Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love

by Padre Eduardo Chavez, Carl A. Anderson, Eduardo Chávez

Book Overview

Nearly a decade after Spain's conquest of Mexico, the future of Christianity on the American continent was very much in doubt. Confronted with a hostile colonial government and Native Americans wary of conversion, the newly-appointed bishop-elect of Mexico wrote to tell the King of Spain that, unless there was a miracle, the continent would be lost. Between December 9 and December 12, 1531, that miracle happened, and it forever changed the future...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385527721
• ISBN13: 9780385527729
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Doubleday Religion
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.0" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love

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.

Intelligent Spiritual Reading

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.

One of the best i've read in quite some time

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.

beautiful book

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!

Profound and moving; one you MUST read

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.