Our Lady of Guadalupe
The Virgin of Guadalupe, Patroness of Mexico and Empress of America.
Holiday: December 12.
"We entrust to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of Mexico and of the whole continent, the destiny of the American peoples and their new evangelization."John Paul II, January 1999.
The Blessed Virgin appeared at Tepeyac to Blessed Juan Diego in 1531. As proof of her visit, the Virgin miraculously made precious roses of Castile appear in that place and her image remained permanently in the tilma of her servant. In Spain there was already an invocation to the Virgin of Guadalupe in Cáceres and La Gomera.
The miraculous image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is venerated in Mexico (and all over the world) with great devotion, and the miracles obtained by those who pray to the Virgin under this invocation are so extraordinary that one cannot but exclaim: "Divine power is here." Almighty God is pleased to pour out His gifts through her whom He chose to be His mother.
History.
There has never been a lack, even among Catholics, of those who reject the historicity of Our Lady's apparitions. But these attacks become opportunities for new studies. This is what happened with the exhaustive studies conducted by Fidel Gonzalez mccj in preparation for the canonization of Juan Diego and collected by the Zenit agency:
Perhaps one of the most original works of Father Gonzalez, who has been assisted in this work by other members of the commission, Eduardo Chavez Sanchez and Jose Luis Guerrero Rosado (cf. "El encuentro de la Virgen de Guadalupe y Juan Diego", Editorial Porrua, Mexico 1999, 564 pp.) is the presentation of 27 Guadalupan indigenous documents or testimonies and 8 of mixed Indo-Spanish provenance. Among all of them, the "El Nican Mopohua" and the so-called "Escalada" Codex stand out.
The anti-apparitionists, however, cannot explain with historical elements some decisive aspects of the history of Mexico without taking into account the miracle of Guadalupe. As, for example, the fact that, after a dramatic conquest and after painful divisions and oppositions in the heart of the Nahuatl political world, in a significant place for the indigenous world, in the hill of Tepeyac, a hermitage dedicated to the Virgin Mary was erected immediately under the name of Guadalupe, that with the Guadalupe of Spain coincides only in the name.
They do not explain either how Guadalupe became a sign of a new religious history and of the encounter between two worlds until then in dramatic opposition.
... There are many other historical proofs about the existence of Juan Diego, such as, for example, the oral tradition, a decisive source when studying the Mexican peoples, whose culture was mainly oral. This tradition, in these cases, usually obeys very precise canons and, in the case of Guadalupe, always confirms the historical and spiritual figure of Juan Diego. Whoever wants to go deeper into the historical aspect of the visionary of Guadalupe, can read below the unpublished article written by one of the most competent personalities on the subject, Fidel Gonzalez, president of the Historical Commission on Juan Diego constituted by the Holy See.
The following story is taken from the writing of the Nican Mophua Indian of the XVI century.
One Saturday in early December 1531, an Indian named Juan Diego, was going very early in the morning from the village where he lived to Mexico City to catechism class and Holy Mass. When he arrived near the hill called Tepeyac it was dawn and he heard them calling to him from the top of the hill saying, "Juanito, Juan Dieguito."
He climbed to the summit and saw a Lady of superhuman beauty, whose dress was bright as the sun, who with very kind and attentive words said to him, "Juanito: the least of my children, I am the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God, through whom one lives. I earnestly desire that a temple be built for me here, so that in it I may show and lavish all my love, compassion, help and defense on all the dwellers of this earth and all my other lovers who invoke me and trust in me. Go to the Bishop and tell him that I desire a temple in this plain. Go and put all your efforts into it. Be sure that I will thank you well and I will repay you. You will deserve that I reward you for the work and fatigue with which you try to do what I entrust to you".
He knelt down and said to her, "My Lady, I am running to do what you have commanded me. I am your humble servant." And he hurried into the city and on his way to the Bishop's Palace, who was Fray Juan de Zumarraga, a Franciscan religious.
When the Bishop heard what the little Indian Juan Diego told him, he did not believe him. He only said to him, "Another day you will come and I will listen to you slowly."
