by Maria Pía Cavallo for the Eugenio Siragusa Study Center
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is that of Mary waiting for her son Jesus, as evidenced by the black belt tied under the breast, a sign of pregnancy for Mexican women for centuries. That is why pregnant women invoke it.
Guadalupe means «river of light», it is no coincidence that the festival is on December 12, the eve of Saint Lucia, and we are close to the birth of that child that she carries in her womb on December 25.
GESTATION-MOTHER, SON-LIGHT: The mother carries in her womb what will be the light of the world.
THE MANTLE, THE «TILMA» (THE MOTHER – GESTATION)
Some of the events that carry an important message are accompanied by what we can define as supernatural wonders, which sustain the message itself. The image on the canvas that appeared in Juan Diego in 1531 is of divine origin, it does not come from human hands, and it was painted by the One who has painted all of creation.
Both believers and skeptics have observed the mantle of the Virgin and have subjected it to dozens of tests. All confirm that the cloak and the image it shows have supernatural characteristics.
Our Lady told Saint Juan Diego to go up the hill, pick up some roses, and take them to the bishop. Juan Diego did not hesitate. The roses were there, although it was not the season. He collected them in his tilma (typical Mexican cape that they carried on his shoulder) and took them to the bishop as a sign that the Virgin wanted a temple to be built there. When Juan Diego was in front of the bishop and opened the tilma in which he carried the roses, they fell to the ground. As it was not the flowering period, the sign was understood to be true, and to their amazement the image of the Virgin appeared imprinted on the tilma.
It is truly amazing what science has discovered about this Tilma, which should have been destroyed after 20/30 years!
Ophthalmological studies carried out in the Ojos de María have found that when the light is brought closer to them, the retina contracts and, when the light is withdrawn, it dilates again, exactly as it happens to a living eye.
«I examined the eyes with a high-powered ophthalmoscope and I was able to appreciate the depth of the eye as if I were looking at a living eye,» said Dr. Enrique Graue, an internationally renowned ophthalmologist and director of a specialized ophthalmology hospital in Mexico.
The Purkinje-Sansom effect appears in the eyes: the image on the cornea and on both sides of the lens is tripled. This effect was studied by Dr. Purkinje from Wroclaw and Dr. Sansom from Paris, and in ophthalmology it is known as the Purkinje-Sansom phenomenon. This phenomenon, exclusive to the living eye, was also observed in the eye of Our Lady of Guadalupe by Dr. Rafael Torija with the help of an ophthalmoscope. The doctor certified it with these words: «The eyes of Our Lady of Guadalupe give the impression of vitality.»
The same affirm the doctors Guillermo Silva Ribera, Ismael Ugalde and Jaime Palacio, among others. Since 1950, the eyes of the Virgin of Guadalupe have been examined by a score of ophthalmologists. Recent studies with the microscope have revealed that the silhouettes of various people are reflected in the eyes of the Virgin, as when we look into the eyes of those in front of us and see ourselves reflected. Saint Juan Diego is also in the eyes of the Virgin. Scientifically it cannot be explained how twelve human figures appear in a seven millimeter eye.
Science discovered that Mary’s eyes have all three refractive effects of the image of a human eye. In Maria’s pupils (only 7.8 mm), tiny human images were discovered, which no artist could have ever painted. They are two scenes and they are repeated in both eyes. The image of Bishop Zumárraga in María’s eyes was enlarged using digital technology, and revealed that in her eyes the image of the Indian Juan Diego is portrayed, opening his Tilma in front of the bishop.
The scope of this image? – a quarter of a millionth of a millimeter.
The temperature of the maguey fiber (obtained from a plant) with which the shelter is built maintains a constant temperature of 36.6 degrees, the same as that of a living person. The canvas is supported against a metal frame that is constantly kept at 15 degrees to keep it cool, but this, when its temperature is measured, reveals 36.5 degrees, the temperature of a healthy human body.
The maguey fiber that makes up the canvas of the image cannot last more than 20 or 30 years. Several centuries ago a replica of the image was painted on a similar maguey fiber canvas, and it disintegrated after a few decades. Meanwhile, almost 500 years after the miracle, the image of Mary remains as perfect as the first day.
One of the doctors who analyzed the cloak placed her stethoscope under the ribbon with ties that Maria repeated rhythmically, counting 115 beats per minute, like a baby in the womb.
No traces of paint were discovered on the canvas. Actually, at a distance, About 10 centimeters from the image, only the raw canvas is visible – the colors disappear. Scientific studies fail to discover the origin of the coloring that forms the image, nor the way it was painted. There are no traces of brush strokes or other known techniques. NASA scientists claimed that the material that gives rise to the colors is none of the known elements on Earth.
Francisco Camps Ribera, from Barcelona, known worldwide as an expert in painting techniques, concluded: «No human artist would have chosen a canvas of this quality without a preparation to create his work.» American scientists Smith and Callaghan, who worked at NASA, and Campos Ribera, in their 1954 opinion, argue that there is no trace of a brush in the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Then the chemists analyzed the pigments, and they are not of animal, vegetable, mineral or synthetic origin, that is, it is not known where they come from.
A laser beam has been passed sideways over the canvas, and it has been shown that the color is neither the front nor the back, but rather that the colors float at a distance of three tenths of a millimeter above the canvas, without touching it. The colors float in the air, on the surface of the mantle.
