09/12/2020
BE IN THE KNOW | FOUR AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THE TILMA OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Mga bok at ter, most of our past BITK entries revolved around two themes: ADVENT and CHRISTMAS. This time, let's have another segue way from the trend. Let's deal with something related to Mama Mary, specifically the Our Lady of Guadalupe (Feast day: December 12), and Saint Juan Diego (Feast day: December 9). 😉
Saint Juan Diego, an Aztec Indian, experienced a number of visions of the Mother of God on “Mount Tepeyac,” near Mexico City. In the last vision, held on December 12, the Blessed Mother left an image of herself on saint's cactus-fiber cloak. Our current BITK post summarizes the four incredible facts about the tilma (meaning “cloak) of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
[A] It has extraordinary properties.
- The tilma of the Our Lady of Guadalupe is made primarily of cactus fibres; hence, of very poor quality and had rough surface. These traits make the cloak difficult to wear, much less to paint a lasting image on it. However, in the case of the tilma of the Our Lady of Guadalupe, the image remains. Scientists even emphasized that there was no technique utilized beforehand to treat its surface. The surface bearing the image is comparable to silk when touched, while the unused part remains coarse.
[B] It is not an ordinary painting.
- Miguel Cabrera, an artist in the mid-18th Century, once wrote about the difficulty of recreating the image even on the best surfaces.
“I believe that the most talented and careful painter, if he sets himself to copy this sacred image on a canvas of this poor quality, without using sizing, and attempting to imitate the four media employed, would at last after great and wearisome travail, admit that he had not succeeded. And this can be clearly verified in the numerous copies that have been made with the benefit of varnish, on the most carefully prepared canvases, and using only one medium, oil, which offers the greatest facility…”
Dr. Adolfo Orozco, a physicist and researcher at the National University of Mexico, mentioned in 2009 about the remarkable preservation of the tilma compared to its various copies. However, he cannot provide scientific explanation to that, given the fact that “the original Tilma was exposed for approximately 116 years without any kind of protection, receiving all the infrared and ultraviolet radiation from the tens of thousands of candles near it and exposed to the humid and salty air around the temple.”
[C] It seems to be virtually indestructible.
- Two distinct events have threatened the tilma over the centuries: one in 1785 and the other in 1921:
In 1785, a worker was cleaning the glass encasement of the image. He accidentally spilled 50% nitric acid solvent onto a large part of the image itself. The image and the rest of the tilma, which should have been destroyed almost instantly by the spill, reportedly self-restored over the ensuing 30 days, and remains unharmed to this day aside from small stains on the parts not bearing the image.
In 1921, an anti-clerical activist hid a bomb with 29 sticks of dynamite in a pot of roses and placed it before the image inside the Basilica at Guadalupe. When the bomb exploded, almost everything from the marble altar rail & floor just feet away from the blast, to windows 150 meters away were shattered. Surprisingly, the image and the glass surrounding it remained unharmed. The only damage that occurred near the tilma was a hefty brass crucifix, which was twisted and bent back by the blast.
[D] It has human-like properties.
- While analyzing the tilma, Dr. Phillip Callahan, a biophysicist at the University of Florida, discovered in 1979 that the material maintains a constant temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (36.6-37 deg. Celsius), the same as that of a living person.
- Dr. Carlos Fernandez de Castillo, a Mexican gynaecologist, first noticed a four-petaled flower over what was Mary’s womb. This flower, called Nahui Ollin according to Aztecs, was the symbol of the sun, as well as a symbol of plenitude. Upon further assessment, Dr. Castillo concluded that the dimensions of Our Lady’s body in the image were that of an expectant mother due quite soon (December 9, the day of the unveiling, is almost two weeks from Christmas).
- Dr. Jose Alte Tonsmann, a Peruvian ophthalmologist, discovered that at 2,500 times magnification, the both magnified eyes of the Marian image have as many as 13 individuals at different proportions, just as the human eye would reflect an image. It seemed like a snapshot of the very moment Juan Diego unfurled his tilma before the archbishop. To know more about this part of the caption, you may read the article under the first source (from Aleteia) provided below.
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Sources:
[1] Aleteia | What’s to be seen by looking into Our Lady of Guadalupe’s eyes?
(https://aleteia.org/2016/11/07/whats-to-be-seen-by-looking-into-our-lady-of-guadalupes-eyes/)
[2] ChurchPop | 4 Literally Awesome Facts About Our Lady of Guadalupe
(https://churchpop.com/2014/12/11/4-literally-awesome-facts-lady-guadalupe/)
[3] Crux | Four ‘awesome’ facts about Our Lady of Guadalupe
(https://cruxnow.com/faith/2014/12/four-awesome-facts-about-our-lady-of-guadalupe/)
