Chiprean 1

Anna Chiprean

Clark

9 March 2018

Honors British Literature

Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Tilma

1. Relics: What’s the Big Deal?

So what is a relic? What is the big deal? Look at it like this: your favorite hockey player throws

you puck, it’s now “sacred” and valuable. That hockey player touched it and it is now important.

Relics became popular in 1100 A.D. when the Fathers of the Church venerated scared relics into

the Church. This attracted many pilgrims (Sauders). Defined by Merriam Webster, a relic is “an

object esteemed and venerated because of association with a saint or martyr”. There are

three kinds of relics in the Catholic Church. The first class is a part of a person’s body.

The second class is an object that directly touched a person’s body or t he person touched

that object. The third class is an object that has touched a first or second class relic. Many

relics come with paperwork from their origin and most have been passed down through

families. In 1983, Pope John Paul II, said that “the Church very much considers sacred relics

to be important and significant in the life of the Church” (User). Many people think that it is

weird that Christians believe in relics after the resurrection, but the Church holds them close.

We see the appearance of relics throughout the Bible, before they were very popular. We

see especially in the book of Acts how the apostles had a large effect on the crowd. “God did

extraordinary miricles through Paul, so that even hankerchiefs and aprons that had touche him
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were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirts left them (Acts 19:11-

12: Heschmeyer). Paul cured people without even touching them showing how God did

extraordinary things. We also see in Acts 5;12-16

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used

to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were

highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the

Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and

laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he

passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and

those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed (Heschmeyer).

This shows how God’s message is being spread through them. We also see this with Christ himself

in Mark 5: 25-34:

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered

a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting

better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and

touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her

suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the

crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,”

his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But Jesus kept looking

around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and
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fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter,

your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.

Here we see Christ healing a woman. He felt the power leave him and it becomes clear that he is

the one actually healing the people. We know that relics can also heal people even though the

person is dead. We see this in 2 Kings 13;20-21,

Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once

while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw

the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to

life and stood up on his feet.

St. Augustine, a Catholic convert who has a strong influence in the Catholic and Protestant

faith, also has a strong opinion about relics. He says

For even now miracles are wrought in the name of Christ, whether by His sacraments or by the

prayers or relics of His saints; but they are not so brilliant and conspicuous as to cause them to

be published with such glory as accompanied the former miracles” (Heschmeyer).

Here, he says that miracles come straight from God but should be adored and praised like the Aztec

people praised their Gods.

2. The Tilma: What is it?

The Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a miraculous relic, and for good reason. Juan Diego,

a Roman Catholic from Mexico, had many apparitions of Mary, The mother of Jesus. Mary had

appeared to Juan Diego on many occasions, telling him to go to the bishop and have him build a

temple. The bishop refused. One cold December, Juan Diego, with the direction of Our Lady, went
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to the top of a hill and found an assortment of roses. This is extremely unique because this type of

flower does not grow until the spring and the vegetation is usually frozen over. Diego described

the flowers having “the most fragrant and covered with dewdrops which resembled pearls”

(Agnesi). Juan Diego cut the flowers and brought them to Our Lady. Mary took the flowers from

his hands and placed them inside of his tilma, which is a poor quality cactus cloth (Webster 1).

When she placed the flowers in the cloth, she said to Juan Diego, “My son this diversity of roses

is the proof and the sign which you will take to the bishop” (Agnesi). Juan Diego sent out on his

mission but had trouble getting to the bishop since his guards has denied him access. Eventually

the bishop let him inside and Juan Diego stood before him with the cloth. Juan Diego unfolded the

cloth and the roses fell out, still as fresh as if they were just picked. Appearing on the cloth was

the image of Our Lady of Heaven. It is said that the bishop fell to his knees and asked for

forgiveness for not believing Juan Diego. It is said by Jose Aste Tonsmann, an engineer at the

Mexican Center of Guadeloupian Studies, that when the image was shown in the room, the bishop

and that of t13 other people were imprinted in the image. It as if the eyes reflected the exact

moment it was shown. A Temple was eventually built in Guadalupe, Mexico, where the tilma is

still being shown.

