The miracle of the Virgin of Guadalupe
This coming Tuesday, December 12th, the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe is celebrated.
According to the story, 486 years ago she appeared for the fourth time to the native Juan Diego in the hill of Tepeyac, in Mexico.
This is a fact, not only anecdotal, but which also has a "miraculous" part, since according to the story, the Virgin asked Juan Diego to fill his ayate (a kind of blanket that was used to collect the crops), with roses from the mountain and take them to Bishop Zumárraga, so that he would believe everything he said.
The point is that it’s very rare to find roses on a hill and less in December, as he did. On the other hand, the ayate, as well as the portrayed image of the Virgin, have lasted 486 intact years.
In this regard, many studies have been done, both of the ayate and the image, and it has not been possible to give a clear and scientific explanation of why they have lasted so long, nor of how that image was "painted." Another fact is that the Basilica of Guadalupe, where the image is located, is a site visited annually by more than 20 million pilgrims and believers (only surpassed by the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome, Italy), who believe in God and of course in her as his mother.
For millions of believers in the Catholic Church, this is an irrefutable fact that it is a miracle, and that this image corresponds to the Virgin Mary, mother of God. But even for non-believers and even for those who deny their existence, the image is something singular or at least "strange and inexplicable."
Of course there will always be a debate, but it is clear that, like many things of faith, holy and miraculous things are there and it’s up to each one to believe in them or not.
