vanityofvanitys
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- Feb 15, 2012
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If you are not aware of the history of the famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe it is readily available. It occurred in 1531 in Mexico. A peasant, Juan Diego, receiving apparitions of the Virgin Mary was instructed to visit the local bishop with a message. He kept being refused until Our Lady told him to pick some roses and deliver them in his cloak or tilma. Roses do not bloom in December, supposedly, but there they were and when Juan unveiled his tilma to show the bishop the roses fell to the ground and the miraculous image of Our Lady was imbedded on his cloak. It remains one of the greatest mysteries in world history, despite all our skeptics who are sure they have it all accounted for. It is very much like the Shroud of Turin in that this image has a number of characteristics or markings that science cannot explain. The fact that many millions of Aztecs converted to Catholicism over the next few years is surely lost on a skeptical world. No matter. I am here to make mention of its 482nd anniversary. The tilma and the image remain intact, vibrant and a sign from God. Below are excerpts from one web site which describes some of its mysteries. (I cannot post the URL because I do not post here often enough I guess?)
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When asked who she was Mary responded Call me and call my image Santa Maria de Guadalupe". It's believed that the word Guadalupe was actually a Spanish mis-translation of the local Aztec dialect. The word that Mary probably used was Coatlallope which means "one who treads on snakes"!
Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been the subject of numerous technical studies since 1751 and extensive scientific investigations in recent years, and none of the result offered any sound scientific explanation which, up to this very day, defies science and all human reasoning as it continuous to baffle scientists and even skeptics.
The Fabric - -
The "Tilma" (a kind of cloak worn by native Mexicans) of Juan Diego that bears the miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a coarse fabric made from the threads of the maguey cactus fiber which usually lasts no more than 20 to 30 years, and yet the fabric has maintained its structural integrity - without cracking or fading, or any sign of deterioration for nearly 500 years.
For centuries the Tilma was exposed to the rigors of all natural elements without any kind of protection against infrared and ultraviolet radiations from the tens of thousands of candles near it and the humid condition, dusty and salty air around the Basilica. Despite the constant contact of hands and kisses of thousands of pilgrims who venerated the Image and the continuous manual handling of the Tilma including the many different objects that touched it during the countless times it was subjected to scientific examinations, the Tilma remained in a state of perfect condition. No explanation was also offered by scientists as to why the Tilma is repellent to insects and dust.
In August 7, 2009, researcher and physicist Dr. Aldofo Orozco told participants at the International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe in Glendale, Arizona that there is no scientific explanation for the 478 years of high quality-preservation of the Tilma, or for the miracles of its preservation.
One of the most bizarre characteristics of the cloth is that the back side is rough and coarse, but the front side is as soft as the most pure silk, as was noted by painters and scientists in 1666, and confirmed one century later in 1751 by Mexican painter, Miguel Cabrera.
The Image of Our Lady - - -
There is no explanation offered by NASA scientists on how the image was imprinted on the Tilma. There are no brush strokes, or sketch marks on it. The image also seems to increase in size and change colors owing to an unknown property of the surface and substance of which it is made. The colors actually float above the surface of the Tilma at a distance of 3/10th of a millimeter (1/100th of an inch), without touching it. When examined less than 10 inches of the image, one can only see the maguey cloth; the colors totally disappear. In 1936, biochemist Richard Kuhn, a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, analyzed a sample of the fabric and ascertained that the pigments used were from no known source; whether natural, animal, mineral, or vegetable.
On May 7, 1979, Americans Dr. Philip Serna Callahan, a biophysicist at the University of Florida and an expert in infrared photography, and Jody B. Smith, a professor of aesthetics and philosophy at the College Pensacola, who are both specializing in painting and members of NASA, photographed the image under infrared light and scanned at very high resolutions. After filtering and processing the digitized images to eliminate "noise" and enhance them, they discovered that portions of the face, hands, robe, and mantle had been painted in one step, with no sketches, or corrections, and no visible brush strokes or sizing used to render the surface smooth, no protective varnish covering the image to protect its surface. The Image changes in color slightly according to the angle of viewing, a phenomenon known as "Iridescence", a technique that cannot be reproduced with human hands. Scientists were unable to find any trace of paint residue or dye of any sort on the Image and yet the the colors maintain their luminosity and brilliance. What produced the colors on Juan Diego's cloak or how they were applied remains a total mystery of science.
