1531
The Healing of Juan Bernardino
The first miracle of Guadalupe was a cure. As Our Lady spoke with Juan Diego on December 12, his dying uncle rose from his mat completely well — and received her own visit and her name, Santa María de Guadalupe.
Signs & Wonders
Miracles of Guadalupe
From roses in the December frost to a cloak that will not decay — the accounts, ancient and modern, of what has been wrought at Tepeyac through the intercession of Our Lady.
1531
Roses in the December Frost
Castilian roses, not native to Mexico and impossible in the winter cold of Tepeyac, bloomed at the summit of the barren hill and were gathered into Juan Diego's tilma as the Bishop's requested sign.
1531 — present
The Incorrupt Tilma
The image is borne on ayate cloth woven from agave fiber, a material that ordinarily decays within twenty to thirty years. After nearly five centuries — most of them without any protective glass, exposed to smoke, incense, candle heat, and the touch of countless pilgrims — the cloth and its image endure.
1791
The Spilled Nitric Acid
While cleaning the frame, a workman accidentally spilled a quantity of nitric acid solvent across the upper right of the cloth. Such a spill should have destroyed the fabric outright. Only a faint stain remains, and it has visibly diminished over time.
1921
The Bomb Beneath the Altar
A bomb concealed in a flower arrangement was placed at the foot of the image and detonated. The marble altar rail was wrecked and a heavy brass crucifix twisted double, yet the tilma and even the pane of glass before it were left untouched. That bent crucifix — 'the Christ of the Explosion' — is preserved in the Basilica.
1929 & 1951
The Reflection in Her Eyes
Photographer Alfonso Marcué, and later the ophthalmologist Dr. Javier Torroella Bueno, reported human figures reflected in the pupils of Our Lady's eyes at magnification — an image within an image, on the scale of a few millimeters, arranged as a scene would be reflected in a living cornea.
1979
The Findings of Infrared Study
Examining the tilma under infrared light, Philip Serna Callahan of the University of Florida documented that the original figure bears no sizing, no brush strokes, and no under-drawing, and that the fiber's own weave supplies the modeling of the face — while the later added ornamentation shows ordinary craquelure and decay.
Continuing
The Testimony of the Pilgrims
Some twenty million pilgrims come to Tepeyac each year, and the Basilica's archives hold generations of recorded cures, conversions, and answered petitions offered in thanksgiving. The Church weighs each account with care; the faithful weigh them with gratitude.
A Necessary Word
The Church requires no private revelation or wonder for salvation, and she examines each claim with patience. Scientific findings about the tilma are reported here as they were published, not as articles of faith. The greatest miracle of Guadalupe remains the one no instrument can measure: nine million souls brought to Christ, and hearts still converting at Tepeyac today.