Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe “Call me and call my image Santa Maria de Guadalupe.” It’s believed that the word Guadalupe was actually a Spanish mis-translation of the local Aztec dialect. The word that probably was used was “Coatlaxopeuh” based on the fact that the “g” and “d” sounds do not exist in Nahuatl. “Coatlaxopeuh” (pronounced Quatlasupe) means “the one who crushes the serpent” and may referr to the plumed serpent Quetzacoatl. Since the time the apron-like tilma was first impressed with a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, it has been subject to a variety of environmental hazards including smoke from fires and candles, water from floods and torrential downpours and, in 1921, a bomb which was planted by anti-clerical forces on an altar under it. There was also a cast-iron cross next to the tilma and when the bomb exploded, the cross was twisted out of shape, the marble altar rail was heavily damaged and the tilma was untouched! Indeed, no one was injured in the Church despite the damage that occurred to a large part of the altar structure. The tilma was examined using infrared photography and digital enhancement techniques. Unlike any painting, the tilma shows no sketching or any sign of outline drawn to permit an artist to produce a painting. Furthermore, the very method used to create the image is still unknown. The image is inexplicable in its longevity and method of production. It can be seen today in a large cathedral built to house up to ten thousand worshipers. It is, by far, the most popular religious pilgrimage site in the Western Hemisphere.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

“Call me and call my image Santa Maria de Guadalupe.”

It’s believed that the word Guadalupe was actually a Spanish mis-translation of the local Aztec dialect. The word that probably was used was “Coatlaxopeuh” based on the fact that the “g” and “d” sounds do not exist in Nahuatl.

“Coatlaxopeuh” (pronounced Quatlasupe) means “the one who crushes the serpent” and may referr to the plumed serpent Quetzacoatl.

Since the time the apron-like tilma was first impressed with a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, it has been subject to a variety of environmental hazards including smoke from fires and candles, water from floods and torrential downpours and, in 1921, a bomb which was planted by anti-clerical forces on an altar under it. There was also a cast-iron cross next to the tilma and when the bomb exploded, the cross was twisted out of shape, the marble altar rail was heavily damaged and the tilma was untouched! Indeed, no one was injured in the Church despite the damage that occurred to a large part of the altar structure.

The tilma was examined using infrared photography and digital enhancement techniques. Unlike any painting, the tilma shows no sketching or any sign of outline drawn to permit an artist to produce a painting. Furthermore, the very method used to create the image is still unknown. The image is inexplicable in its longevity and method of production. It can be seen today in a large cathedral built to house up to ten thousand worshipers. It is, by far, the most popular religious pilgrimage site in the Western Hemisphere.

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