The tylma of Juan Diego - The miracle that lasts
Mexico · 1531-present
The tylma of Juan Diego is one of the most extraordinary miracles in Christian history. After almost 500 years, the magey tissue remains intact, and the image of the Virgin has not been painted by human hand.
The miracle of December 12, 1531
On December 12, 1531, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin went up to the hill of Tepeyac to seek flowers for Bishop Fray Juan de Zumárraga. The Virgin had told her that she would find roses of Castile, impossible to find in Mexico in December.
When Juan Diego opened his tylma (an ayate of magey, woven with vegetable fibres), the roses fell to the ground. But what was truly extraordinary was what was printed in the tylma: the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, with all its perfect details.
«El obispo creerá con estas flores que tú me has enviado. Llévale lo que allí encontrarás.»
- Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan DiegoThe extraordinary properties of the tylma
Juan Diego's tylma has properties that challenge scientific explanation:
The tissue: The tylma is made of maguey fibres (agave), a material that is usually broken down in 20-30 years. After almost 500 years, it's still intact. Scientists have not been able to explain how a plant tissue can last so long.
The image: La imagen no fue pintada con pigmentos conocidos. Los análisis han revelado que los colores no corresponden a ningún pigmento vegetal, mineral o animal conocido. La imagen parece «impresa» en el tejido, no pintada sobre él.
The eyes: In 1979, Dr. José Aste Tonsmann discovered that the eyes of the Virgin contain reflected images, as if they were photographs. In the right eyes you see Juan Diego and Fra Juan de Zumárraga, and in the left a group of people. This is impossible to have been painted in the 16th century.
The star: The stars in the mantle of the Virgin correspond to the configuration of the sky on Mexico on December 12, 1531, according to the astronomical map of the time.
Attempts to destroy
It has survived multiple attempts at destruction:
1785: An employee of the sacristan spilled nitric acid on the tylma. The acid ran through the image without damaging it, and when the employee tried to dry it with a cloth, the cloth disintegrated.
1913: A bomb exploded in the sacristy of the Basilica. The expansive wave broke glass and destroyed furniture, but the tylma was intact.
1921: A bomb attack on the main altar. The explosion destroyed the altar and the cirios, but the tylma suffered no damage.
«La tilma es un milagro continuo. Después de casi 500 años, sigue desafiando la explicación científica.»
— Dr José Aste Tonsmann, researcher de la tilmaThe devotion to the tylma
Today, the tylma is exposed in the Basilica of Guadalupe, in a relic deposit on the main altar. Every year, millions of pilgrims come to see her. On December 12, when the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe is celebrated, more than 6 million people visit the Basilica.
La tilma es un testimonio vivo de la presencia de Dios en la historia de México y de América Latina. Como dijo Juan Pablo II: «La Virgen de Guadalupe es el signo de la presencia de Dios en la historia de este continente.»