First published December 12, 2007
Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Had you asked me when I was a little boy, what Mary, the Mother of God, looked like, I would’ve said that she’s dark skinned, pregnant, wears a rose coloured dress with blue-green cape and has the sun’s rays shining out of her (or from behind her). On her cloak there are the constellations, she is standing on a half-moon and she has an angel below her feet. I would have said this, because that’s the statue of Mary that I saw every Sunday at Church, at our Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Panama. Every Sunday after Mass, my mother would go into the little chapel that had the life-sized statue to pray. We, of course, tagged along. Soon, I developed my own habit of popping in there whenever I could – which turned out to be a lot, since, as a teen-ager, I spent pretty much my whole weekend at that church between catechism, youth group and choir practices.
The Church also has a huge stained glass window at the front, with the image of Mary giving Juan Diego her image imprinted on his tilma (a cactus cloth blanket commonly worn by native-peasants in those days). During the day, the image could be seen from the inside of the Church, but at night, of course, with the Church lights on, could only be seen from the outside. The things that we remember, eh?
Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Panama
St. Juan Diego
It was later on, as an adult that I learned the full story of Guadalupe, though. That Mary appeared to Juan Diego – that she asked him to tell the Bishop, Juan de Zummaraga to build a Church. That the Bishop did not really believe Juan Diego – that he was of course, afraid – that his uncle was sick and dying but was healed – that Mary appeared to Juan Diego even though he went a different way – and that she gave him “proof” to show the Bishop: flowers that were growing on the hilltop. This may not seem like much, except that it was winter and flowers don’t grow in winter. Juan Diego gathered the flowers in his tilma and when he brought them to the Bishop, they discovered the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe imprinted on the cloth. This image is the one that still hangs in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico.
I was there, in 1990, and saw the cloth. It’s been hanging there for 400 years and has not faded. This is a cloth that would not have lasted 20 years. My jeans don’t last 5 years! But it’s been hanging there, unfaded, for over 400 years. Then I remembered something else I had learned as a little boy: Scientific tests had been done on the cloth and no pigments of any kind were found on it. Scientist can’t figure out how the image was imprinted on the cloth. Later on I found out that the stars on her cloak are exactly the map of the constellations that would have been in the sky on the day she appeared to Juan Diego in 1531, and if you magnify the image of Mary’s eye you can see several images. It is believed that they are images of Juan Diego and of Bishop de Zummaraga.
In less than 20 years after the apparitions, some nine million Mexicans were converted to Christianity, putting an end once and for all to the bloody Aztec practice of human sacrifice and helping reconcile the Aztec with their Spanish rulers. Guadalupe is a popular tourist destination in Mexico City. Yearly, an estimated 10 million pilgrims visit the Basilica, making Guadalupe the most popular Marian shrine in the world, and the most visited Catholic Church in the world next to the Vatican. However, my thoughts when being there were of Jesus driving the merchants out of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Plaza outside of the Basilica is so crowded with merchants selling everything from medals, statues, books and holy water, to tacos and enchiladas (I actually had some street food there. Hmmm…. food off a street vendor in Mexico City!) The only way to get a good look at the image, is to go on the “moving sidewalk” (as in airports) just beneath it. You can’t stop in front of it to get a better look and it’s very hard to take photos. Plus, did I mention that it was crowded?
In October 2001 I returned to Mexico, this time as a guest of Mexican Catholic Singer/Songwriter, Martin Valverde. I joined him and nine other Latin American artists for three days of a month-long tour around Mexico. In three days we went to four cities. One of our stops, of course was the Basilica of Guadalupe. But, this time I was with Martin Valverde. Not only were we able to attend Mass at the Basilica, but we sat where the choir sits, just in front and to the left of the image! And my musician friends did some of the music for the Mass.
The group of EnRedados at the Shrine of Guadalupe
Martin has a song called, “No Estoy Aqui?” (Am I not here), based on Juan Diego’s story. Mary said to him, “no tengas miedo. ¿No estoy yo aquí, que soy tu Madre?” Don’t be afraid. Am I, who am your Mother, not here?” And then I learned another important aspect of the story: Mary is our Mother. And if she is our Mother, why be afraid? Seems so simple, yet for me it was a profound realization. And what better place to have it than right there, in the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe, during Mass, where, for over an hour I sat not 20 feet away, staring at this miraculous image.
When Mary appeared to Juan Diego, she also said to him, “Know for certain that I am the perfect and perpetual Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God.” and she called him, “my little one”. Not that Juan Diego was a little boy – he was a grown man – probably in his 50′s. But no matter how old we are, we are still Mary’s “little ones”.
When Juan Diego returned from seeing the Bishop and discovering the image on his tilma, he found his uncle who had been completely cured. His uncle told him he had met a young woman, surrounded by a soft light, who told him that she had just sent his nephew to Tenochtitlán (old Mexico City, the capital of the Aztec Empire) with a picture of herself. She told his uncle: “Call me and call my image Santa Maria de Guadalupe”. This was always interesting to me. Mary appeared to Juan Diego on a hill named Tepeyac. Why is she not Our Lady of Tepeyac? It’s believed that the word Guadalupe was actually a Spanish mis-translation of the local Aztec dialect. The word that Mary probably used was Coatlallope which means “one who treads on snakes”! (This is in reference to Eve -Mary being the new Eve – and her offspring crushing the serpent’s head. Gen 3:15. I later found out that Mary is standing on a half-moon, indicating to Juan Diego that she had crushed the feathered serpent-moon god.) If you look at the image you can also see that she is wearing a black belt. This has been identified as an Aztec Maternity belt. I love this, because it reminds me, that Mary appeared to Juan Diego as an Aztec woman. She looked Aztec and spoke Aztec. But of course, she is our Mother!
