From The San Diego Union, by Enrique Garcia Sanchez 5/7/04
ENSENADA - It's 7:35 pm, and the sun's last rays illuminate Social Security Clinic No. 32. A Cool shadow already covers the building's main electric
light over a small plaza.
Voices unite in a chorus of joy and surprise, there is some weeping, and in less than a minute 400 to 500 people begin an ovation. Some are standing,
otherskneeling with their hands raised to heaven.
The number of this reception varies, at times numbering 1,000, but it has been daily since April 19 in this city about 65 miles south of the border.
That was the evening people first saw an image created by light cast on the outside clinic wall. The faithful say it is an image of the Virgin of
Guadalupe.
On that Monday, a six year old boy was playing outside the clinic while his mother waited for an appointment. He returned to tell her that the virgin
they prayed to at church was outside. His insistence was such that she decided to see for herself.
She came back running, told the nurses about it, and they did the same. In those initiial moments, patients and staff contemplated the phenomenon
with conflicting emotions.
" I got goosebumps, the director of archives couldn't stop crying and one woman's blood pressure shot up so high she had to be immediately admitted,"
recalled Irene Mendoza Medina, who has been an urgent care nurse at the family clinic since it opened 13 years ago.
The administrator in charge of the federal facility, Tosie Ide Rioto, said she doesn't know what to think about the image, and prefers to say little.
She's cautious because government buildings are prohibited from displaying religious symbols. Nonetheless, she has allowed people to congregate
nightly." They are not hurting anyone, not causing problems," she said.
Municipal police officers close the street where the clinic is located, Avenida Blancarte, to vehicle traffic nightly for safety reasons. Priests and
nuns have come to see the image, but the Catholic Church for now is saying nothing.
People begin to gather between 5 and 6 pm. On a recent evening, an air of celebration soon took hold. Street vendors arrived, peddling roasted
corn, tamales, cotton candy, fruit filled empanaditas, hot dogs and even flowers, 20 pesos for one, 50 pesos for a bouquet.
" Go on lady, so the virgin willo grant you a miracle," one of the vendors pleaded.
Before long, someone began to recite the rosary. Between one bead and the next, between one mystery and the other, songs to Mexico's patron saint
filled the air, 'La guadalupana-a-a-a, la guadalupana-a-a-a, la guadalupana-a-a-a bajo al Tepeyac', they sang.
" This is such a beautiful gift," said Rosa Maria Cota Arias excitedly. She had taken charge of certain activities after visiting the site for three
days. She distributed copies of prayers and hymns, replenishes the water in the vases left by the faithful, lights the candles that have blown out
and disccards the wilted flowers.
The mercury-vapor lamp above the wall creates a 3- foot high image on the second story wall. It has an oval shape and its outline seems to be in the
form of a medallion. the figure in its interior, though diffused, resembles the traditional image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
No other nearby light produces the same effect. When the image appeared on a recent evening, several people yelled. "There it is!" and pointed. A
commotion erupted and about two dozen people turned on their video cameras, jostling for a closer look. A similar number pointed binoculars toward
the wall while camera flahes punctuated the darkness. "Bring the video camera!" shouted one woman into a public phone.
It all made sense to Tomas Castelazo, who teaches sociology and photography. " The cultural training we receive is what makes people see this as the
virgin," he said, surveying the throng
around him. Local resident Eufronsina Garcia, 65, didn't need a scientific explanation; her faith told her that she was before the mother of Jesus
Christ. In a wheel chair because of a spinal injury, she clasped her hands, her face illuminated with hope. " She will get me out of this chair!"
Garcia said.
As word of the image spread, people from Mexicali, Tecate, Tijuana and San Diego have arrived to see what many are calling "Virgin of Ensenada".
In the evenings, the faithful, the curious and the skeptics all crowd into the same space, straining to glimpse the image. The last person does not
leave until 4 or 5 in the morning, when the sun rises and the lamp shuts off.
*********************************Where to see the image:
The federal clinic where the image is seen is called the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social. It is on Avenida Blancarte, between Second and Third
Streets, in downtown Ensenada.
Eli - 5-8-2004 at 10:58 AM
Margie,
May what ever powers you believe in bless you for the smile your post brought to my day.
Gracias, SaraMargie - 5-8-2004 at 09:55 PM
I'm glad, Sara. We're going down there to clean up the yard this week, and will stop and check it out on the way back.
Happy Mother's Day !
xxxoooEli - 5-10-2004 at 03:45 PM
Margie, I do thank You for your kind wishes. As a matter of fact I did have a real nice "Mother's Day" yesterday and am having an outstanding "Dia de
Madre" today. I look forward to your take on a first hand visual of La Virgin Guadalupe's appearance on the Wall. I am so glad the people that must
visit that place have her there to ease their worry and pain, nobody goes to the "Seguro" just for the fun of it.
Virgin on Mexican wall is no miracle, church rules
ENSENADA, Mexico, ? Mexico's Catholic Church Monday ruled out any divine origin for an image on a hospital wall that thousands of pilgrims are
flocking to venerate in the belief that it shows the country's patron saint.
The shadowy figure, which the faithful say depicts the Virgin of Guadalupe, appears every night when a light is switched on in the patio of a clinic
in the Pacific resort of Ensenada.
But Flor Guzman, a spokeswoman for the Tijuana Diocese in which Ensenada falls, said the church did not believe the image was miraculous although it
was pleased at the devotion of the pilgrims.
