[.ca] A Handbook on Guadalupe (ISBN 0965204421)

a beautiful introduction to Our Lady of Guadalupe:
I found this book lovely, insightful, informative, and thorough. It discussed the apparitions of Mary to Juan Diego, a converted Aztec, in great detail. It addressed every angle one could imagine on Guadalupe: the actual history and historical background of the apparitions, theological reflections, scientific analysis of the tilma on which the image appears, the prolife aspect of the apparition, and the historical persons associated with the apparition, especially Juan Diego. It also details the importance of the figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Mexicans, Mexican-Americans, and many others. The book is not written by a single author; it is an anthology of articles written by a variety of contributors exploring different aspects of the apparitions, which occured in 153l, shortly after the arrival of the conquistadors. The Handbook is edited by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, a Roman Catholic religious order; thus, the book is a valuable resource for Roman Catholics and others who wish to learn about the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe from an orthodox point of view. I greatly enjoyed this book, and I think anyone who has an interest in Our Lady of Guadalupe - the ever-Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, as she styled herself - should read this book. Jemkim@bellsouth.net

Unbiased Love for the Virgin of Guadalupe:
This book was totally biased! For one, the authors are all theologians or participants in the Catholic faith and second, they favor Eurocentric thought. The Virgin cannot be spoken about from a Eurocentric perspective alone for she is a symbol of mixed identity, that of Indigenous and Spanish/European ancestry. My advice to anyone interested in learning about the Virgin from a holistic perspective would be for him/her to read other books in addition to this one.

An authoritative work on this image from Heaven:
The story and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has fascinated the world since it first appeared on Juan Diego's tilma. This book brings together the image's foremost experts to explain the miracles of the image: how such a detailed image was created on material as coarse as wool, the image seen in Mary's eyes, the symbolism in the image, and the results of scientific studies of the image. The book also re-tells the beautiful story of Juan Diego and Mary's words to him. The book contains many color illustrations.

A readable, in-depth resource:
This book does a wonderful job of bringing together a very readable collection of articles (by scholars, scientists and theologians) on the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and its history. It was put together by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in order to create an accessible source of information about Our Lady of Guadalupe: there is background historical information on both Spain and the Aztec Empire, on the miracle itself and the people involved in it (including information about the historical research on this, for those who are interested), on fascinating scientific studies on the tilma (such as discussion of the incredible fact that the image was imprinted on a "tilma", rough clothing material worn by the Aztecs, made from reed fibers, which disintegrates within a couple of decades, and yet it is still in perfect condition today!), theology on it, and more. I definetely recommend it for anyone interested in any of those topics.