16 Facts You Never Knew About Our Lady of Guadalupe

SO I'M FINALLY DONE WITH FINALS LET THE CELEBRATION (aka the ability to blog again) BEGIN and I thought I write about someone very near and dear to my heart:

Our Beautiful Virgen de Guadalupe

I've completely fallen in love with her over the past month, and since it's her feast day today (YAY) I wanted to share some things that you might not have known about our beautiful mother, because she really is worth getting to know and love!

1. She appeared in Mexico right around the time the Martin Luther was stirring up trouble in Europe. So as he was drawing people away from the Church, She was drawing even more people in the New World into the Church through appearing on the tilma

2. The Aztecs had many gods, including the sun god Tonatiuh and the moon god Tecciztecatl. The fact that Mary appeared in front of the rays of the sun and standing on the moon signifies that she is greater than all their false gods. The brooch carrying the symbol of the cross at her throat showed that only one is greater than her, and that was her son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross

THE TILMA: 

3. The cactus fibrous-material that her image rests on would normally have disintegrated 10-15 years after it was made, but it has lasted over 450 years. The tilma once had acid spilled over it, but the only damage it sustained was a slight stain that is visible in the top right-hand corner 

4. Blue paint and dye usually starts to fade within the first few weeks of being applied. The turquoise color of Mary's mantle has never faded. Turquoise is also the Aztec shade that symbolizes both royalty and virginity. 

5. No matter the temperature of the surrounding area, the tilma is always 37 degrees Celsius, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which is normal body temperature 

6. The material surrounding Mary has started to show signs of cracking, while her clothes and her skin show no signs of wear. This symbolizes that all things of this earth will pass away, but the things of Heaven will always remain unchanged. 

THE IMAGE:

7. You know how almost every picture begins with a sketch? Well, scans of the image have shown that there is no underlying sketch, outline, or visible guidelines to the image, which was unheard of in the 1500s

8.  Scientists scanned the image with infrared rays and found no trace of paint used in the image and that the fabric had not been treated with any kind of technique.

9. The stars on Mary's mantle were once thought to be random; only an afterthought. However, scientists have calculated that the stars on her mantle correspond exactly with where the stars of the winter night on which she appeared would have been, except in reverse. DO YOU GET WHAT THIS MEANS?! It means that whoever placed the stars on the tilma was viewing the stars not from Earth, but from outside the universe. So in essence, the stars show that Mary contains the whole universe in a great embrace of love! 

10. Also, since scientists could calculate the position of the stars, they could tell which constellations would be shown. The Corona Borealis constellation would have been resting on Mary's head, signifying that she is the Queen of the Universe. The Virgo constellation would be over her heart, signifying her everlasting virginity. Leo, the symbol for a king, would be over her womb, showing that she was carrying the King of the Universe within her!    

11. The flowers on her dress correspond with the location of the various volcanoes in Mexico. SO: The dress and the tilma together signify that Mary is Queen of Earth and Heaven!

12. There is a Jasmine flower in the shape of a cross, an Aztec symbol of the center of the universe, over Mary's womb. This indicated that the baby that Mary was carrying within her the Center of the Universe

13. Viewed from far away, her skin color is the dark, Indian shade of the Aztec people, but up close it grow lighter, signifying the unity of all the peoples of the world. 

14. The image has an audible heartbeat 

THE EYES:

15. When a strong light source is shined into her eyes, they reflect that light the way a human eye does. The pupils have also been known to dilate when light is shined at them. 

Over 13 people have been found within her eyes!

16. Under strong magnification, images of people are visible in Mary's eye! These people include (on the left) Juan Diego, just as he appeared when Mary visited him and (right) the crowd gathered in the room when Juan revealed the tilma to the Bishop. These people are reflected in her eye in perfect correspondence to how the human eye reflects the image of what it sees. 

Gee whiz. That's a lot of info...and I've just barely scratched the surface of how awesome she is! 

Since it is her feast day today (or whenever you happen to read this), try to learn a little bit more about her, because she is absolutely fascinating. 

I just love her...a lot <3