In 1791, muriatic acid was accidentally spilled on the upper right of the canvas. In 30 days, without any treatment, the damaged tissue was miraculously reconstituted.
The stars visible in the Manto de María reflect the exact configuration and position of the sky that Mexico presented on the day the miracle occurred. the Mantle of the Virgin Mary, which appeared in Guadalupe (Mexico) on December 12, 1531, shows a star map. (As reported by J. J. Benitez in the Spanish press). NASA technicians, analyzing the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, mysteriously appeared on the mantle of the Indian Juan Diego, have discovered a star map that connects the golden stars with lines. Thus the constellations of Alpha, Taurus, Sigma and Libra were highlighted. According to professor Armando García De León, professor of Astronomy, the map dates from the year 1531. This means that four centuries later modern astronomy was able to reveal the message. The latest research, conducted by Professor Tonsmann of Cornell University (USA) using a computer, highlighted twelve human figures before the eyes of the sacred image.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a man hid a high-potential bomb in a floral decoration, which he placed at the foot of the Lienzo. The explosion destroyed everything around it, except the canvas, which was left in perfect condition.
It is clear that all these inexplicable events were given to us for a reason: they wanted to get our attention. Finally, let’s consider three more facts:
«Guadalupe» means in the indigenous language: «to crush the head of the serpent.» It is precisely the gospel of Genesis 3:15: Mary, conqueror of the evil one.
The image is a painting identical to the detail of Revelation 12: «a great sign appeared in the sky, a woman wrapped in the sun, with the moon under her feet.»
The Virgin has a ribbon with ribbons on her womb, she is «pregnant» to indicate that God wants Jesus to be born in America, in the heart of every American.
Prayer to the Virgin of Guadalupe (published in «Non siamo soli», May 5, 1986)
Celestial Mother Mary, adorable flower that embodies the aroma of the Love and Consolation of the living God. The sun is high in the sky surrounded by its beautiful colors, when my thought-shaped feeling caresses the skin of your white feet. Precious Mary, preserve our heart and our soul, touch our anxieties, our joys and our sorrows with your divine hands, transforming them into a single melody.
Protect us from evil and its temptations and make each one of us the temple of Light and Wisdom according to the holy will of Him who is our Master.
Most Holy Mary, our Mother, visit us in every thought and every vigil presenting ourselves before the Divine Father, active, just and peaceful for the holy program that we serve and that we desire.
Spread your gentle comfort in our steps and in our actions, so that they always translate into the single greatest truth of all time.
Belen Bongiovanni
THE «SUDARIO» (shroud) (THE SON – THE LIGHT)
«Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus, wrapped it in a white sheet and placed it in his new tomb. After Saturday, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone of the tomb It had been overturned. He ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the beloved of Jesus, they said to them: They have taken the Lord from the tomb and we do not know where they have taken him. So Simon Peter went out with the other disciple and they went to the tomb. Simon Peter entered the tomb and saw the bandages on the ground and the shroud, which had been placed on his head, not on the ground with the bandages, but folded into a in a separate corner ”.
The word «shroud» comes from the Greek «sindôn» and indicates a canvas that the Jews used to wrap the corpses before burying them.
The imprint of a man and his terrible suffering is evident. He is in his thirties, about 1.77 tall, with a beard and long hair, with Middle Eastern features. When analyzing the human body, the signs of a terrible scourging are evident. The forehead, head and nape are marked by a crown of thorns. Two large bruises with abrasions then clearly appear, caused by the «gallows», that is, by the beam of the cross that the condemned had tied to their arms. The man in the Shroud was crucified with nails in his hands * (symbols that all the stigmatized in history report in the same way, Pablo Tarso, San Francisco, Padre Pio, Natuzza). The feet are also pierced. There are numerous traces of blood and a large wound on the side. All elements that fit perfectly with the description that the Gospels make of the crucifixion of Jesus.
* Stigmata on wrists or palms? More than once Eugene said that Jesus received them in the palms of his hands, so that he could suffer more, and in order not to have the effect of tearing, they tied him with strong ropes from his arms to hold himself on top of the cross.
In 1898 it was photographed with the equipment of the time and it was discovered, by developing the plate, that the image printed on the canvas had the characteristics of a photographic negative. Through computerized analysis, the anatomical correspondence of the two images, frontal and dorsal, has been verified today. So the one on the Shroud is a «three-dimensional» image, a fact confirmed by modern NASA equipment. Blood tests performed since 1978 reveal the presence of hemoglobin and other specific substances in group AB human blood.
To establish the date of the Shroud, a chemical method based on the current measurement of vanillin (vanilla seeds) was also used, an examination that places it between 1000 BC. C. and 700 AD, therefore in a very extensive period, but which would be compatible with the evangelical events.
“I would like to ask terrestrial science experts what technique the man in the shroud used. If not Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God, who else could leave the image of his body and his suffering?
Even today, modern technology could not reproduce an image with the same mysterious shroud technique. So how did the man depicted on the cloth do it in the Middle Ages?
Only an astral Being can perform such wonders in this dimension. So, earthly friends, is he the real figure of Christ or not? »
Man’s friend
Eugenio Siragusa
Nicolosi October 16, 1988
Maria Pia Cavallo
