Posted on 06/17/2007 2:37:44 PM PDT by NYer
In 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared to Mexican peasant Juan Diego. To prove to all that the apparitions were real, the Virgin imprinted an image of herself on Juan Diego's tilma, a thin cloth made of cactus fibres.
This type of tilma normally decays in 30 to 40 years. But Juan Diego's tilma is still miraculously intact and the same as it was when he wore it.
Over the centuries, many have expressed doubts about the divinity of the image, but Prof. Victor Campa Mendoza has no doubt whatsoever.
"This is not a human act but an act of God," he says in Spanish, adding he has accumulated enough evidence to prove it.
The first is in Revelation chapter 12 which speaks about a woman remarkably similar to Our Lady of Guadalupe, including the fact she was accompanied by the sun, the stars and the moon and that she was pregnant.
According to the Nahualt culture, Juan Diego's culture, Our Lady is pregnant in the tilma. This is clear by the shape of her waist and by the four-petal flower resting on her womb, which in Nahualt culture is a symbol of pregnancy, Mendoza said.
A professor of ethics at the Technological Institute of Durango, Mexico, Mendoza has done extensive analysis and research on Juan Diego's tilma for the past 30 years and has written several books on Our Lady of Guadalupe, including the Mantle Codex, the Nican Mopohua and his latest, Guadalupan.
He is currently on a speaking tour of several U.S. and Canadian cities. Blessed Sacrament Parish in Wainwright sponsored his trip to Alberta. He made presentations at parishes in Edmonton, Wainwright, Lloydminster and Vegreville.
In a brief interview in Spanish and during a PowerPoint presentation for 35 people at St. Martin's Parish in Vegreville June 12, Mendoza spoke candidly about Our Lady and gave further evidence of the supernatural origin of her image. He used a large canvass of Our Lady for the presentation and with a large ruler he pointed to details in the image.
Carlos Lara of Wainwright, who interpreted the presentation, said in his native Mexico Our Lady is popular and nobody questions the divinity of the tilma. But presentations like Mendoza's are necessary for skeptical westerners.
Mendoza noted Our Lady's tilma shows the radiant rays of the sun surrounding her as she appeared, wearing a blue-green mantle that depicts the universe.
Also fascinating is the pattern of stars strewn across her mantle. According to Mendoza the pattern mirrors the exact position of constellations on the day her image appeared on the tilma, Dec. 12, 1531. He used a graph to prove it.
It has been found that by imposing a topographical map of central Mexico on the Virgin's dress, the mountains, rivers and principal lakes coincide with the decoration on this dress, he said.
The fact that the tilma has remained perfectly preserved since 1531 is a miracle in itself, according to Mendoza. After more than four centuries, Juan Diego's tilma retains the same freshness and the same lively colour as when it was new.
Analysis shows that there is no trace of drawing or sketching under the colour, even though perfectly recognizable retouches were done on the original.
He said a professor from NASA conducted an independent analysis in 1979 and concluded that there is no way to explain the quality of the pigments used for the pink dress, the blue veil, the face and the hands, the permanence of the colours, or the vividness of the colours after several centuries, during which they ordinarily should have deteriorated.
Much research has also been conducted regarding mysterious images that appear in Our Lady's eyes. The images reflected in her retinas are of the moment when she left her imprint on Juan Diego's tilma and Mendoza showed enlarged pictures of those images.
Peruvian Jose Aste Tonsmann, an expert in digital image processing, produced them. The figures in Our Lady's eyes' reflection show the people historically known to have been present at the unveiling of the tilma in 1531 - Bishop Zumarraga, his interpreter, Juan Diego and several family members.
Further proof of the supernatural origin of the tilma comes from St. Luke, who in 71 AD painted a portrait of Our Lady that is remarkably similar to Our Lady of Guadalupe, noted Mendoza. "This is a true sign that this an act of God," he said.
I stopped reading here...
See post #59.
LOLOLOLOL indeed!!!
