Who Was the Painter?!

Secretary of State Visits Virgin of Guadalupe

During her Mar. 27 visit to Mexico City, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The rector, Msgr. Diego Monroy, took Mrs. Clinton to the famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which had been lowered from its usual altar for this occasion. After observing it for a while, Mrs. Clinton asked, “Who painted it?” to which Msgr. Monroy responded, “God!”

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted on the tilma, or cloak, of Saint Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena such as: the realistic appearance of Our Lady's eyes, reflecting those actually present in the room when the tilma was opened; the chemical analysis which shows the tint on the fabric was not from a known mineral, vegetable, or animal source; and the image’s preservation and lack of decay over five centuries thus far. Many describe the Virgin's image to parallel the woman of the Apocalypse from Revelation 12:1.

Clinton then explained she had previously visited the old Basilica in 1979, when the new one was still under construction. After placing a bouquet of white flowers by the image, Mrs. Clinton went to the quemador–the open air section of the Basilica where the faithful light candles–and lit a green candle. Leaving the Basilica half an hour later, Mrs. Clinton told the Mexicans gathered outside to greet her, “You have a marvelous Virgin!”

Ironically, Friday evening Mrs. Clinton received the highest award given by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America–the Margaret Sanger Award, named for the organization's founder, a noted eugenicist. It is not lost on me that the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe resulted in the baptism of 6 million Mexican natives, and She asked for the chapel to be built on Tepeyac Hill, former site of the Aztec's child sacrifices in that country.

Another homeschool mom wrote these impressions:

"I don't really expect the non-Catholic Hillary Clinton to know the story of OLG. What I do expect is that she would take the time to learn about where she is going. I can only imagine that if she were attending a state banquet in some country that she would figure out who would be there and what their interests and accomplishments are. I guess she decided she could skip that part here. I bet she is far more informed about Margaret Sanger. As an American, I am embarrassed by her gaffe. As a Catholic, I am angry and sad, although not surprised." -- Jenice G.

And didn't we expect a chuckle or two from the new Administration? I love how Mary appeared to Juan Diego not as a European Madonna but as a beautiful indigenous princess and spoke to him in his own Nahuatl language. We also must appreciate the cultures and perspectives of those to whom we want to bring to the Gospel.