The iconic image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has been a source of inspiration to the multitudes for centuries. It first came into existence when She imprinted this image onto Juan Diego’s tilma (a Mexican cloak) in 1531. In addition to its appearance, there are many miraculous qualities about the image - including the fact that after centuries, the fabric is still perfectly intact.

But perhaps the most stunning discovery regarding the tilma made by modern technology and science is found in Our Lady’s eyes.

On May 29th, 1951, an artist named J. Carlos Salinas Chavaz was closely studying a photograph of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was a large picture of Her face, made larger still by the intense magnifying glass he was using. He could see minute details of the image, but when he came to the pupil of the right eye, he stopped. He was amazed to see the tiny image of the head and shoulders of a bearded man reflected in Her eye!

When this discovery reached the Archbishop of Mexico City, Luis Marie Martinez, he immediately arranged a commission for further investigation. On December 11th, 1955, it was made public - not only that there was a reflection of a man in Our Lady’s eye, but who this person was. A close study showed that the face reflected in Her eye matched perfectly with a portrait of Juan Diego which had been painted while he was still alive.

Then, less than a year later, on July 23rd, 1956, the discovery took on a new dimension. Dr. Rafael Torifa Lavoignet examined the eyes of the image using an opthalmoscope, a medical tool designed to closely examine the human eye, by shining a light and looking through lenses. The light reflecting in the eyes of Our Lady on the tilma acted the same way as light would reflecting in the eyes of a living person! When Dr. Lavoignet afterwards used his opthalmoscope on various other paintings and photographs, none of them showed the same effect.

In 1962, the image in Our Lady’s eyes was revealed in greater detail.

Dr. C. Wahlig, O.D. and his wife Isabelle, an optician (a specialist in eye lenses), were studying a photograph of Our Lady of Guadalupe - enlarged 25 times. At this magnification, they could distinctly see two other faces in Her eye.

In September of 1963, Dr. Wahlig wrote a report which included the following:

"With a camera especially constructed for taking close-up photographs, we took pictures of our family arranged similarly to the way we believe the original scene existed as portrayed in Our Lady’s eye. Our daughter Mary posed as Our Lady, and it is her eye which is photographed in the pictures. My wife, myself and our daughter Carol took positions in front of Mary, and our reflections appear in the cornea of her eye… At the time when Juan Diego presented the bishop with the flowers, Our Lady was actually present in the room, but chose to remain invisible. Instead, in order to give a visible, lasting indication of her presence, She chose to imprint upon Juan Diego’s blanket an authentic picture of Herself as She stood there watching the scene. The picture is complete in every detail, even to the reflections in Her eye of Juan Diego and two other people standing near him and of someone apparently looking over his shoulder. It seems from the posture of Juan Diego and the other two that they were not aware of Our Lady’s presence. The two appear to be looking at Juan Diego and he, we may assume, is looking at the bishop."

Dr. Wahlig credited a long list of experienced specialists who participated in his research on the tilma.

In time, the other two faces were identified: Juan Gonzales, the interpreter, and Bishop Ramirez y Fuenleal, general administrator of Mexico who was one of the two bishops in the room when the miraculous image first appeared on the tilma.

Naturally there were paintings of Juan Diego, as the visionary, and Bishop Fuenleal as an important Church leader. These paintings were compared to the tiny yet detailed enough reflections in Our Lady’s eyes and thus revealed who was shown in these reflections.

But what painting existed of the interpreter, Gonzales? As Providence would have it, the old church of Guadalupe, built in 1622, was renovated in 1960. In the process, a long-lost painting was found behind the altar. It was the scene of Our Lady of Guadalupe raising a man from the dead. Three artists worked together to create the artwork, back in 1533 - and each one of them personally knew the main people involved in the events of Guadalupe, including Gonzales, whom they included in the painting.

In December of 1979, Dr. Wahlig wrote that another painting had been found which confirmed his extensive research on the tilma. It was painted about the year 1750, two hundred years after the fact. Dr. Wahlig points out that the details of that scene were surely passed down in strong tradition. Little did the artists know that, about two hundred years later, modern technology would echo their depiction of the historic scene when the sacred image first appeared on the tilma. The painting "shows the three persons in about the same positions as they are reflected in Our Lady’s eyes."

This painting hangs in the old Basilica of Guadalupe. It depicts Juan Diego, Juan Gonzales, and Bishop Fuenleal all facing Bishop Zumárraga. So Our Lady would have been immediately behind him, facing the three men - important characters in the story of Guadalupe - whose images are forever reflected in the loving eyes of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Blessed Virgin, like Her Divine Son, is "always ancient and always new". Her eyes capture a moment of the past - the reflections of the three men. But today, when one examines the eyes of the image through a doctor’s tool, they reflect the light back just like the eyes of living, breathing person.

Our Heavenly Mother is miraculously reminding us that She is always present - just as She was invisibly in the room when the tilma was unveiled. She is here with us, aware of all our needs, and ever ready to come to our aid.

In the words of Our Lady of Guadalupe Herself: "Do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here, who am your Mother? Is there anything else that you need?"