Isn't it a shame when you can find more truth at an atheist website than at a Catholic one???
Free Inquiry?
http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=fi&page=index
Yup, that publication is where I go to find correct information on any faith, right.
Check out 63 as well.
Let’s get the secular humanists in on this.
*snicker*
Well, if you prefer to get the "truth" from an atheist website, more power to you. As for me, I'll continue to receive the Truth from the Catholic Church, the pillar of Truth, established by Jesus Christ.
Good day!
So then, what part of the article is incorrect???
Personally, I wouldn’t take a single word as correct. Maybe “the”.
Really, do you go to DU to find out about conservatives?
Do you watch the Loose Change films to find out about 911?
Going to secular humanists and atheist website to find out anything about religion is just silly.
Is that the same church that Francisco de Bustamante, provincial head of Mexico’s Franciscans belonged to, who in September 1536, read a memorable sermon in which he clearly dismissed the whole myth of Our Lady, called of Guadalupe, because it makes the natives believe that "the image painted by Marcos the Indian is in any way miraculous.”
LOLOLOL
You don’t get that you are taking that quote from an article written for people who can’t stand religion at all.
Can you quote that from some place reputable?
Let me get this straight. You are saying that everything in the following paragraph from the article is incorrect:
"...clergyman Miguel Olimon—a historian of the Pontifical University of Mexico, a very prestigious official Catholic institution—launched another inquest. This inquiry, too, found clearly against the existence of Juan Diego. Olimon was censored and threatened by the apparitionist hierarchy. One bishop actually lamented in public that there was no more Inquisition to silence troublemakers like Olimon. But this historian decided to publish his work anyway. A Spanish publisher, Plaza & Janes, accepted the manuscript and published it this year under the title La Búsqueda de Juan Diego (The Search for Juan Diego)."
Even a Google search of the quote puts it into doubt...
http://www.google.com/search?q=Francisco+de+Bustamante+%22the+image+painted+by+Marcos+the+Indian%22&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1
what does your atheist website say about Jesus?
I said I would doubt EVERYTHING in that article unless it could be verified by another source.
Sorry, that only makes sense. Secular Humanists hate religion. Lies, half truths and spin need verification.
People publish books with conspiracy theories all the time. It proves nothing.
Truth be told.
Some of us only agree with everything we read on the internet if it agrees with us.
They would probably think more of Jesus if they could get some honest answers to the following questions from those who claim to follow Jesus:
Is it true that clergyman Miguel Olimon—a historian of the Pontifical University of Mexico, a very prestigious official Catholic institution—launched an inquest that found clearly against the existence of Juan Diego???
Is it true that Olimon was then censored and threatened by the Vatican for his inquest findings???
Is it true that a Spanish publisher, Plaza & Janes, accepted the manuscript and published it under the title La Búsqueda de Juan Diego (The Search for Juan Diego)???
>>Is it true that clergyman Miguel Olimon—a historian of the Pontifical University of Mexico, a very prestigious official Catholic institution—launched an inquest that found clearly against the existence of Juan Diego???
Is it true that Olimon was then censored and threatened by the Vatican for his inquest findings???
Is it true that a Spanish publisher, Plaza & Janes, accepted the manuscript and published it under the title La Búsqueda de Juan Diego (The Search for Juan Diego)???<<
These are really good questions. You posted them, how about if you give us the references to prove that the facts you present are true. Answer the questions, FRiend.
It’s on you to prove them. I gave you the google link on your last quote. It comes up with NO credible evidence.
Now, unless you can give us a reference from a credible source, you are blowing smoke.
The other occurred in the 1920s when the FREE MASONS tried to blow up the image, but even with powerful explosives, they did not even crack the glass (it was not protected by bullet proof glass back then)...In a nearby museum is a large, solid-metal crucifix that stood underneath the tilma when the explosion occurred. It was bent in half by the force of the explosion -- which also destroyed the marble steps of the altar and blew out several windows of nearby buildings -- yet there was no damage to the tilma.
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