Our Lady of Guadalupe

Yesterday was the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the date that the Blessed Mother gifted the miraculous tilma to the Mexican people. In 1531, Mary appeared to Juan Diego, a Mexican convert in Tepeyac. At the last of the four apparitions, Our Lady left behind the miraculous image of herself that, despite being on a type of fragile fabric that usually lasts only about 20 years, exists to this day. The symbolism in the image was a visual catechism for the native peoples who were so moved by it that, within seven years, nine million had become Catholics. This averages out to more than 3,500 people per day, more than the number who were converted on Pentecost (Acts 2:41).

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEhjwCsDDsc [21:20] to see a documentary about the apparitions and the miraculous image.

Note that the narrator says the tilma appeared on the winter solstice, the shortest and darkest day of the year. In 1531, that date was December 12, hence the date of the feast day. Now, the winter solstice generally falls on December 21 or 22; this year it will be on December 22. The reason for the discrepancy is that the Julian calendar, which had been in use for centuries, only had a leap day every four years to account for the solar year being 365.25 days long. But the solar year is actually a bit longer, resulting in a slippage of approximately one day per century. In 1582, Pope Gregory instituted the Gregorian calendar we use to this day, correcting the slippage by designating the day after October 4, 1582 to be October 15, 1582.

The symbolism in the image tells us only that Mary was a pregnant virgin. The claim by the narrator that some gynecologist pegged the due date of the image at December 25^th is just silly. I’ll give him a pass, since he’s a priest, so what does he know about pregnancy? LOL The fact is that due dates are a crap shoot. The first guesstimate starts with the date of the last menstrual period (LMP). This date can be off by weeks, since some women have longer than 28 day cycles and some occasionally have a faux period after they have conceived. As the pregnancy continues, the OB will measure the fundal height (the distance from the pubic bone to the top of the uterus). This is done mainly to track the progress of the pregnancy, but it also gives a second and general estimate for the due date. However, like the LMP, it is not precise, since obesity, fibroid tumors, unusually small, large or multiple fetuses, and too little or too much amniotic fluid can all affect the measurement. Finally, modern pregnancies can be monitored with ultrasound imaging where precise measurements of the baby’s size are possible. But really, nothing … including a scheduled C-section … can precisely predict on what day a baby will be born.

In addition, according to the star charts shown in the movie “The Star of Bethlehem”, Jesus was born in mid-June.

• https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/seasons-and-feast-days/our-lady-of-guadalupe-21357