Some say that Latin America is mainly a Catholic continent because of the Spanish missionaries who came to spread the Good News. That may be true, however, it is clear to me that God had a special plan for Latin America and He carried out his plan through the work of the humblest of little ones: an old peasant by the name of Juan Diego. Isn’t that always how it goes?
May Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of the Americas, guide you and keep you in her care always.
Pedro
P.S. Juan Diego was canonised by Pope John Paul II on July 31st, 2002.
First published November 27, 2007
Is it just me, or is this now the news of the day? Is it because CTV aired the controversial film the Suicide Tourist or is it because this Nov 30th and Dec 1st is the first ever International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide?
I don’t want to talk too much about the film, however to make my point, I have to explain that it deals with Dignitas, an organization in Switzerland that holds that anyone, as long as they are of sound mind, should have the right to kill themselves. This, they say, is dying with dignity.
It makes me think of another award winning documentary titled The Bridge, which looks at the Golden Gate bridge, a notorious spot for suicidal jumpers. The director of that film, says that the thought to make the film came to him after watching people jump off the World Trade Centre on 9/11. Those people chose to fall to their death, rather than to be consumed by a fire. He thought that anyone who takes his or her life is also escaping a fire of sorts. The film tries to deal with those “fires” that plague us, that would make us take our own lives.
It is well documented that people of “sound mind” don’t wish to take their own lives. those who wish to kill themselves do so because they have lost their sense of dignity, or a quality of life they (or others) consider worthy of having – in effect, they do so because they are depressed. That’s what depression stems from: losing something, someone, or an ability.
This past Summer, an Italian doctor alleged that Pope John Paul II went against the Church teaching on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide when refusing treatment in the last days of his life. This made us think, here at S+L that there is still much confusion when it comes to Church teaching on this topic. In truth, the stories of those with the “right to die” mentality, are very compelling. And it is not enough to throw around the Fifth Commandment: Thou shalt not kill.
Let me give you an example: Around two weeks ago, I asked Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition what the law was in Canada when it came to the meaning of “medical treatment.” I asked this because when making Turning the Tide Bobby Schindler spoke about what happened to his sister Terri Schiavo. He said that in every American State, food and water are considered medical treatment, or “extraordinary care,” which is why when the court ordered to stop all medical treatment, the doctors were able to starve and dehydrate Terri to death.
Let me clarify: I have had an accident and I’m in a coma. Prior to that accident, I had discussed with my wife, my parents and loved ones that were this to happen to me, I was not to have any medical treatment – assuming that medical treatment means no resuscitation, no respirator or any machines to keep the body alive. For the doctors, for the medical system, because feeding would require a tube — it would be considered medical treatment. So while I (even in a comatose state) and my family think that I would be treated with dignity and given the necessary basic care, the doctors would be starving and dehydrating me to death.
I wanted to know if this could happen in Canada. This was Alex’s response: “I just got a phone call from a priest, whose parishioner’s son is currently being starved and dehydrated in one of Toronto’s hospitals.” Why? Because the parents and his wife, requested to terminate all medical treatment. This of course, means no food or water. Two days after our conversation, he called to let me know that the young man had died.
Not only could it happen in Canada, but it does happen. It happens more than we think. But no one wants to talk about it.
Are we scared of offending the “right-to-die” people?
And so, because many of these specifics are not dealt with in Turning the Tide, we decided to address them in a two-part Catholic Focus special: What does the Church say about dying with dignity? What is the meaning of our suffering? What is the meaning of death? What is considered extraordinary care and what is basic care? When do we stop treatment? Why is it that when Pope John Paul II refuses treatment in the last days of his life, it is not euthanasia? What is natural death? All these, and more questions are answered on Wednesday November 28th and Thursday November 29th’s Catholic Focus, at 7pm and 11pm ET, with guests Alex Schadenberg and Fr. Bill McGratton, the Rector and Professor of Moral Theology at St. Peter’s Seminary (fans of Vox Clara will know Fr. McGrattan very well). The episodes also repeat Saturday December 1st and Sunday December 2nd at the same times.
For more information on the International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, go to www.epcc.ca and for information on the Physicians for Life, Medical Student Forum taking place in the same place on the same two days, click HERE. For a closer look at the topic of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, check out our documentary Turning the Tide: Dignity, Compassion and Euthanasia.
We need to educate ourselves on these topics so that we can have the conversation with those who may think that it’s OK to kill yourself if you are terminally ill, or dying, or severely disabled, as long as you are of “sound mind.” Otherwise, the laws will be changed and we won’t know what hit us.
While proponents of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide have very compelling arguments, they ignore the most basic argument of them all: life is sacred at every stage, from conception to natural death, and that suffering and extreme pain, emotional or physical does not de-value us as human beings. It also ignores the fact that death is not an “ending,” but rather a “transition.” They also ignore the fact that legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide, even with all the proper safeguards in place to protect the most vulnerable, the elderly, those with chronic pain, and terminal illnesses, and the disabled, will only lead to one thing: a world where the strong make decisions for the weak and where the doctor’s “white coat of the healer” becomes the “black hood of the executioner”.
Let me know your thoughts. Always happy to hear from you, and remember to check out Catholic Focus Wednesday and Thursday at 7pm and 11pm ET or catch the encore presentations on Saturday and Sunday at the same times.
Pedro (pedro@saltandlightv.org)
deacon pedro 