Holy Mary of Guadalupe the Islamicists, Battle of Lepanto, Andrea Doria & Mexico...

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Did you know that only 3 apparitions of the Virgin Mary have been approved by the Catholic Church(Guadalupe Mexico, Lourdes and Fatima). I've been thinking about why two of the three have Arabic names. I think it has to do with the Feast of Cana ("Do as my son tells you"). Holy Mary is honored by the Muslim Relgion. Fatima is Mohammed's daughter. Indigenous Mexicans did not convert until Juan Diego had has vision of Our Lady. The Spanish Bishop did not Believe until Juan Diego a peasant Indian stated her name which was the Arabic name of an apparition in Spain some one years earlier. Very interesting and I though you'd be facinated by this info as maybe there is hope for the 1.5 billion Muslims whose Religion honors Holy Mary's and perhaps through supernatural events she may influence them as she requests that they do has her Son tells them......

As the Muslims swept through Spain in the 8th century, a great religious treasure was buried for safe keeping in the earth, high in the Estremadura Mountains. It was a much-venerated statue of Our Lady holding the Divine Child Jesus, said to have been carved by St. Luke. It was a gift of Pope St. Gregory the Great to St. Leander, Bishop of Seville who was the brother of St. Isidore of Seville.

The statue can be seen at the Franciscan friary Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Guadalupe, Spain. The monastery was originally an Hieronymite monastery, given to the order of St. Jerome in 1389. There are three Hieronymite monasteries in Spain today.

After the overthrow of Moorish occupation, the image was uncovered in the year 1326, subsequent to a vision of Our Lady to a humble shepherd by the name of Gil. Our Lady's very special statue was enshrined in a nearby Franciscan friary next to Wolf River.

The Muslims, during their Spanish occupation, had actually named the river. The Islamic term for Wolf River is "Guadalupe" (Guada = River; Lupe = Wolf). Hence, the famous Catholic image in Spain has been known since the 14th century, by the Islamic name of "Our Lady of Guadalupe."

During her apparition in Mexico on December 9, 1531, it is believed that Our Lady used the Aztec Nahuatl word of coatlaxopeuh which is pronounced "quatlasupe" and sounds remarkably like the Spanish word Guadalupe, oa meaning serpent, tla being the noun ending which can be interpreted as "the", while xopeuh means to crush or stamp out. So Our Lady must have called herself the one "who crushes the serpent," that is the serpent-god Quetzalcoatl. Certainly, in this case she crushed the serpent, and few years later millions of the natives were converted to Christianity. And the human sacrifices ended. It is interesting to note that in Genesis 3:15 it is indicated a woman would step on the serpent's head. The Virgin Mary's apparition at Tepeyac was on the very spot where the Aztecs worshipped Tonantzin who was the goddess of earth and corn, whose name means mother in Nahuatl.

Documents Signed at Guadalupe Sent Columbus to the New World

Documents authorizing Columbus's first voyage to the New World were signed here at the Franciscan Friary of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, Spain in the presence of Queen Isabel. The first Native Americans converted to Christianity were brought to Santa Maria de Guadalupe to be baptized. The Virgin of Guadalupe became the patroness of Latin America, honored by the dedication of thousands of churches and towns in the New World. In 1999, Pope John Paul II l named her patroness of all the Americas and designed the feast as a holy day of obligation on December 12.

Battle Of Lepanto

On October 7, 1571, a great victory over the mighty Turkish fleet was won by Catholic naval forces primarily from Spain, Venice, and Genoa under the command of Don Juan of Austria. It was the last battle at sea between "oared" ships, which featured the most powerful navy in the world, a Moslem force with between 12,000 and 15,000 Christian slaves as rowers. The patchwork team of Catholic ships was powered by the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Knowing that the Christian forces were at a distinct material disadvantage, the holy pontiff, St. Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory. We know today that the victory was decisive, prevented the Islamic invasion of Europe, and evidenced the Hand of God working through Our Lady. At the hour of victory, St. Pope Pius V, who was hundreds of miles away at the Vatican, is said to have gotten up from a meeting, went over to a window, and exclaimed with supernatural radiance; "The Christian fleet is victorious!" and shed tears of thanksgiving to God.

Copy of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Admiral's Cabin

"What you may not know is that one of three admirals commanding the Catholic forces at Lepanto was Admiral Andrea Doria. In 1570, a copy of the colorful Tilma was painted, touched to the original, and sent by the Archbishop of Mexico City to Philip II of Spain. The King directed that it be placed placed in the Admiral's cabin of the warship Andrea Doria. In the midst of the Battle of Lepanto and in danger of being destroyed, the Admiral reportedly knelt before this replica and begged Mary's help. This image is now enshrined in the Church of San Stefano in Aveto, Italy, two hours by bus from Chiavari near Genoa.

Not many know that at the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe in Spain, one can view a huge warship lantern that was captured from the Muslims in the Battle of Lepanto. (Photo at left by Fr. Richard Gant.)

In Rome, look up to the ceiling of S. Maria in Aracoeli and behold decorations in gold taken from the Turkish galleys. In the Doges' Palace in Venice, Italy, one can witness a giant Islamic flag that is now a trophy from a vanquished Turkish ship from the Victory. At Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome, close to the tomb of the great St. Pope Pius V, one was once able to view yet another Islamic flag from the Battle, until 1965, when it was returned to Istanbul in an intended friendly token of concord." (See Fr. Ladis J. Cizik, National Executive Director of Blue Army).