The quality of the pigments used for the pink dress, the blue veil, the face and the hands, or the permanence of the colors, or the vividness of the colors after several centuries, during which they ordinarily should have deteriorated, defy all scientific reasoning. The Image still retains its original colors, despite being unprotected by any covering during the first 100 years of exposure.
According to the specialists of Kodak Corporation in Mexico, the Image is smooth and bears more resemblance to a color photograph than anything else. All who have scientifically examined the image of Our Lady over the centuries confess that its properties are absolutely unique and so inexplicable in human terms that the image can only be supernatural.
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When asked who she was Mary responded Call me and call my image Santa Maria de Guadalupe". It's believed that the word Guadalupe was actually a Spanish mis-translation of the local Aztec dialect. The word that Mary probably used was Coatlallope which means "one who treads on snakes"!
Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been the subject of numerous technical studies since 1751 and extensive scientific investigations in recent years, and none of the result offered any sound scientific explanation which, up to this very day, defies science and all human reasoning as it continuous to baffle scientists and even skeptics.
The Fabric - -
The "Tilma" (a kind of cloak worn by native Mexicans) of Juan Diego that bears the miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a coarse fabric made from the threads of the maguey cactus fiber which usually lasts no more than 20 to 30 years, and yet the fabric has maintained its structural integrity - without cracking or fading, or any sign of deterioration for nearly 500 years.
For centuries the Tilma was exposed to the rigors of all natural elements without any kind of protection against infrared and ultraviolet radiations from the tens of thousands of candles near it and the humid condition, dusty and salty air around the Basilica. Despite the constant contact of hands and kisses of thousands of pilgrims who venerated the Image and the continuous manual handling of the Tilma including the many different objects that touched it during the countless times it was subjected to scientific examinations, the Tilma remained in a state of perfect condition. No explanation was also offered by scientists as to why the Tilma is repellent to insects and dust.
In August 7, 2009, researcher and physicist Dr. Aldofo Orozco told participants at the International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe in Glendale, Arizona that there is no scientific explanation for the 478 years of high quality-preservation of the Tilma, or for the miracles of its preservation.
One of the most bizarre characteristics of the cloth is that the back side is rough and coarse, but the front side is as soft as the most pure silk, as was noted by painters and scientists in 1666, and confirmed one century later in 1751 by Mexican painter, Miguel Cabrera.
The Image of Our Lady - - -
There is no explanation offered by NASA scientists on how the image was imprinted on the Tilma. There are no brush strokes, or sketch marks on it. The image also seems to increase in size and change colors owing to an unknown property of the surface and substance of which it is made. The colors actually float above the surface of the Tilma at a distance of 3/10th of a millimeter (1/100th of an inch), without touching it. When examined less than 10 inches of the image, one can only see the maguey cloth; the colors totally disappear. In 1936, biochemist Richard Kuhn, a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, analyzed a sample of the fabric and ascertained that the pigments used were from no known source; whether natural, animal, mineral, or vegetable.
On May 7, 1979, Americans Dr. Philip Serna Callahan, a biophysicist at the University of Florida and an expert in infrared photography, and Jody B. Smith, a professor of aesthetics and philosophy at the College Pensacola, who are both specializing in painting and members of NASA, photographed the image under infrared light and scanned at very high resolutions. After filtering and processing the digitized images to eliminate "noise" and enhance them, they discovered that portions of the face, hands, robe, and mantle had been painted in one step, with no sketches, or corrections, and no visible brush strokes or sizing used to render the surface smooth, no protective varnish covering the image to protect its surface. The Image changes in color slightly according to the angle of viewing, a phenomenon known as "Iridescence", a technique that cannot be reproduced with human hands. Scientists were unable to find any trace of paint residue or dye of any sort on the Image and yet the the colors maintain their luminosity and brilliance. What produced the colors on Juan Diego's cloak or how they were applied remains a total mystery of science.
The quality of the pigments used for the pink dress, the blue veil, the face and the hands, or the permanence of the colors, or the vividness of the colors after several centuries, during which they ordinarily should have deteriorated, defy all scientific reasoning. The Image still retains its original colors, despite being unprotected by any covering during the first 100 years of exposure.
According to the specialists of Kodak Corporation in Mexico, the Image is smooth and bears more resemblance to a color photograph than anything else. All who have scientifically examined the image of Our Lady over the centuries confess that its properties are absolutely unique and so inexplicable in human terms that the image can only be supernatural.
