Today my dd and I were fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. During my dd's Challenge meeting we found out that a replica of the Our Lady of Guadalupe's tilma was going to be arriving at the church we were meeting at. The older group of girls decided to use part of their meeting to go pray in front of it. So we joined them. It was so beautiful. We prayed before it and touched it. I also got to see a dear friend who I haven't seen in months and talk for a while. She told met that this tilma replica has cried tears of oil before and been seen holding the Eucharist. Wow! That is amazing. I am so glad that we got to see this replica. It travels around the country, so you are very fortunate if it comes to your church. We we lucky tonight. You can find some amazing miraculous pictures taken of the image at the following site.
Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe has been around for quite a while. It started in 1531, in Mexico. Bishop Zumarraga had seen that a revolt was likely, and prayed for Our Lady to intervene. Between the local folks, who had been practicing human sacrifice, and the Spanish conquerors, who were now making their lives miserable, it looked like a miracle was needed.
On December 9 of that year, Juan Diego, a recent convert, saw Our Lady. She told him that she wanted a church for her built on the barren hill of Tepeyac, and that he should ask the bishop to start building it. After Juan Diego made the request, the bishop, reasonably, wanted some sort of sign that Juan Diego wasn't making this up. He told Juan Diego to ask Our Lady for a sign.
On December 12, Bishop Zumarraga got his sign. Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill.
Roses appeared, miraculously. She told him to pick the roses and bring them to the Bishop. This would be the sign for him to believe that her request was genuine.
Juan gathered the roses, carrying them in his tilma, a garment similar to a poncho. When he came to the bishop, he let go of the tilma and Mary's out-of-season roses spilled out. The Bishop and other witnesses also saw a picture of Our Lady on the cactus-cloth tilma.
Our Lady's church was built on Tepeyac Hill, as specified.
Juan Diego became Saint Juan Diego.
Nine million local folks gave up their old beliefs and the practice of human sacrifice, converted and were baptized in the nine years after Our Lady appeared.
The tilma, which should have rotted away in less than a person's lifetime, didn't. It is now in her church there in Mexico. The picture on St. Juan Diego's tilma isn't a painting. Scientific investigation has shown that there are no brush strokes, and that there is no undersizing or pigment on the garment. In 1921, someone set off a bomb right under it. The tilma wasn't hurt.
In 1999, Pope John Paul II came to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He declared Our Lady of Guadalupe as Queen and Mother of America, and made December 12 a feast day throughout the American continent.
Pope John Paul II has proclaimed Our Lady of Guadalupe as the Mother of all America, and these visitations are part of a program to give actions to the Pope's direction, "to lead the people of God in America to cross the threshold of the third millennium with renewed hope."