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| - History: The Image of Guadalupe is a miracle that occurred when the Virgin Mary printed her image into a cloth in Mexico City back in the 1531, and since then, millions of people have flocked to the city to see the image. According to church records, the story started with a man named Juan Diego who lived with his uncle in a village five miles north of Mexico City. Juan was one of the few Aztecs that had been converted into Christianity. One day in December of 1531, Juan was heading to mass when he passed by the base of a hill called Tepeyac. As he approached the summit, he heard somebody call out his name and was instantly overwhelmed by a god-like radiance and the Virgin Mary appeared. She told Juan that she wanted a temple built on Tepeyac Hill, and that he was her messenger, and that he should tell the bishop about it. He told her that he was just a poor Indian and that the bishop wouldn't listen to him, but she told him to have faith and she disappeared. Juan, believing that he had experienced a miracle, went straight to Mexico City, then the seat of the Roman Catholic church in the new World. He waited hours to meet with Bishop Zumaniga, known as a powerful but gentle man, who treated the Indians with kind and respect. Juan told the bishop that he was sent to him by the Virgin Mary, who wanted a temple on Tepeyac hill. The bishop was skeptical, and told Juan that he wanted proof. Juan returned home, but the next day he was given proof. His uncle fell ill and he went to get a priest to administer last rites, and he went back to Tepeyac hill, where the Virgin Mary returned and told Juan that he would not need a priest and that his uncle was completely healed. He then told her that he was unable to convince the bishop and that he needed a sign, so she told him to go to the top of the hill and cut the flowers that he would find there. Juan then filled with doubt because the hill was barren from the cold of winter, but he then found that the hilltop was filled with roses of Casteen, and gathered them in his tilma, made of cactus cloth. He brought the flowers and tilma to the bishop, and told him that this was the sign. According to church records, when Juan opened the tilma, there appeared the image of the Virgin Mary where the flowers were. The bishop believed that a miracle did occur and that Juan had indeed seen the Virgin Mary. After Juan's visions, millions of Indians converted to Roman Catholicism in just three years. In accordance with the Virgin Mary's wishes, a shrine was soon built on Tepeyac hill, with the image still on display, and the church named Our Lady of Guadalupe, after a village in Spain. Throughout the years, the church has allowed some changes to be made to the image, including gold reins, a cherub, and the green red and white colors of Mexico. Since 1976, the image has been housed in a special basilica, and every year, five million people make pilgramiges. But since for as long as it has existed, there has been debate over whether the image is really a miracle. However, many believers are certain that the Image of Guadalupe is truly a miracle. Background: Our Lady of Guadalupe is named after a village in Spain. Tepeyac is the hill where the church is located on in Mexico City, in the country of Mexico. Investigations: Jody Smith is an associate professor of philosiphy at a Florida college is the leading authority of the image. As early as 1666, the church comissioned a group of physcians and master artist Juan Salguero. He concluded that the painting is on the correct type of cloth that it was in the legend, and that it should have disinegrated by now. James Randy is an investigator of paranormal phenomenon who has the same type of cloth that dates back to about 450 to 550 years from Peru. However, he claims that if it was put in a frame, it could last very long. But, in its first one hundred years, the cloth was exposed to a high concentration of humidity and salt, and that this should have caused the image's disinegrated. In 1789, a skeptical priest ordered eleven artists to make eleven copies of the painting using the same cloth, and within just a few years, the cloth was very worn and was damaged, unlike the Image of Guadalupe. In May of 1979, Jody Smith and Philip Callahan were given permission to view the image up close without the glass, and although the parts that had been painted on afterwards were chipping and dim, the face was still very bright. When he studied it with a magnifying glass, there were no hairline cracks, and there was, after so many centuries, no age appeared on the painting. James Randy claims that there is no concrete evidence to prove that the cloth was actually the original. Infared photographs showed that there was lack of an undersketch, and if there was one, then it would probably have been painted by human hands. The practice of making a sketch before painting a portrait traces back hundreds of years. Many investigators believe that the cloth is genuine, while others are not very sure. Extra Notes: The original airdate of this case was on April 7, 1993. Results: Unsolved Links: None
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