3. Authenticity: How Do We Know?

The first real question that many people ask is “is it real”. There is a really long process of

scientific testing and historical relevance that can determine it. According to scientists, the cloth

of the tilma should have decayed/detreated after 20 years of been made. Today, it is almost 500

years old and the colors are as bright as they were when the roses fell out. The tilma has also defied

all odds. On November 14, 1921, a bomb was placed under the tilma and exploded. The structure

around the tilma, made of marble, were completely destroyed. The image of Mary was untouched.
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The tilma also suffered through many severe floods, candle smoke, no air or light regulation, as

well as an acid spill which should have destroyed the image in under ten seconds of the spilling.

Yet the image and the cloth were unharmed. A truly miraculous event.

A German Noble Prize winner in Chemistry, Richard Kuhn, examined and ran tests on the

tilam in 1936. When examining the fibers, he found that the materials that created the image

were unknown in the scientific world, He compared them to animals, vegetation, and mineral

dyes, but nothing matched that of the tilma (Agnesi). NASA engineers also studied the paint on

the tilma, and they stated that the material does not exist on Earth and never has before.

(Kovács).The center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) placed the tilma under

infra-red radiation to find out more. Dr. Philip Serna Callahan ran the tests and found that

the original figure… is inexplicable. In terms of this infrared study, there is no way to explain

either the kind of color pigments utilized or the maintenance of color luminosity and

brightness over the centuries. It is remarkable that after four centuries there is no fading or

cracking of the original figure or any portion of the ayata tilma which – being unsized –

should have deteriorated centuries ago. (Agnesi).

Certain scientists have continued their research over the last few centuries to maintain the scientific

theories about how the image appeared. In 1929, the official photographer of the Basilica of Our

Lady of Guadalupe, Alfonso Marcue, found an image of a bearded man in the eyes of Our Lady.

He then inspected his other photographs and again found the bearded man. The image was verified

by Dr. Rafael Torrija Lavoignet, an ophthalmologist. When examining the corneas of the eyes he

said “they look strangely alive” (Agnesi). When the image was being examined, a doctor placed a

stethoscope over Mary’s stomach and measured a pulse of 115 beats per minute, which is the

number that a fetal heartbeat would be at.

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Many miracles, cures, and interventions have occurred when pilgrims visit the tilma of Our

Lady. Millions of people make their way to look into the see of the Holy Virgin and pray upon

her. 24 popes have officially honored the tilma and the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. More

scientific research is being done on the tilma to this day.

4. Conclusion: What to Take Away from the Tilma

The tilma shows a great significance of God’s love towards us as well as Mary’s

involvement in the world. Mary, the mother of God, came down from heaven to appear to

God’s people all over the world and help spread her son’s words. Mary’s image is still as

beautiful as the day it was made on the cloth, signifying God’s love lasting forever. The

materials on the cloth can’t be explained which shows how God’s love is so powerful that it

can create and take away anything. God shows how He was, is and always will be through the

relics. The powers of the saints come alive through God’s power and the prayers of the faithful.

The relics showcase to all: nonbelievers, believers, the devout, and those who don’t even know

God or have Him in their lives.

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Works Cited

Agnesi, Tony. “Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Tilma of Juan Diego.” Tony Agnesi, 9 Dec.

2010, tonyagnesi.com/2010/12/our-lady-of-guadalupe-and-the-tilma-of-juan diego/.

Heschmeyer, Joe. “Shameless Popery.” What Scripture Says About Using Relics –

Shameless Popery, 26 May 2011, shamelesspopery.com/what-scripture-says-about-using-

relics/.

Kovács - Magyar , András. “NASA Has Called the Image of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Living.” Matrix Drops, 2018, www.matrixdrops.com/en/news/nasa-has-called-the-

image-of-the-virgin-of-guadalupe-living.

Missionaries of charity. “Veneration.” VENERATION OF SAINTS, BLESSED AND THEIR

RELICS, 2003, www.motherteresa.org/09_relics/relics.htm.

Saunders, William. “Why Do We Venerate Relics.” Father William Saunders, 13 July 1995,

www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/RELICS.HTM.

User, Super. “Church Teaching on Relics.” Catholic Education Resource Center,

Alrlingtonatholic Herald, 2013, www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-

contributions/church-teaching-on-relics.html.

Webster, Merriam. “Dictionary.” Dictionary by Merriam Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/.