In old Buenos Aires, Autumn is an inspiring season. As I progress through the chapters of Guadalupe: A River of Light I learn more and more about some topics whose existence I never even imagined. One thing that came to my mind today was the timing of the Miracle of Tepeyac. The poor Bishop Zumarraga was sent to Mexico with both spiritual and temporal powers to act in the name of God and Crown. At the time of the miracle, the Crown of Spain was resting on one of the most Catholic heads ever to hold the title of King: Charles V, the grandson of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, a Habsburg, and a faithful Catholic monarch if there was ever one. I like to quote him from time to time on the matter of languages: "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse." Understandably he was a contemporary of St John of the Cross, of Cervantes, and St Teresa of Avila. King Charles was also the father of Don John of Austria, the victor of Lepanto.
The answer to his prayers did not tarry long. Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St Juan Diego at daybreak the following day. Three and a half days later, Juan Diego was pouring the roses before the astonished Bishop, and the story of the miraculous tilma began. Three and a half days, the same length of time of the Passion. It took thirteen days to build the first chapel at the Cerrito, Tepeyac Hill. Only one day after Christmas the conversions began: nine million in four years. Do the math: that is slightly over 6,000 baptisms per day for four years. A Catholic nation was born of Mary in a near instant.
Genesis 3:20 – The man named his wife Eve because she was going to be the mother of all who will live.
Unfortunately for us, when she fell for Satan's lies, our first mom carried inside her all the humans that will ever be and therefore, all mankind inherited sin and death. That woman destined to be the mother of faithful humanity chose unwittingly to give birth to a condemned race. One could consider that awful mistake as a first and massive abortion. Curiously enough our word abortion comes from two Latin words, ab (off, away from) and hortus (garden) that is, off the garden. Adam and Eve were thrown off the Garden of Eden with all their descendants in tow.
The race condemned to death by the envy of one mother had to be rescued by the generous self-giving of another Mother. The night previous to the Crucifixion her Son had been arrested and taken off the Garden of Gethsemane to face trial. Once in Calvary Mary of Nazareth desired for herself the fruit of a much less desirable tree, the Cross (Gr. "xylon, stavros") just as Eve had coveted the fruit of the forbidden tree (Gr. "xylon") because in her pure Immaculate Heart she would have gladly exchanged places with her suffering Son. There we find a secret revelation: the fruit of the Cross must, therefore, be equal to the wisdom of God. What a profound mystery has been placed before us!
It is important to see that – for us to be rescued from sin – a mother had to surrender a perfect infinite Son to a sacrificial death. Mary of Nazareth knew that it was the Father's perfect will to let Jesus – her Son – die for us. She was obedient but her motherly heart was not spared the pain. She would have taken the place of Jesus without any hesitation. The precious blood of Jesus and the sorrows of Mary flow together from the Cross. Meditate on it often: mankind was condemned to eternal chains by the disobedient envy of Adam and Eve. Mankind was redeemed by the obedient, generous sacrifice of Jesus and Mary.
St Jude 6 – And the angels who did not keep their own position, but left their proper dwelling, [God] has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great day.
Throughout history, the enemy of God has been preparing for the final battle. He knows he is going to lose but his will is fixed on rebellion. He cannot repent or surrender. When the final battle comes, the enemy wants to have all the troops he can gather. The most rebellious of his fallen angels have been prisoners in deep wells of darkness since the days of Noah's Flood. As the day of battle approaches, the devil has to set them free. In a grotesque mockery of God's love, he has recruited many human mothers to offer the innocent blood of their unborn children to help the cause of the demons. The devil has cajoled and connived millions of mothers into the practice of abortion. A few of those mothers know perfectly well what they're doing but most of them continued to be fooled just like Eve was.
In our days, the demonic forces have many human allies. The devil has blinded the leaders of mankind into making rapid changes to social structures built with the experience of millennia. As a result, societies across the globe are becoming brittle. The continuous assault of Cultural Marxism has redefined the role of men, women, children, education, sexual mores, etc. all at once without any regard to consequences. One among many undesirable results of birth control and legal abortion is quite evident among those living in the so-called developed countries: while birth rates drop immigration grows. Europeans are importing African and Middle-Eastern Muslims to replace their own young ones that will never be born. Americans are likewise importing young Latin Americans. This is simply a huge population replacement operation. The present generations are giving away the future to have a better life today at any cost. Can you see the parallel with Eve, who sacrificed everything she had by taking what amounted to a suicidal shortcut?
The West is now at a crossroads. The law of unintended consequences is rearing its ugly head. Some of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico thought it was easy to defeat a bunch of savages to enrich themselves quickly. The result was a societal collapse so fast that could have resulted in the total loss of the Mexican nation. Thank God for one faithful Bishop. That is all it took to solve the problem: one good heart, two knees, and sincere prayers.
Something tells me that, if we all pray enough, we will have a visit from Heaven at day break.
Very well written. Truly believable. One can feel the Virgins lament.
The book is getting better and better! The article is powerful. The abdication of generations by those who don't have children is a profound signal of all that is wrong with the west. It is at the same time a sin and a punishment. I had planned to be a history teacher and was talked out of it by a department head who told me there was no future in it – funny words to put down. We don't teach history today and it is everywhere obvious. Instead, the West seeks death with dignity.
Thank you Carlos, this is a great piece.
Brilliant! Thank you, Carlos, for digging up all these wonderful historical tidbits. As a long-time student of Guadalupe, I still did not know much about, for example, the background of the bishop or the political situation in Spain. I do remember hearing that Our Lady came to Mexico in response to a prayer of Teresa of Avila, who had a personal priest friend ministering there.
"There we find a secret revelation: the fruit of the Cross must, therefore, be equal to the wisdom of God." I might guess not just equal but even better, since Our Lady, Mother of God, far surpassed Eve, Mother of all who live. Can't wait for the book to come out! God's blessings to you and may the angels protect you.
A friend shared this with me. Loved it! I also loved the painting you use at the beginning of your article. Please tell me the artist and name of the painting. Thank you for your insights!