On the day we returned to school after the Christmas Break, we opened the year 2019 with an exhibit of Our Lady of Guadalupe – Protectress of the Unborn Children and Heavenly Patroness of the Philippines. The week-long exhibit featured the message and story behind her apparition, scientific discoveries about her tilma, and part of the rock on which Our Lady stood at Mt. Tepeyac when she appeared to Juan Diego in 1531.
Students, faculty and staff, parents and guests came to see the exhibit and to keep vigil before the reliquary that safeguarded the rock. Many of them were so moved that they returned with their friends to share their experience.
Some of the amazing miracles we learned:
- In the year 1921, a man concealed a high-power bomb in a flower arrangement and placed it beneath the tilma. The explosion destroyed everything around it, except for the tilma which remained intact!
- NASA scientists have confirmed that the coloring material on the tilma does not belong to any known element on earth!
- When the material was examined under a laser ray, it was shown that there is no coloration on the front or the back of the cloth, and that the colors hover at a distance of 3/10th of a millimeter over the cloth without touching it!
Devotees of Our Lady of Guadalupe who brought the exhibit to Woodrose also organized talks on Womanhood and Witnessing to the Importance of Consecrating Oneself to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Personal testimonials were also shared about medical favors received through the intercession of Our Lady. Some of the speakers were Mary Grace Dimacali, Kelly Manaloto, and Dr. Joseph Lipana.
Laying of the tilma on the faithful was also done after mass in the school chapel by Brother Alphonsus Maria from the Oblate Apostles of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
We felt truly blessed by the visit of Our Lady of Guadalupe. What a beautiful way to start 2019!