Juan Diego became very sad because he had not succeeded in making his message come true. He went straight to the top of the hill and found there the Lady of Heaven who was waiting for him. When he saw her, he knelt down in front of her and said: "Lady, the youngest of my daughters, my child, I gave your message to the Bishop, but he did not believe me. I understood, from the answer he gave me, that he thought, perhaps, that it is an invention of mine that you want a temple to be built for you here. For which I beg you to commission one of the chiefs to take your message to him so that he may be believed, for I am a poor little man, the last of all. Forgive me for causing you this great grief, My Lady and Mistress."
She answered him, "Listen, my son, the least of all, it is necessary that you yourself request and help that my will be fulfilled. I beg you very much, my son, and I still command you, to go again tomorrow to see the Bishop. Tell him that I, in person, the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, send you, to let him know my will: that they must make here the temple that I ask of them."
But the next day the bishop did not believe Juan Diego either and told him that some marvelous sign was necessary to believe that it was true that he was sent by the Lady of Heaven herself. And he dismissed him.
On Monday, Juan Diego did not return to the place where Our Lady appeared to him because his uncle Bernardino became very ill and begged him to go to the capital and bring him a priest to confession. He turned around on the other side of Tepeyac so that the Lady of Heaven would not stop him, and so he could reach the capital sooner. But she met him on the road where he was going and said to him: "Understand, my son, my little one, that it is not so important what frightens and afflicts you. Do not let your heart be sad and do not be filled with anguish, for am I not here, who am your Mother? Am I not your help and protection? Do not grieve over the illness of your uncle, who at this moment has been healed. Go up now to the top of the hill and you will find different flowers. Cut them and bring them.
Juan Diego climbed to the top of the hill and was very astonished to see so many exquisite roses of Castile, since it was a very icy time when no roses appear there, and even less in those rocky areas. He filled his poncho or long white ruana with all those beautiful roses and presented himself to the Lady of Heaven.
She said to him: "My son, this is the proof that you will take on my behalf to the Bishop. I consider you my ambassador, very trustworthy. Now I command you that only in front of the Bishop you unfold your cloak and uncover what you are carrying. You will tell all that you saw and admired so that you can get the prelate to build the temple I have asked for."
Juan Diego set out on his way, already happy and sure that he would come out well. When he reached the bishop's presence, he said, "Lord, I did what you ordered me to do: I asked the Lady of Heaven for a sign. She accepted. She sent me to the top of the hill, and ordered me to cut some roses there and told me to bring them to you. I am doing so, so that you may see in them the sign you ask for, and fulfill her will. Here they are."
He then unwrapped his white blanket, and so that all the different roses of Castile were scattered on the ground, the precious image of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, such as is venerated today in the temple of Guadalupe in Tepeyac, was drawn on it and suddenly appeared. After they saw it, the Bishop and all those who were there, knelt down full of admiration. The prelate untied from Juan Diego's neck the blanket in which the Lady of Heaven was drawn and appeared and carried her with great devotion to the altar of his chapel. With tears of sadness he prayed and asked forgiveness for not having accepted the Virgin's command earlier.
The whole city was moved, and they came to see and admire the devout image and to pray to it; and they named it the Virgin of Guadalupe, according to Our Lady's wish. Juan Diego asked permission to go to see his uncle Bernardino, who was very ill. The Bishop sent a group of people to accompany him. When they arrived they saw that his uncle was very happy and that nothing hurt him. And they came to know that he had been instantly cured at the moment when the Blessed Virgin said to Juan Diego, "Do not grieve for the illness of your uncle, who at this moment has been healed."
The Bishop transferred the holy image of the beloved Lady of Heaven to the Main Church. The whole city paraded to admire and venerate the Sacred Image, all marveling that it had appeared by divine miracle; because no person of this world painted her precious image.
(Up to here the Indian story of the XVI century).
The marvelous visit of the Virgin occurred on Tuesday, December 12, 1531, just ten years after the conquest of Mexico. The Mother of God comes to make the Gospel known to the poor defeated Indians and to "show and give" all her "love and compassion, help and defense, for I am your pious mother." The bishop of Mexico was Fray Juan De Zumarraga, Franciscan.
For four days the Virgin had communicated with Juan Diego speaking to him in his own language, Nahuatl. In identifying herself, Mary used the word "coatlallope"; a compound noun formed by "coatl" or, serpent, the preposition "a" and "llope", to crush; that is, it was defined as "she who crushes the serpent." Others reconstruct the name as "Tlecuauhtlapcupeuh" meaning, "She who precedes from the region of light as the Eagle of fire." In any case, the Náhualtl word sounded to the ears of the Spanish friars as the Extremaduran "Guadalupe." relating the prodigy of Tepeyac with the much loved invocation that the conquerors knew and venerated in the Basilica built by Alfonso XI in 1340. The Virgin communicated in a way that was understood by the Indians as well as the Spaniards!
