The tilma: Tangible proof of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast day we celebrate today, Dec. 12, is among the most well-known of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother. The story of her relationship with now-St. Juan Diego in 1531 is remarkable. You can read it here. What is more remarkable to me is the tangible evidence of her encounter with St. Juan Diego – his tilma, or cloak.

John Chiment is an expert in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. A paleontologist, his specialty is determining the age, materials, and place of origin of art works. After two visits to the Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe to take a closer look at the tilma, he was given extracted fibers from the nearly 500-year-old fabric of the tilma that he analyzed upon his return to Cornell University. He later presented the results of his findings to the archbishop of Mexico City.

According to Brother John M. Samaha, S.M., who published a piece about Chiment’s examination of the tilma on the University of Dayton’s website, the fabric of the tilma is comprised of woven hemp fibers, native to Mexico. This dispels the myth that the tilma was brought from Europe to Mexico.

Other analysis shows that no brush strokes can be found on the image of Our Lady in the tilma. After Kodak of Mexico reviewed the image, the examiners reported that the image was smooth, like that of a photograph. However, photography wasn’t invented until some 300 years after the 1531 apparition.

According to olg.cc, “Several images can be seen reflected in the eyes of the Virgin. It is believed to be the  images of Juan Diego, Bishop Juan de Zummaraga, Juan Gonzales-the interpreter and others. The distortion and place of the images are identical to what is produced in the normal eye, which is impossible to obtain on a flat surface.”

Mary left for us proof, in the form of the tilma, that she came down to earth and made herself visible to Juan Diego, ultimately resulting in the conversion of millions of people to Christianity. Short of seeing her ourselves, what else do we need in order to believe?

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