Marco Carvalho
On March 5, a lecture titled “Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Mysteries and the Meanings Behind Her Apparition” was held at the Old Court House with Joni Cheng as its speaker.
The executive director of the Macau Catholic Culture Association took on the responsibility to explain why the apparitions on Tepeyac Hill are still relevant for Catholics and non-Catholics alike, almost five hundred years after they took place: “Through this sharing session, the Catholic Culture Association took on the opportunity to explain the mysteries and significance of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe from the Catholic culture perspective, so that every last one that was present might have left with a deeper understanding of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the great miracles and influences in her apparition,” Joni Cheng told O Clarim.
“Of all the approved Marian apparitions, Our Lady of Guadalupe is the only apparition where Mary leaves us her own miraculous image, an authentic image of herself which she left on Saint Juan Diego’s tilma in 1531. Many people often mistakenly think that Our Lady of Guadalupe is only part of the American/Mexican tradition and culture and often neglect the great miracles and influences behind. Nine million people converted to Christianity after her apparitions,” the executive director of the Macau Catholic Culture Association recalls.
At the heart of the mystery that surrounds the Marian apparitions on Tepeyac Hill is the tilma – the rough, but fragile mantle – that Juan Diego Cauauhtloatzin wore the second time when the Virgin Mary appeared to him, on December 12, 1531.
The miraculous event is documented in such an extraordinary way, with such an astonishing set of details, that still baffles modern science in more than one way: “Since her apparition on Saint Juan Diego’s tilma, in 1531, her image has been intensely studied by experts from all over the world. It contains many mysteries that remain unexplained until today. In recent years, with the development of science and with the help of the latest technology, new undiscovered microscopic images in the eyes of Our Lady of Guadalupe have been revealed, leading to brand-new works of research that convey a brand-new message – a message of the family,” Joni Cheng underlines.
“The one-hour sharing was very rich in content: I introduced the history and background of the Aztec at the time; the significance of Our Lady’s apparitions to their societies and lives. As I mentioned before, nine million people converted to Christianity and a dramatic change from a ´culture of death’ to a ‘culture of life’ took place. I also shared my knowledge about the five apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego, from December 9 to December 12, 1531, about the codex of the image and its important implications, as well as the mysteries and miracles of Our Lady’s image,” the executive director of the Macau Catholic Culture Association adds.
The lecture, which was attended by almost 60 participants, was a complementary activity to the exhibition “A Journey Over a Thousand Miles”, which concluded last Friday, March 17. The exhibition – the largest of this kind organized in Macau since the handover – brought together more than a hundred artefacts and sacred objects appurtenant to Buddhism, Catholicism, Taoism, Islam, the Baha’i faith and the Anglican communion.
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