The Virgin of Guadalupe gave the Indian Juan Diego a delicate treatment of nobility, prophetically elevating the condition of all her people. The Lord "casts down from the throne the mighty and exalts the lowly." At the same time, La Virgen brought reconciliation and not division between the natives and the Spaniards. She helped them both to understand that the Christian faith is no one's property but a gift of love for all.
Four hundred years had to pass before Western culture recognized with admiration that the image printed on the indigenous ayate was a true Mexican codex, a message from heaven loaded with symbols. Helen Behrens, an American anthropologist, discovered in 1945 what the eyes of the Indians had "read" in the painting of the "Mother of the true God for whom one lives" that December 1531.
Description of the Image.
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was printed on a coarse fabric made of maguey fibers. This is the ayate, used by the Indians to carry things and not a tilma, which was usually made of finer cotton fabric. The weave of the ayate is so coarse and simple that it can be clearly seen through, and the maguey fiber is such an unsuitable material that no painter would have chosen to paint on it.
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a marvelous cultural synthesis, a masterpiece that presented the new faith in such a way that it could be immediately understood and accepted by the Mexican Indians. It is impossible to describe here the rich and complicated symbology contained in this painting-codex because every detail of color and form carries a theological message.
The face printed on the ayate is that of a young mestizo girl; an anticipation, because at that time there were still no mestizos of that age in Mexico.
Mary thus assumes the pain of thousands of children, the first of a new race, rejected at that time by both the Indians and the conquistadors. The painting preserved in the modern Basilica of Tepeyac measures approximately 66 x 41 inches and the image of the Virgin occupies about 56 inches of it. The Virgin is standing and her face is delicately tilted somewhat reminiscent of the traditional "Inmaculadas."
This timely tilt prevents the tie that joins the two pieces of fabric from falling into the Virgin's face. The blue mantle dotted with stars is the "Tilma de Turquesa" with which the great lords dressed, and indicates the nobility and importance of the wearer. The rays of the sun completely surround the Guadalupana as if to indicate that she is its dawn. This young Mexican maiden is a few months pregnant, as indicated by the black ribbon that adjusts her waist, the slight bulge below it and the intensity of the sun's rays that increases at the level of the belly. Her foot is resting on a black moon, (symbol of evil for the Mexicans) and the angel that holds her with a severe gesture, carries open eagle wings.
The Virgin of Guadalupe presented herself to her children as the Mother of the Creator and preserver of the whole universe; who comes to her people because she wants to welcome them all, Indians and Spaniards, with the same Motherly love.
With the prodigious impression on the ayate, a new world began, the dawn of the sixth sun that the Mexicans were waiting for. The picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe was 116 years exposed to the inclemency of the environment, without any protection against dust, humidity, heat, smoke from the candles and the continuous rubbing of thousands and thousands of objects that were touched to the venerated image, in addition to the constant contact of hands and kisses of countless pilgrims. It has been proven that the maguey fabric is very easy to decompose; any fabric of this vegetable fiber cannot be preserved for more than twenty years and yet the ayate of Juan Diego has resisted much more than four centuries in a perfect state of preservation.
The Popes and the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Pius X proclaimed Our Lady of Guadalupe "Patroness of all Latin America"; Pius XI, of "all the Americas"; Pius XII called her "Empress of the Americas"; and John XXIII, "The celestial missionary of the New World" and "the Mother of the Americas". In this great basilica John Paul II beatified the Indian Juan Diego on May 6, 1990.
In his four visits to Mexico, John Paul II has visited Tepeyac and honored with deep filial love the Virgin of Guadalupe to whom he has entrusted the American continent and its new evangelization.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, defender of life.
Pope John Paul II teaches us that, in the face of today's culture of death, we find hope in Our Lady of Guadalupe, the great advocate and defender of human life. She appeared pregnant. The Indians understood that the Mother of God was visiting them. After the conversion, the Indians ceased to offer human sacrifices, which until then had been common. That is why the Church today asks for her intercession to defend life against the genocide of abortion and other threats against the innocent.
