Claims About the Tilma and the Image

CLAIM: Scientists have discovered that Mary’s eyes possess the three effects of image refraction in a living eye.

TRUTH: This is true.

CLAIM: Reflected in Mary’s eyes are 13 tiny figures, including Bishop Zumarraga and St. Juan Diego.

TRUTH: This is true. The 13 total figures form two scenes in both eyes.

CLAIM: The image of Bishop Zumarraga in Mary’s eyes was digitally enlarged, revealing that in his eyes is the image of St. Juan Diego opening his tilma.

TRUTH: This is false.

CLAIM: Guadalupe in the native language means “crush the head of the serpent.”

TRUTH: This is false. Guadalupe is a word of Arab origin.

CLAIM: Spanish missionaries wanted to remove the name Guadalupe from the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

TRUTH: This is true.

CLAIM: The Image portrays scenes from the book of Revelation.

TRUTH: This is true.

CLAIM: The tilma maintains a constant temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

TRUTH: This claim has never been proven.

CLAIM: The tilma on which the Image is imprinted is made of maguey fiber.

TRUTH: This is false. The tilma (an indigenous cape worn at the time of the apparition) is made of agave popotule fiber from the ixtle plant.

CLAIM: The colors cannot be seen on the Image from a distance of 10 centimeters away.

TRUTH: This is false.

CLAIM: A laser detected that the Image’s colors are not on the front or back of the tilma but rather float less than a millimeter above the cloth.

TRUTH: This is false. No such experiment has ever taken place.

CLAIM: A bomb once exploded at the foot of the tilma but failed to harm it.

TRUTH: This is true. On the morning of Nov. 14, 1921, a bomb was detonated in the Basilica of Guadalupe.

CLAIM: A doctor placed a stethoscope under the ribbon that Mary wears and heard a heartbeat.

TRUTH: This is false. There have been no such tests regarding a heartbeat in Mary’s abdomen.

CLAIM: Studies have not succeeded in discovering the origin of the coloration of the Image.

TRUTH: This is true. The origin of the coloration and “the way the image appears on the fabric” has not been discovered.

CLAIM: A replica of the Image was once painted on similar maguey fiber cloth, and it disintegrated after a few decades.

TRUTH: Basically, this is true, although with a few inaccuracies.

CLAIM: In the 1700s, acid was accidentally spilled on the cloth and the damage was miraculously reconstructed within 30 days.

TRUTH: This is half true. In 1795, nitric acid was accidentally spilled on the left side of the Image.

Image of our Lady Guadalupe.