Johnston - The wonder of Guadalupe : the origin and cult of the miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin in Mexico

The author and the publishers of this book wish to acknowledge the wonderful generosity of Mr. Frank Smoczynski of Addison, Illinois and Dr. Charles Wahlig of Woodside, New York for providing most of the pictures which appear in this book, as well as for their helpful suggestions and advice.

Those who wish to promote devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe should write to

Queen of the Americas Guild

c/o Father Christopher, O.F.M.

Capuchin College

4121 Harewood Road, N.E.

Washington, D.C. 20017

Published by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., in conjunction with Augustine Publishing Company, Chulmleigh, Devon, England.

The pictures of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the cover of this book are reproduced courtesy of Mr. Frank Smoczynski. They are taken from a carefully executed color transparency, which itself was made from a picture taken by Mr. Smoczynski, a professional photographer and a 20 year devotee of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This picture was shot in April, 1981, at the same time that NBC News was filming for a documentary presentation on the Apparition. Mr. Smoczynski had full use of NBCs platform and lighting. Therefore, the conditions were optimum for obtaining a good reproductionwith the sole exception that the protective glass was still in front of the image.

Mr. Smoczynski explains that a perfect reproduction of the Image is virtually impossible, due to technical problems. Reproductions tend to pick up distinctions more sharply than they actually appear on the Image itself. But as reproductions of Our Lady of Guadalupe go, those appearing on this cover are very goodas good as highly skilled photographers and printers are able to make them.

Copyright 1981 by Francis Johnston

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 81-53041

ISBN: 978-0-89555-168-9

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

TAN Books

Charlotte, North Carolina

2011

The Mother of the True God Speaks.

Know for certain that I am the perfect and perpetual Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God here I will show and offer all my love, my compassion, my help and protection to the people. I am your merciful Mother, the Mother of all who love me, of those who cry to me, of those who have confidence in me. Here I will hear their weeping and their sorrows their necessities and misfortunes Listen and let it penetrate your heart Do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?

Words of the Blessed Virgin spoken to Juan Diego on the 9th and 12th of December 1531 at Guadalupe, Mexico .

To my little son, Anthony

Chapter

T HE AUTHOR wishes to express his grateful thanks to the Franciscan Marytown Press for permission to quote from A Hand book on Guadalupe , copyrighted 1974; to Dr. C. Wahlig, O.D., for permission to quote from his book Juan Diego , copyrighted in 1972 by the author; and to Professor Philip Callahan of the University of Florida, for his kind permission to use brief excerpts from his report on the infra-red radiation investigation of the sacred image in May 1979.

Thanks are also due to Brother Bruno Bonnet-Eymard of Maison Saint Joseph, Saint Parres Les Vaudes, France, for permission to quote from his excellent article entitled Our Lady and her wonderful image in the light of science and history, which appeared in The Catholic Counter-Reformation in the XXth Century , October 1980, No. 127. A word of special thanks is due to my sister, Miss Mary Johnston, B.A., for her excellent map; to Mr. Manuel Perez of De Guadalupe, Los Angeles for his invaluable assistance; and to Mr. Peter Croshaw of Crewe, England, for further help in research.

Finally, this book is not intended to be an exhaustive treatise on the subject of Guadalupe, but simply an introduction to enable the reader to become acquainted with the story. While the author has made every effort to achieve the highest accuracy, he would be very grateful to be advised of any omission of importance, or error of fact or interpretation, which may have crept into the work.

I T REMAINS one of the great paradoxes of our age that while belief in the existence of God appears to be in general decline, perhaps never before in history has there been so much concrete, scientifically demonstrated evidence confirming His reality. The very technology that is invoked to deny the existence of a Supreme Being has also served to confirm His actuality, in the light of investigations and observations conducted under the most rigorous conditions that modern science can impose. To instance but a few recent examples: the medically confirmed, instantaneous cures of terminal illnesses, contrary to all known laws of science, which occur at Lourdes, Fatima, Banneux and other shrines; the incorrupt body of St. Charbel Makhlouf, the great saint of the Mass, still perspiring blood and water 83 years after his death and officially confirmed by medical science; the stupendous Eucharistic miracle at Lanciano, which leading scientists confirmed in 1971 after an exhaustive investigation; and the 13-1/2 years long fast of the Servant of God Alexandrina da Costa (1942-1955), in which the highest medical authorities certified her subsistence on the Eucharist alone as scientifically inexplicable.

This book recounts another such prodigythe sacred image of the Virgin Mary at Guadalupe, Mexico City, the supernatural origin of which was scientifically demonstrated in the 1960s. A thoroughly up-to-date account of the wondrous story in the light of history and modern science is recorded here since relatively little is known of the startling discoveries of recent years concerning the sacred image. For background material, I have relied rather heavily on Fr. Lees comprehensive and excellent book on the subject, published in 1896, with its numerous references to centuries old Spanish volumes, which I have footnoted in this work for easy source checking. I also had recourse to the majority of the books listed in the bibliography. To bring the work into the perspective of the 1980s, I drew from a mass of new material, including the recent experiments concerning the eye images in the sacred portrait undertaken by Dr. C. Wahlig, O.D., of New York, one of the greatest living authorities on Guadalupe, the 1979 infra-red radiation investigation of the sublime picture by Professor Philip Callahan of the University of Florida and Professor Jody Smith of Pensacola, Florida, and in particular, from the writings of Brother Bruno Bonnet-Eymard, a leading French authority on Guadalupe who, in October 1980, brilliantly refuted the objections to Guadalupe by certain French agnostic intellectuals.

In recording the dialogue of the Great Event of 1531, I have attempted to follow the story of the apparitions as faith fully as possible, but in certain passages I have exercised an authors right of creative freedom by outlining the likely interior reflections of Juan Diego and Bishop Zumrraga, to strike the spark of life from these historically-distant characters. In several instances I have also amended the original translation of the story by Don Valeriano to a more meaningful and modern rendition.

A further important reason for writing this book is the existence of a widely-held misconception that the cult of Our Lady of Guadalupe, or more precisely, Our Lady of the Americas, is an exclusively New World concern since she appeared in the geographical center of the Americas in 1531 at a time when these vast regions were beginning to be colonized, and proclaimed herself as your merciful Mother, the Mother of all who live united in this land. But this is to overlook the fact that she also announced herself as the merciful Mother of all mankind, of all those who love me, of those who cry to me, of those who have confidence in me