During his fourth visit to Mexico, January 22-26, 1999, John Paul II placed at Our Lady's feet the document of the Synod of the Americas, which on that occasion he gave to the Church as a foundation for the New Evangelization that is only possible through the work of the Holy Spirit. Our Lady is the one who propitiates the divine work with her fiat. Thus she is co-redeemer with her Son Jesus Christ. The Pope's fourth visit to Mexico coincided with the 26th anniversary of the legalization of abortion in the USA, thus highlighting the great worldwide battle for the dignity of human life.
Love from the Mexican people and from all over the world.
Every year, 20 million faithful approach the venerated picture to express to the Mother of Heaven the testimony of their affection and veneration. On the day of the feast, December 12th, it is estimated that almost three million people come to the Tepeyac sanctuary, whose round shape symbolizes the tent that housed the Ark of the Covenant on its march through the desert; the interior lamps hanging from the ceiling recall the cloud that guided the people of God day by day and the refulgent golden wall that supports the painting, represents the column of fire and light that indicated the way during the night.
The painting has suffered serious attacks and has emerged unscathed from corrosive acids and even from a large bomb that, in 1921, a stranger hid among flowers that he wickedly offered it. When the bomb exploded, it caused great destruction. The metal crucifix near the Madonna was twisted, but the image of the Madonna remained intact. The glass of the frame of her image was not broken.
At present the miraculous image is in the new basilica built next to the old one which has collapsed considerably. The faithful can contemplate the picture from a mobile mat that slides at her feet to mobilize the faithful and accommodate the crowds who wish to venerate her. As in every Marian sanctuary, the Basilica of Guadalupe has a chapel of the Blessed Sacrament where the faithful constantly adore the Lord.
Scientific Studies on the Image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The astonishing discoveries surrounding the picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe have scientists in great amazement. A commission of scientists has been formed to investigate the unexplained phenomena of this cloth that was the ruana or poncho of the Indian Juan Diego.
The Phenomenon of the Cloth.
The first thing that calls the attention of textile experts is that this blanket has been able to be preserved for centuries, exposed to dust, heat and humidity, without fraying or fading its beautiful polychrome. It has always been exposed to everything, and only a few years ago it was covered with glass.
The canvas is made of Mexican ayate fiber which, by its nature, decomposes by putrefaction within twenty years. This has been the case with several reproductions of the image that have been made with this same fabric. However, this canvas has been four hundred and fifty years, since the time of Hernán Cortés, without tearing or decomposing. For reasons unintelligible to experts, it is refractory to humidity and dust.
The Phenomenon of the Image.
The paint that covers the fabric is another mystery. The German scholar Kuhn, Nobel laureate in Chemistry, has studied this paint, and his answer stunned listeners: "These colorants are neither mineral, nor vegetable, nor animal." They have not been able to explain the origin of the pigments that give color to the image, nor the way it was painted.
One might think that the canvas has resisted so much because it would have been glued and prepared in a special way like other famous paintings, so that it would have great resistance. But Mr. Callaga, from the NASA space institute in the United States, has studied it with infrared ray apparatus and has discovered that the canvas does not have any gluing or preservatives, and that it cannot be explained how this image has resisted four centuries on such an ordinary canvas. With these infrared rays it has been discovered that the image has no previous sketches -as seen in the paintings of Rubens and Titian-, but that it was painted directly, just as it is seen, with no trial and error or rectifications.
The image has no brushstrokes. The technique used is unknown in the history of painting. It is incomprehensible and unrepeatable.
The Phenomenon of the Pupils.
A famous oculist, Lauvvoignet, examined with a powerful lens the pupil of the Virgin, and observed, astonished, that the image of a man is reflected in the iris. This was the beginning of an investigation that led to the most unexpected discoveries.
By means of digitization, the pupil of a photograph shows everything that the person was looking at the moment the picture was taken. Dr. Tosnman, who specializes in digitization, has taken pictures of the pupil of the Virgin of Guadalupe. After enlarging them thousands of times, he managed to capture details impossible to be captured with the naked eye, and he has discovered what the Virgin was looking at the moment the image was formed on Juan Diego's tilma!
