingly, the pregnant Virgen de Guadalupe is turning up in other Latino-dominated...

TAMPA - After a car accident in September left her sister comatose and in critical condition, Guadalupe Ramos turned to her namesake, Mexico's revered Virgen de Guadalupe. Ramos knew many people who attributed miracles, cures and interventions to the Madonna. Clutching a statue of the saint that she had purchased in Mexico, Ramos prayed all the way from Tampa to her sister's hospital room in Michigan. ``I begged ... [the Virgin] not to take my only sister from me,'' recalls Ramos, who was born Dec. 12 - the feast day of Virgen de Guadalupe. ``I promised when she got better,...

December 12, 2003Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Psalm: Friday 52 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IZec 2:14-17 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,and they shall be his people,and he will dwell among you,and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,and he will again choose Jerusalem.Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling....

December 9, 2003Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent Psalm: Tuesday 52 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IIs 40:1-11 Comfort, give comfort to my people,says your God.Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to herthat her service is at an end,her guilt is expiated;Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORDdouble for all her sins. A voice cries out:In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!Every valley shall be filled in,every mountain and hill shall be made low;The rugged land shall be made a plain,the rough country, a...

Dear Friend of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Abraham Lincoln once said, “Can we, as a nation, continue together permanently - forever half slave and half free?” 140 years later, Pope John Paul II said that Lincoln’s question is still a question for us today. Can we continue together permanently –forever half pro-abortion and half pro-life ? Please join us in praying a Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe to become 100% pro-life! “Can we, as a nation, continue together permanently - forever half slave and half free? The problem is too mighty for me. May God, in His mercy, superintend...

December 12, 2002Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Psalm: Thursday Week 52 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Families Schools Adults Reading IZec 2:14-17 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord.Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day,and they shall be his people,and he will dwell among you,and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.The Lord will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,and he will again choose Jerusalem.Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the Lord!For he stirs forth...

In 1929, Alfonso Marcue, who was the official photographer of the old Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, found what seemed to be a clear image of a bearded man reflected in the right eye of the Virgin. Initially he did not believe what was before his eyes. How could it be? A bearded man inside of the eyes of the Virgin?. After many inspections of many of his black and white photographs he had no doubts and decided to inform the authorities of the Basilica. He was told that time to keep complete silence about the discovery, which he...