The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-03-21
THE IMAGE OF GUADALUPE
WHAT AN ARCHBISHOP SAYS or II
a Pic,urs That Mother Time Nor. tho
Elements Gan Ne. f.

Elements Gan De.
TAOS.
Archbishop Corrigan, who told his
congregation recently about his visit to
the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in
Mexico, has published an article IN the
Seminary for this month devoted largely
to consideration of the authenticity Of
the apparitions and the historical testi-
mcny in it's Itpnort. Tradition relates
that the Virgin appeared three times to
Juan Diego, an Indian ncophyte, in 1881,
and babe him make known to the bish-
Old Of Mexico that she desired q church
to be built on the spot, and that she
would be kind and loving mother to
invoke her aid Afterward Juan Diego
found upon his cloak a beautiful picture
of the Madonna. Regarding this cape,
which is preserved i'll the church built
upon the spot, the archbishop says:
"rhe material On which the image is
formed is coarse product of the maguey
plant, such as is still used by the Indians
for their wraps and for other domestic
purposes. The image is painted on this
rough cloth without any sizing or prep
! aration. in fact the canvas Is transpar-
ent the same image showing on both
sides. At various times the picture has
been examined by a committee of ex-
perts composed of distinguished artists
and of scientific men, and they have de-
posed under oath that they could not ac-
count for its production or for its: preser-
walton. The image exhibits peculiar
characteristics of painting in oil, in water
! color, in distemper, and in relief In
fact, these four dissimilar kinds of paint
ing are discernible in different portions
of the same canvas; and in addition to
this, the gliding, which appears in the
stars embroidered on the garment OF Our
Lady and in the texture of the robe itself,
as we'll as in the rays of light which is
sue from the figure, is not applied &C
ecrding to any known process, and
seems rather to have been woven IN the
fibre than painted on it. :
Apart from the curious comn1ingling
of dissimilar kinds of painting on the
same canvas, there is this other pecu-
1iarity about the picture, that for years
! it was exposed without and covering,
not only to the smoke of censers and in
Vulnerable candles but to the damp air
charge with satpetre, which continually
arises from the neighboring lakes and
marshes, and which affects and cOrrOdes
| the hardest substances; and yet, after a
period of more than $50 years, this pro.
duct Of the maguey plant, which ought
to have persisted long ago, is still in a
I state of perfect preservation. This is the
Emore remarkable, because experiments
have been tried in the same locality with
similar material, but with very different
results. An able artist, Don Rafael GU
Etierrez, took a fine TINA, September ~,
1889, and painted on it a facsimile Of
Our Lady of Guadalupe. When finished,
it was protected by glass cover. and
p.aced in the neighboring chapel, Del
Poetic. The result was that before eight
wears elapsed it was SO discolored and
disigured by the fumes Of the saltpetre
| from public view and relegate it to the
sacristy. r.
"The great proof Of the authenticity OF
these apparitions, the archbishop con-
tinues, els the constant and uninter-
rupted tradition, bearing all the marks
Of. credibility, accepted by all classes of
people and extending from the days of
Juan Diego to our own time. This tradi-
ton has been twice officially examined
and approved by the Holy See. Only last
year, after a long and most searching
examination, Pope Leo XIII. granted a
new office and mass III honor of Our
| Lady. Of Guadalupe by letters dated
March 6. 1894. In 1854 Pope Benedict
XIV. had already granteda similar favor,
although the text relating to the appari-
ton was not so explicit. In fact, hardly
! a Pontiff has sat On the throne OF Peter
dring the past $50 years who has not &C
corded special favors to the sanctuary
at Guadalupe.
sIn 1856 an official investigation as to
| the truth Of the apparition Was made by
authority of the Sovereign Pontiff The
| questions put to the witnesses had been
sent sealed, from the Sacred, Congrega-
ton Of Rites. Among those who were ex-
amined under oath We're eleven witnesses
who were almost contemporaries OF Juan
Diego and whose parents had known him
| intimately, who were therefore them-
selves well qualified to speak of the facts
| LII LuS ldSL al lOoLAoA1 o@ 81 s"AI
erudit .on, the Chevalier Lorenzo Boturini
spent several years in Mexico, devoting
| all his time and energies to- collecting
manuscripts and traditions with regard to
Our Lady of Guadalupe and the early
history of Mexico. Among the manu-
scripts is one written by Antonio Valeri-:
a1lo, which is Of sufficient Importance to
deserve special mention. Valeriano was Of
the royal family of the Aztecs, a d:stin-
gl1ished professor of literature and phil
osophy in the Franciscan College OF. Tlal-.
| te]olco, and for nearly forty years the
wise and prudent governor Of the Indians
in the City Of Mexico. He was born, short
ly before the date Of the apparition anil
died in 1906 In 1854 he became professor
in the college in which he had been edn-
Gated, and wrote in excellent Mexican an
account Of the apparition. On his death
this manuscript became the property OF
Don Fernando de Alva Ixticochitl, from
whom it passed into the hands Of Botu-
rini Now, it is matter of record that the
account subsequently published In Next
can by Lasa de la Vega in 1649 and trans
lated into Spanish by order Of Boturini
IS taken from the manuscript of Valerl-