The details that appear in the photographs of the Virgin of Guadalupe's pupil are: an Indian in the act of unfolding his ruana before a religious; a Franciscan whose face shows a tear sliding down; a man with his hand on his beard as a sign of admiration; another Indian in an attitude of prayer; some children and several other Franciscan religious. In other words, all the people who, according to the history of the Virgin of Guadalupe, written several centuries ago, were present at the moment when the sacred image appeared.
What is radically impossible is that in such a small space, like the cornea of an eye located in a life-size image, even the most expert miniaturist could paint all those images that had to be enlarged two thousand times to be able to see them.
Modern science is left without explanations before the marvels of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. It is an unrepeatable reality. It surpasses all natural possibilities, so we can say that we are before a supernatural fact.
A tilma that does not corrupt. Colors that were not painted. A pupil that contains the whole scene and all the people at the moment of the miracle. We are before an image that neither time nor the attacks of men full of hatred have been able to overcome.
The Virgin does not impose herself, does not challenge, does not humiliate her enemies. The miracle of her presence in Tepeyac is real but very subtle. It is a miracle that does not appear as such at first sight. Rather, it is meant to be a confirmation of the truth to help hearts that are hardened but still searching.
For the simple of heart, miracles are not necessary to have faith. They grasp by the grace of the Spirit the solicitous love of the Mother of Heaven who comes for them.
Our Lady's enemies are often very powerful people, but they pass away and are destroyed. Our Lady remains a witness of God's eternal love. She has wanted to be a lighthouse planted in the heart of the American continent to attract everyone to Christ, Savior and Eternal Life, the only hope in the face of the ruin in which humanity finds itself. She wanted to give us a miracle to help the unbelieving generations. She wanted to demonstrate, with her characteristic humility, that science has its function but also its limits. She reminds us of the words of the angel, "For God nothing is impossible."
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us.
Prayer to Our Lady of GuadalupePatroness of Mexico and Empress of the Americas.
"Most Holy Mother of Guadalupe. Mother of Jesus,lead us to your Divine Son on the way of the Gospel,so that our life may be the generous fulfillment of God's will. Lead us to Jesus, who manifests Himself to us and gives Himself to us in the revealed Word and in the Bread of the Eucharist.Give us a firm faith, a supernatural hope, an ardent charity and a living fidelity to our vocation as baptized persons.to our vocation as baptized persons. Help us to be grateful to God, demanding of ourselves and full of love for our brothers and sisters. Amen."
The eyes of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe is a marvelous work of evangelization of the Mother of God, made in the first years of the landing of the Spaniards in America. Mary mingled early with the arrival of the Europeans in Mexico to promote the knowledge of Her Son among the Indians and future inhabitants of the Americas.
Many miracles are discovered today in connection with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. But let us first recall, in summary form, what happened there:
The apparition began on December 9, 1531 in the vicinity of Mexico City, then capital city of the Aztec empire: the Virgin appears to the Indian Juan Diego, and asks him to convey to the bishop of the place his will that a temple dedicated to Her be built on the Tepeyac hill. The bishop, upon hearing the Indian's story, asked him for proof of the presence of the Mother of God there. Mary then made a garden of roses grow on an inhospitable and semi-desert hill, and she made Juan Diego gather them in her tilma (a kind of poncho or blanket). Then he asks him to present them as proof of His Presence to the bishop. When the Indian opens his tilma in front of the bishop, the flowers fall to the floor and the image of the Virgin Mary appears miraculously portrayed on the rustic cloth. The temple dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe was built on the Tepeyac hill, site of the apparitions, where the original tilma of Juan Diego is exhibited, printed with the world famous image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The miracle of Guadalupe lives on today in the tilma of Juan Diego, which preserves the living testimony of what happened: the image that Mary wanted to portray on it is currently exhibited in the church that was built on the Tepeyac hill. An enormous number of miracles can be testified by studying the tilma with scientific methods:
Tiny-sized human images, which no artist could paint, have been discovered in Mary's eyes. Thirteen human figures have been identified in a space of 8 millimeters in diameter. There are two scenes: the first contains Bishop Zumárraga surprised in front of the Indian Juan Diego, who opens his tilma and discovers the image of Mary. Other witnesses complement the scene of the miracle, such as the translator of the Nahuatl language into Spanish, a black woman, etc. The second scene, much smaller than the previous one, is located in the center of the eyes and contains a typical Native American family image: a married couple with several children around them. The two scenes are repeated in both eyes with surprising precision, including the difference in size produced by the greater proximity of one eye to the other, in front of the objects portrayed. NASA scientists (among others) have used digital technology similar to that used in the images received from satellites to analyze the figures printed in Mary's eyes.
