THE MIRACULOUS IMAGE

Here are just a few from a long list of interesting facts about the Our Lady of Guadalupe image itself:

• The image is proven to not be painted by human hands

• The image and fabric have miraculously lasted in its original condition for nearly 500 years

• The weak cactus fiber, of which the tilma was made, should have decomposed within 15-20 years of being woven

• No natural or animal mineral colorings, or paint, are found on the image

• The image itself is iridescent, which cannot be produced by hand

• Mary stands on a crescent moon, the same crescent moon in the sky on the day of her apparition

• Mary’s mantel is a constellation map, the same constellations in the sky as on the day of her apparition

• These constellations tell the story of the Gospel with the arrangements of Leo in the womb of Virgo

• On her rose garment is a topographic map of the geographic location of her apparition

• On Mary’s neck is a small black cross, identifying her with the Catholic missionary priests

• Over her womb on her dress is a four-petal flower, the Aztec symbol of life and deity

• In the image Mary is “clothed with the sun” with “the moon at her feet” as described in Revelation 12:1

• A doctor once heard a heartbeat coming from the image through a stethoscope over the womb

• The eyes of the image have the refractory characteristics of human eyes

• The eyes, when examined through a microscope, reflect the images of the witnesses present at its unveiling, including Juan Diego and the bishop