What was the most significant religious event in the history of the Western hemisphere? The appearance of Blessed Mother, under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, to Juan Diego in 1531 outside what is now Mexico City.
This was the theme of the first International Marian Congress on Our Lady of Guadalupe sponsored by the Knights of Columbus last week in Phoenix, Arizona.
After three days of scientific presentations, personal witness talks and liturgies, I am more than convinced. I am a Guadalupano.
The centerpiece of the Guadalupe event is the tilma (cloak) of Juan Diego, on which God imprinted the image of his Mother. After nearly five centuries, the delicate fibers of the tilma are still intact, and the image still bright and visible, though both should have faded long ago.
As one presenter at the Congress said, the image on the tilma is unique in all the world. Every other time Mary has appeared, she delivered messages and performed miracles (the healings at Lourdes, the miracle of the sun at Fatima). Yet in Guadalupe, she left an image of herself – God himself has imprinted the image of the Virgin for all to see.
As another presenter noted, the face of the Virgin of Guadalupe is like no other face. It is called “mestiza” – mixed race – and it is really the mixture of all races, of all mankind. Every face is found in the serene and loving look of “the mother of humanity.”
As a reporter, writer and editor for 30 years – most of them in New York City – I have seen many events, heard many stories, and lived through a number of tragedies, including the horror of 9/11. Yet I had never before in my life experienced in heart and mind the message of the three days of the Marian Congress. The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is one of immense, of ultimate, news value. I am amazed that everyone does not know about the image and the message.
Why do only 15 million pilgrims travel to Guadalupe each year? Why have I never gone myself?
Semper fi.
Do - or DIE.
Posted by: Frederick Peterson | November 10, 2009 at 11:03 PM
Read about the
old world meeting the new world
and the ground work
for the historical Guadalupe event
in the book,
Our lady of Guadalupe and the
Conquest of Darkness,
by Warren Carroll.
Posted by: Felice | August 12, 2009 at 11:12 AM