Wonder of Guadalupe

Description

This relatively short book is widely regarded as the best on the apparition of Our Lady in 1531 in Mexico City. Tells the complete story; from the Conquest of Mexico and the conversion of the Aztecs; through the development of the devotion and into the modern era. An enthralling story and an essential devotion for our times!

ref:16.7:

It was possibly on this occasion that the tilma was folded in to three sections, causing double creases across the lower and upper third of the Virgin’s body. On arrival at the cathedral, which was half under water, the Archbishop, Don Francisco de Man-zoyzuniga, promised not to return the precious relic until he could take it back “with dry feet.” This he was finally able to do in 1634. Though the waters did not begin to recede for some while, the supplication of the people never faltered and when their prayer was finally granted, Our Lady of Guadalupe was proclaimed as the Preserver of Mexico and an account of the event, describing it as a miracle, was sent by the Government to Rome and Madrid.

KOReader notes:

2. The Visions at Tepeyac

09/23/242. The Visions at Tepeyac : 87

In the previous century, the Aztec King of Texcoco had built a high tower without an idol, dedicated to the “unknown god, creator of all things,” according to the chronicler Ixtilxochitl, who was also his descendant. This divinity was called “Tloque Nahuaque” (“that of our immediate surroundings,” or “who is by, or present, to all things”), an extraordinary metaphysical expression of God’s omnipresence. This god was also called “Ipalnemohuani” (“He whom by everything lives”). The Blessed Virgin revealed herself as the Mother of this God to Juan Diego and the Aztec people (cf. Historia, organ of the Centro de Estudios Guadalupanos, France, no. 3, 2nd term, 1978).

3. The Conversion of the Aztecs

10/06/243. The Conversion of the Aztecs : 101

Father Toribio, recorded: “Had I not witnessed it with my own eyes, I should not venture to report it. I have to affirm that at the convent of Quecholac, another priest and myself baptized 14,200 souls in five days. We even imposed the Oil of Catechumens and the Holy Chrism on all of them—an undertaking of no little labor.”15

10/06/243. The Conversion of the Aztecs : 102

Several trustworthy contemporary writers, including a certain Father Alegre, aver that one missionary, a Flemish Franciscan named Peter of Ghent, baptized with his own hands over 1,000,000 Mexicans.

5. The Development of the Cultus

10/06/245. The Development of the Cultus : 130

In 1545 a nationwide plague of typhus, which had claimed thousands of lives, abated almost at once when a large pilgrimage of children prayed for deliverance before the celestial picture.

10/06/245. The Development of the Cultus : 145

he elevated the Basilica of Guadalupe to the rank of Lateran Basilica, making it co-equal with St. John Lateran in Rome, the church second in rank of importance in all Christendom.

Benedict XIV

10/06/245. The Development of the Cultus : 156

the sacred image should be fittingly crowned to mark his sacerdotal jubilee. To the acclaim of a joyful nation, the Mexican Bishops resolved to implement this sublime act of homage on October 12, 1887. It is interesting to note that only weeks afterwards, a young girl knelt before the feet of Leo XIII and asked for another singular favor to mark his jubilee: namely, permission to enter a Carmelite Convent at the age of fifteen. Both events—the appeal of the Mexican episcopate and that of the future St. Thérèse of Lisieux—were to exercise a profound influence on the Church in the future

6. The Modern Era

10/08/246. The Modern Era : 165

We believe that there can be no stronger friendship and love between our countries than the friendship and love contracted through the Virgin Mary, Queen of Mexico and of Poland.”

10/08/246. The Modern Era : 165

Pope Pius XII broadcast a radio message to Mexico on October 12, 1945, to commemorate the golden jubilee of the first crowning of the celestial portrait by Leo XIII

Audio recording available?

10/08/246. The Modern Era : 169

Henry F. Unger

related to OFM Unger?

10/08/246. The Modern Era : 193

her face is full of kindness and simplicity … it calls me

10/08/246. The Modern Era : 194

famous Jesuit poet, Father Abed: “Qua neque amabilius quidquam est ne pulchrius orbe.” (“More beautiful or more lovable than it, there is nothing in this world.”)

7. The Verdict of Science

10/08/247. The Verdict of Science : 197

“The greatest masters of the art of painting,” wrote Professor Tanco Becerra in 1666, “confess … that a beauty of countenance so modestly joyful is humanly inimitable.”

10/08/247. The Verdict of Science : 197

the great Mexican painter Ibarra wrote: “No painter has ever been found capable of sketching or copying Our Lady of Guadalupe … Its singular uniqueness proves the picture to be the invention, not of a human artist, but of the Almighty.”

10/08/247. The Verdict of Science : 198

By general assent, the least imperfect copy is the one at the U.S. National Shrine of Our Lady of the Americas at Allentown, Pennsylvania.

10/08/247. The Verdict of Science : 199

Professor Philip Callahan, a biophysicist at the University of Florida who studied the celestial picture in 1979, stated in his report that he once measured over six hundred microwatts of near ultra violet light from a single votive candle. Multiply this by a factor of hundreds of thousands or more and we have an intolerable environment for any painting. “Excess ultra-violet light,” he wrote, “quickly fades most color pigments, whether organic or inorganic, especially blues.” But the sacred image appears to be indestructible, as if immune from the most damaging effects of human ill-treatment

10/08/247. The Verdict of Science : 201

agnostic architect named Ramirez Vasquez, who was entrusted with the design of the new Basilica

Why not a Catholic architect?

10/08/247. The Verdict of Science : 206

the eyes of the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe give the impression of life.

10/08/247. The Verdict of Science : 213

corneal eye reflections had not been given scientific verification until Baron Von Helmholtz validated them in a great treatise on the eye published in the 1880s [Treatise on Physiological Optics?]

10/09/247. The Verdict of Science : 215

Purkenje-Sanson law of optic physiology

Bibliography

10/10/24Bibliography : 241

Wahlig, Dr. Charles, A Handbook on Guadalupe, 1974, and Juan Diego, 1972, both books published by the Franciscan Marytown Press.