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Fav fun facts I learned about the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe recently:

Under blacklight, the image shows no indication of either underpainting/drawing or even brushstrokes, suggesting the image came about all at once.

The image itself is iridescent.

The image is not actually on the tilma- the image 'hovers' about .3 mm above the fabric. This was measured with lasers, btw.

Deliberate attempts to damage or vandalize the image have consistently failed, including a literal bomb hidden within a pot of flowers placed directly beneath the image. The altar, much of the structure around the image and all the windows were destroyed. The image remained unscathed.

The image AND the tilma also seem to...regenerate? Somehow. The tilma is like not showing any signs of degrading despite how old it is. Max weird, I love this bit.

She's in the very last stage of pregnancy, like any-day-now kinda pregnant in the image.

The stars on her veil are an accurate depiction of the constellations in the sky at the time of the image's appearance, from the perspective of looking towards her original position, at a 45° angle from the ground.

This arrangement of the constellations also places Corona Borealis at her head, Virgo at her chest, and Leo at her womb.

Her eyes reflect the view of the room she appeared in, with accurate perspective and parallax.

Her appearance is that of a mestiza.

There are a few theories about why she's named for Guadalupe, which originally referred to a pre-dating image of Our Lady. It's likely meant to be representative of the blending of the spanish and native mexican cultures, but my favorite theory is that it's a spanish interpretation of a nahuatl word: Coātlaxopueh, which means One Who Crushes the Serpent. Which is badass. (Personally, I think both of these things are true).

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What I really want is a video game where I get to play as St Thecla, wandering the open world of Mediterranean antiquity. Major quests are in Antioch, Galatia, Phillipi, Corinth, and Ephesus. Thecla (or Phoebe? or Junia?) is tasked with securing manuscripts of foundational documents as Peter and Paul await martyrdom in Rome. The final boss is Emperor Nero, but before he can be defeated, Thecla must first subdue Simon Magus, a “henchman” protecting the Emperor. Even though Thecla, whose “physical” weapon is a swinging thurible, will not succeed in halting the martyrdoms of P+P, she eventually defeats Nero, who, as his physical form deteriorates, reveals that the power behind Empire is the Spirit of Antichrist, active in every age and recognizable because of its compulsion to incarnate wealth, enslavement, confusion, exclusion, and scarcity.

After her ultimate victory, Thecla founds a monastery in the desert where she will train the next “warrior” in the power of love, prayer, and weaponized incense.

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it's religious discrimination to not be able to get nice things for st thecla tbh

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Beholding, Strahan Coleman

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it might just be because im sleep deprived from jetlag rn but this r/relationship_advice post is making me cry actual tears of laughter. i read the post at first and was like yeah pretty standard whatever but im nosey so i clicked on the drawing op linked and i was not mentally prepared for it. putting it under a read more so you can get the same experience as i did

some of the top comments

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the rsd is being a monster today friends. please pray for me

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from adoration today

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You know, until I heard Pope Francis describe the gaze of Jesus that makes Peter break down crying in Luke 22:61-62 as one of compassion and understanding, I didn't realize I had been unconsciously assuming that it was one of accusation and "I told you so."

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Hebrews 13:6

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Hebrews 13:6

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There’s nothing quite like finding yourself surrounded by Spiritual and Good and Friendly people and realizing what a grumpy, jaded, lonely thing you’ve become. It’s like “Dang, these people are all beautiful flowers and trees in God’s garden, they’ve planted themselves by the water and they’re thriving, and here I am, I’ve been off in the corner, God’s most dehydrated cactus.”

Was the wake-up call needed? Yes. Does that make it any easier? Nope. Is the process to grow out of this gonna suck? Oh, yes.

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I can’t stop thinking about Elijah sitting underneath the juniper tree & asking God to die.  God sent an angel who says, “This journey is too much for you.” & that he must eat. Elijah does, then he rests.  He wakes up still feeling hopeless, & the angel repeats himself.  

It took Elijah longer than he wanted to get better.  Sometimes we want to move but we can’t.  Sometimes the journey is too much.  It is not a sin to understand your limitations.  Start there, get stronger, then get up.

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TIL Jimmy Akin thinks Neanderthals are "extremely likely" to have had rational souls, i.e., to be theologically human beings.

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you need Jesus. and also therapy. it's not an and or. it's a both and.

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