The image of Bishop Zumárraga (tiny portrait found in Mary's eyes) was enlarged using digital technology to see what is reflected in his gaze, in the eyes of the bishop portrayed in Mary's eyes. The image of the Indian Juan Diego was found there, opening his tilma in front of the bishop. The size of this image? A quarter of a millionth of a millimeter.
Ophthalmological studies carried out on Mary's eyes have detected that when light comes near them, the retina contracts, and when the light is withdrawn, it dilates again, just as it happens in a living eye. Mary's eyes are alive in the tilma! It is also discovered that the eyes possess the three image refraction effects that a human eye normally possesses. Achieving these effects with a brush is absolutely impossible, even today.
By taking the temperature of the maguey fiber with which the tilma is constructed, it is discovered that it miraculously maintains a constant temperature of 36.6 degrees, the same as the body of a living person.
One of the doctors who analyzed the tilma placed his stethoscope under the tape that Mary is holding (a sign that she is pregnant) and found a rhythmic heartbeat repeating at 115 beats per minute, just like a baby in its mother's womb. It is the Child Jesus who is in the Holy Womb of the Mother of God.
The maguey fiber that makes up the fabric of the image cannot, under normal conditions, last more than 20 or 30 years. In fact, several centuries ago a replica of the image was painted on a similar maguey fiber cloth, and it disintegrated after several decades. Meanwhile, almost five hundred years after the miracle, the image of Mary is still as strong as the first day. Scientific studies have been made on this fact, without being able to discover the origin of the incorruptibility of the cloth.
No trace of paint has been discovered on the fabric. In fact, as one approaches within 10 centimeters of the image, only the raw maguey fabric is visible. The colors disappear. Scientific studies of various kinds fail to discover the origin of the coloration that forms the image, nor the way in which it was painted. No traces of brushstrokes or any other known painting technique can be detected. NASA scientists stated that the material from which the colors originate is not any of the known elements on earth.
A laser beam has been passed laterally over the fabric, detecting that the coloration of the fabric is neither on the front nor on the back, but that the colors float at a distance of three tenths of a millimeter above the fabric, without touching it. The colors float in the air, on the surface of the tilma.
Several times, over the centuries, men have painted additions to the fabric. Miraculously, these additions have disappeared, leaving the original design with its vivid colors.
In 1791 muriatic acid was accidentally spilled on the upper right side of the canvas. Within 30 days, without any treatment, the damaged fabric was miraculously reconstituted. Today, this fact is barely noticeable as a brief discoloration in that spot, which testifies to what happened.
The stars visible on Mary's mantle correspond to the exact configuration and position of the Mexican sky on the day of the miracle, according to astronomical studies carried out on the image.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a man placed a floral arrangement at the foot of the tilma, which contained a high-powered bomb. The explosion destroyed everything around it except the tilma, which remained in a perfect state of preservation. A heavy metal cross nearby was completely bent by the explosion, and is kept as a testimony in the temple.
Mary seems to be the same child who at the age of three was given by her parents Joachim and Anna to the Priests of the temple, thus consecrating her to God. She surprises us with all these miracles performed before our eyes today.
Loving Mother, Perfect Child, You insistently summon us with Your manifestations. If our poor understanding cannot see that all these Heavenly portents are nothing more than a call from You to our sleeping faith, then what do You have to do to make us wake up and follow You?
No matter how many scientists we try to see if it is true or not, if it is a big, medium or small miracle, the truth is that we have no other way out than to believe in Jesus and Mary alive today, all around us.
And if we have no choice but to believe, in the face of overwhelming evidence:
What are we doing living a life away from God, only concerned about the things of the world?
You have a call to awaken your faith in front of you right now, can't you hear it, what else does God have to do?
On July 31, 2002, John Paul II canonized the Indian Juan Diego. He is now Saint Juan Diego. The life of the Indian was of enormous sanctity, after the miracle. Like a jewel that shines and sparkles in Mary's jewel box, St. Juan Diego is presented to the Throne of God with the pride of the Mother who returns to the Father, one of her favorite ones.
