Our Lady of Guadalupe, as she appeared in Mexico to Saint Juan Diego in the year 1531, is one of the most popular depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary around the world. In my own experience, seeing her radiant image week after week as it hangs near the altar of my home church in Northern New Jersey piqued my interest and led me to learn more about this apparition. Upon first glance at the holy image, Our Lady’s beauty, humility, and tenderness are clear for all to see, but as it turns out, there is actually far more to this stunning self-portrait of Mary than one might suspect. As we prepare to celebrate the annual Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, let’s take some time to appreciate what makes La Virgen de Guadalupe so unique:
1. Practicality
On a basic level, I find it utterly amazing that the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was given to humanity by Mary herself. As the historical account of the miraculous apparition goes, the Blessed Virgin came to Juan Diego and instructed him to petition the bishop of Mexico to build a church on the Hill of Tepeyac where she appeared. When the bishop asked Juan Diego for proof, Mary once again visited Juan Diego and gave him roses – in the dead of winter – to carry in his tilma, or cloak, and present to the bishop. Arriving before the skeptical clergyman once more, Juan Diego opened his tilma to reveal not only the beautiful roses, but the heavenly image of Our Lady of Guadalupe herself as we know her today.
This is the very same image that we still see of the Blessed Mother almost 500 years later. It’s not every day that the Mother of our Lord descends from heaven and quite literally hands us a self-portrait as a means of introducing herself to those who don’t yet know her. In a practical sense, this image allows us to honor Mary more intimately. It is not a man-made rendition of what some artist believed the Blessed Virgin might have looked like. When we look at this image, we see our Mother exactly as she appeared to Juan Diego centuries ago, her likeness crafted by heavenly design and gifted to humanity on a poor man’s cloak.
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2. Symbolism
The full account of the symbolism woven into La Virgen de Guadalupe’s image could stand as its own dissertation, but it is certainly worth mentioning in brief. Many elements incorporated into the depiction served to explain Mary’s identity – and that of the child in her womb – to the Aztec people. For example, the stars on her royal blue-green cloak that mirrored the constellations as they illuminated the sky on the morning of her apparition signified that she came to the Aztecs from heaven. The traditional black maternity band worn around her waist drew the natives’ attention to the child in her womb. With the sun behind her and the crescent moon under her feet, both of which were symbols of Aztec deities, Mary revealed that she was bearing the one and only true God.
I find it especially powerful that Our Lady came to her sons and daughters of Mexico in a way that was so personally meaningful to them, embodying their history and culture to demonstrate that she came to them as their mother. This leaves no doubt in my mind that when Christ gave us his mother to be our own as he hanged dying on his cross (John 19:26-27), Mary took us into the fold of her mantle as her beloved children. She is truly and devotedly our mother.
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3. Signs of Life
Yes, you read that correctly. Though claims about the many miraculous attributes of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s image have naturally been met by their fair share of critics and naysayers, studies by doctors and scientists over the past century have resulted in some phenomenal findings. In the case of a three-hour infrared study of the tilma conducted in 1981 by Dr. Philip Callahan, a biophysicist and consultant for NASA, it was discovered that the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mother on the tilma maintains a temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the natural temperature of the living human body. Another investigation by gynecologist Carlos Fernandez del Castillo revealed that, when listening to the image with a stethoscope, one heartbeat could be heard at the chest of Our Lady, and a second within her womb that carries the unborn Christ. Ophthalmologists Dr. Manuel Torroella, Dr. Enrique Graue, and their colleagues likewise examined the image and discovered that the eyes of Our Lady of Guadalupe reflect images back at the viewer just as the normal human eyeball does. The list goes on.
Being a devout Roman Catholic and first-year medical student who loves all things science, I can’t help but take some personal satisfaction in these findings. As anyone with internet access can attest, an unfortunate “religion versus science” mentality seems to predominate our society and all too easily brings contention to discussions of either topic. Perhaps these scientific anomalies woven into La Virgen de Guadalupe’s image will show those who choose science alone at the expense of faith that it is God who is the author of the natural world; it is through science that we strive to decode his divine language.
One of the main points I take away from the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe is that Mary comes to us as our own loving Mother, fully compassionate toward our personal circumstances and seeking above all to bring us closer to her and her beloved Son. Just as she did for the Aztec people centuries ago, Our Lady of Guadalupe comes to meet us precisely where we are, and as we are, to offer us her love and intercession. I often find great comfort in the words she spoke to Saint Juan Diego in one of his most difficult moments, and I encourage you to do the same: “Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy?”