"The church is quite clear that it is not a miracle, but a natural phenomenon that serves to strengthen the faith of the believers," she told Reuters.
The image, which appears to be a shadow, was first reported to hospital authorities on April 19.
"The Catholic Church is not going to report the phenomenon to the Vatican for a thorough analysis because it does not have a supernatural
explanation," Guzman said.
The Virgin of Guadalupe has been venerated by successive generations of devout Mexicans since she is said to have first appeared to a shepherd in
1531. She is generally depicted in a gown fringed by rays of light.
Among those flocking to Ensenada are pilgrims with chronic illnesses, some of whom claim to have received miraculous cures.
"I was being treated at the clinic for an asthma attack, but when I came outside to see the Virgin, I stopped wheezing," grandmother Maria Esther
Valderrama, 66, said Sunday night.
"It was definitely a miracle," she added.
Staff at the cottage hospital ? known simply as social security clinic No. 32 ? say up to 1,000 pilgrims keep a vigil at weekends.
They transform the clinic's courtyard into a shrine of devotional candles, flower garlands and printed prayer slips.
Mother of three Maria Hernandez murmured a prayer and crossed herself as the electric light blinked to life, casting a shadowy green outline on the
hospital wall.
"I believe in the Virgin with all my heart, and seeing her fills me with indescribable joy," she stammered as she gazed up at the three-foot-high
image.
Set two blocks back from a port popular with towering cruise ships, the hospital has drawn pilgrims from the nearby cities of Tijuana and Mexicali,
and from as far away as San Diego across the border in southern California. Margie - 5-23-2004 at 10:19 PM
They said the same thing about Our Lady of Fatima and Lourdes, and gave poor Juan a heck of a hard time over the Lady of Guadalupe. Now he's a Saint!
I'm still going to go see though, the original cloth display at the church outside of Mexico City really sent chills up my spine, it is awesome.Eli - 5-24-2004 at 12:59 PM
It comes from within, what ever image personifies that good feeling inside, some people permit themselves to be susceptible to what a positive icon
pulls out of them. Others choose to not believe, so of course they will never know, it simply cannot work for them. I do not need the church to tell
me which Icons to believe in, most folks I know, don't. Although, I certainly I concur, Margie, I have been awed to wander the gardens and visit La
Virgin at the Basilica in Mexico City, and I hope to one day return for a prayer of thanks there. Meanwhile, I feel blessed with a visit to one of my
favourite B.C. shrines, certainly where I am just as awe struck happy and feel as equally close to an image I choose to worship.JESSE - 5-24-2004 at 01:02 PM
We are still such an ignorant nation.Dave - 5-24-2004 at 02:32 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by JESSE
We are still such an ignorant nation.
Well, you could think of it this way:
If it weren't for a steady stream migrating north for work and the Church to pacify the people, you would have had a revolution years ago.
Thank You St. Anthony
Margie - 5-24-2004 at 11:39 PM
This morning I finished my novena to St. Anthony, he is the one who helps you find things. Anyways, my prayer was to please find a renter or buyer
for the house in Punta Banda.
Later, I checked in here, and saw that someone had trashed my post in the Real Estate section by really putting down my property , and I thought, what
kind of a person would do that? Just because they don't like my politics. What a meanie!
One-half hour later, we got a call from some people who loved the house, and wanted to rent it for a year and then buy it, because they didn't have
all the money right now. Such nice people, we had met them down there a couple days ago, and it was a real opportunity for them to start living out
their dreams.
So, thank you St Anthony, and St. Jude for prayers answered.
This is the Miraculous Reponsory or "Si Quaeris":
This prayer of praise in honor of St. Anthony was composed by St. Bonventure. It is sung in the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua and every Tuesday
throughout the world.
If then you ask for miracles,
Death, error, all calamities,
Leprosy and demons fly.
And health succeeds infirmities.
The sea obeys and fetters break,
And lifeless limbs do you restore;
While treasures lost are found again,
When young and old your aid implore.
All dangers vanish at your prayer,
And direst need does quickly flee;
Let those who know your power proclaim,
Let Paduans say: these are of thee.
To Father, Son, may glory be
And Holy Spirit, eternally.
Pray for us, blessed Anthony.
Make us worthy of the promises of Christ.
********************************* Eli - 5-25-2004 at 12:48 PM
Here is the last alter that I helped to design.
[Edited on 5-25-2004 by Eli]Bajabus - 5-25-2004 at 01:54 PM
Eli, That is beautiful, what a treat for the eyes. Thanks for posting the pic
Beautiful Altar
Margie - 5-25-2004 at 02:19 PM
That is so beautiful Eli, thank you !
From "Life With Frida", by Guadalupe Rivera: " The very first thing Frida and Diego did when they left San Angel to live in Coyoacan was have the
front of the house at Londres 127 painted azul anil, the deep matte blue considered to ward off evil spirits..."
xxxooo
[Edited on 5-25-2004 by Margie]
I am so glad the picture touched you.
Eli - 5-26-2004 at 03:22 PM
Bajabus & Margie,
Your positive input got me thinking last night that I have a few pictures already collected and well, I am always taking more shots of my favourite
subject, besides I can't be the only one out there with pictures of icons, maybe somebody else would like to share? So, anyway, I have gone ahead and
started a thread for such in the photo gallery. Poco a poco get some of the magic of the art out there............. hopefully, Sara
