Customer Reviews

Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This isn't just the story of Guadalupe. It's much, much more than that. Anderson and Chavez ask why Mary appeared when she did, and why Guadalupe has importance for the future of the Americas.

Mary's appearances resulted in the conversion of six million natives, at a time when the Catholic church in Europe had lost six million to the new Protestant religions. Yet the story of Juan Diego and his apparitions of Our Lady did not end in 1531.

In 1990, there was another miracle associated with Our Lady of Guadalupe. A man fell 30 feet and fell on his head, "and physicians diagnosed a large basal fracture of the skull--a wound that normally would have killed at the moment of impact, and even now destroyed any hope of survival or repair." (p 4).

But the young's man's mother prayed to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The young man sat up and began to eat. To the astonishment of his doctors, the young man not only didn't die, but he completely recovered, and doctors could no longer even find evidence of his fracture in brains scans. This would be the miracle that "led to Juan Diego's canonization" (p 5).

Every single aspect of the tilma's image had and has meaning. Even if you have previously read about the tilma and the apparitions, you will learn something new. For example, there are three kinds of flowers shown on Mary's robe. Each one has meaning. Most of all, the tilma still has great meaning for all the countries of the Americas.

This is one book you will certainly want to read.

I just finished reading Our Lady of Guadalupe,and I would highly recommend it to everyone.

If you're like myself, and were only vaguely familiar with the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe before, this book will definitely drive home the importance of the event in terms of the history of Christianity. But it is much more than just a historical account.

After reading the book, you can understand why the image is so moving and powerful to so many Catholics in the hispanic community and what it means for the faith.

It is detailed and well researched, but unlike alot of books on religion and history, I found that it is written in understandable language and moves at a quick pace. One of the best books I've read in a while.

The book gives a detailed review of the appearance of Our Lady. The follow-up chapters tell about the impact the vision had on the Native Americans and the Spanish Conquerors. The book is well-written and profound in its thinking. It had a great bibliography at the end.

If you are looking for a discussion of what happened at Guadalupe and its meaning for your life today, this is your book. The strength of this book is the connections it draws between the events of 1531, contemporary culture, and recent papal teachings. The detailed study of the tilma and the events is authoritative, as Chavez is the official promoter of the cause of Juan-Diego's sainthood. I used this book as spiritual reading and found it interesting, easy to read, and a fruitful source for reflection. I can recommend it without reservation.

This is a fascinating historical study on the meaning of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The miracle of the image is expounded with miracles of its survival despite the elements and even an attempted bombing. But even more is revealed in the messages encoded in the Aztec symbols on the image. Images that reveal the dignity of the human person, the necessity of sacrifice, and the culture of life. Well worth careful and thoughtful study and deeply relevant to the people of the Americas in particular. A well written account with a treasure of meaning for us today.

Learned much about Our Lady of Guadalupe. A great book to learn about the Catholic Church and the what took place in Mexico at the time and to this "simple" man. Recommended reading for anyone who desires to learn more about Our Lady of Guadalupe. Fairly easy read.

Another reader who gave this book a paltry 2 stars, Curtis, was right on the money when he wrote that he expected more "...on the apparition." The authors irked me with their many interpretive statements that they didn't qualify. They constantly assigned deep significant meaning to words and signs that could just have easily been happenstance. I don't know which of the authors (the lay person or the cleric) had the crystal ball but the declarations would've had more weight (and I would've had less angst) had they explained the basis of their renderings. Some examples: The prefix 'Guadal' is of Arabic origin and means 'of the water'. The author points this out and then makes the tremendous leap that, since the Virgin Mother chose the word herself it reflects her mission that she is bringing the living water--her Son. There is no evidence presented that this is what was in Mary's mind when she chose the name; the author apparently assumed it and passed the assumption off as fact. Another example: Juan Diego's Aztec name means 'eagle that speaks'. The author says this is 'especially significant' inasmuch as why Juan Diego was chosen. Really? Especially significant? Why? Because, in Aztec culture the eagle is a symbolic representation of their sun god. I would think that was the least reason Our Blessed Mother would pick Johnny Boy...but I'm not blessed with prescience.
Another thing: the author declares that the image in the tilma was not as dark as an Aztecan yet not as light as a Spaniard. This was all deliberate to show that Our Lady was a binding link. OK, this may be so, but how do these guys know? If, just once, they wrote, 'I believe...' or 'In our opinion' I could swallow a lot more of their theories. As it is, they always state it as fact. One more: In the Aztec culture flowers are reflective of truth. The authors really go out on a rickety limb when they declare that the act of Our Blessed Mother reaching down to arrange the flowers in Juan's tilma is symbolic of her taking their Aztec 'truths' and shuffling them around so they're in harmony with Christian truths. Again, this may be the truth but how on God's flower-laden earth did they come to this truth? I just read 'The Song Of Bernadette', written by a German Jew, and it was great. Couldn't put it down. So, maybe after that great tome all else pales. Mazel Tov, one and all.

Very inspirational. There were many things that i was not aware regarding Juan Diego.

A beautiful book that explained to me an image I've grown up with since childhood but never really knew much about. I completely disagree with Curtis' review -- if it weren't for the modern day application, Our Lady of Guadalupe would be nothing more than a relic of history that belongs to only one culture. Thank you!

I was really looking forward to this book but it was not quite what I expected. I did expect it to be about Our Lady of Guadalupe and about Anderson making a connection between Our Lady and his last book "A Civilization of Love." However, I was expecting more on the apparition and less of his last book. It really got boring at the end with Anderson going on and on about his "civilization of love." The information about the apparition was great and interesting. However, if I had to do it over again I would probably read Monsignor Chavez's book instead.