Our Lady of Guadalupe - She Who Crushes the Head of the Serpent

By Fr. James Farfaglia
12/12/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Mary, Our Lady of Quatlasupe - She who crushes the head of the serpent, is leading the New Evangelization

The ancient temples of the Aztecs, interesting archeological sites of the past, have been replaced by the new temples of materialism, secularism and consumerism. On their altars the poor, the unborn and the elderly are forgotten, neglected and sacrificed by knives driven by greed, power and narcissism. Mary will lead humanity back to her Son. Mary will free us from the sins of our modern times. Mary, Our Lady of Quatlasupe - She who crushes the head of the serpent, is leading the new evangelization.

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CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - There is an amazing connection between the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception which is celebrated on December 8 and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe which is celebrated on December 12. Actually, in many ways, these two beautiful Marian celebrations are one and the same feast day.

And why is this so?

Let us focus our attention on the First Reading from the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception taken from the Book of Genesis. In the reading we hear these words:

"The Lord God said to the serpent: 'Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; on your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel" (Genesis 3: 14 - 15).

"I will put enmity between you and the woman." Who is the woman in this text from Genesis. The woman is not Eve, but the new Eve, Mary.

"He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." Scripture scholars over the years have debated regarding the word he. Should it be translated he or she or even they? But does it matter? In another words, does the he refer to the Messiah who is to come? Does the she refer to Mary? Does the they refer to the descendants of Mary; i.e., Christ and the Church?

Interestingly enough, all three lead us to the same conclusion. Since it depends which original text is being used for the translation into our modern languages (the Septuagint or the Hebrew Bible), he, she or they do bring us to the same theological reality of the Messiah, born of the Virgin Mary who has come to free humanity from sin. (http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/3#01003015-g).

The Old Testament of the Latin Vulgate Bible, famously translated by Saint Jerome, uses the Hebrew Bible and not the Septuagint. It is Jerome who gives us the she that makes the point of this article easier to see.

The Douay-Rheims Bible is an English translation of Jerome's Latin Vulgate Bible. "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel" (Genesis 3: 15).

A commentary for the Douay-Rheims says "Ipsa, the woman; so divers of the fathers read this place, conformably to the Latin: others read it ipsum, viz., the seed. The sense is the same: for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes the serpent's head."

Genesis 3: 14-15 is called The Protoevangelium or The First Gospel. "The statement of Genesis 3 is called the "Protoevangelium" because it has received its confirmation and fulfillment only in the revelation of the new covenant which is the Gospel of Christ.

In the old covenant this announcement was constantly re-evoked in different ways, in the rites, symbolisms, prayers, prophecies, and in the history of Israel as the "people of God" reaching out toward a messianic goal. But it was always under the veil of the imperfect and provisional faith of the Old Testament.

When the announcement will be fulfilled in Christ there will be the full revelation of the messianic and trinitarian content implicit in the monotheism of Israel.

The New Testament will then lead to the discovery of the full meaning of the writings of the Old Testament, according to the famous saying of St. Augustine: 'In the Old Testament the New lies hidden, and in the New the Old lies open'" (Blessed Pope John Paul II, General Audience, December 17, 1986).

So, how is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe connected? Here is something that is really amazing.

What would you think if I told you that Our Lady of Guadalupe is not really Our Lady of Guadalupe, instead she is really Our Lady of coatlaxopeuh which is pronounced "quatlasupe" and sounds extraordinarily like the Spanish word Guadalupe? Coatlaxopeuh means She who crushes the head of the serpent.

Saint Juan Diego was a Native American Aztec who spoke the native Nahuatl language. Saint Juan Diego's Aztec name is Cuauhtlatoatzin, which can be rendered as "One who talks like an eagle" or "eagle that talks." Juan Diego is his Christian name given to him at his baptism which took place between 1524 and 1525.

The miraculous encounters between the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Juan Diego would have taken place in his own native language and not Spanish. The Spanish word Guadalupe refers to another Marian event that took place in 1326 in a small Spanish village called Guadalupe.

Experts believe that title ...

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1 - 10 of 13 Comments

judy claar
5 months ago
Excellent explanation! I tend to agree w/Judy...No matter how much one thinks they know, there is always something more that one does not know! Prayerful Blessings...
KATHY
5 months ago
Rizzo, as a former Protestant, I can tell you that they only repeat what they hear. Protestants do not take the time to learn the history of Christianity. This is what I did,
began reading the history, and hence, I am now Catholic. I had a revelation one day, about some of the things that Protestants find sort of weird about the Catholic faith. I say to them, if God could send his Angel Gabriel to Mary, and Mary could become pregnant with the Savior of our world, and Jesus could perform many miracles, and could show some of the disciples the heavens, and could be raised from the dead and bring the Holy spirt into the lives of those who call on him, then why could not these other things happen too. Mary was apart of Christs whole life. She was there in the beginning and there at the end of his earthly live. The Rosary is such a beautiful prayer. It makes us focus on Christ and his life, death and resurrection. Mary is playing a much broader roll in Christianity than some give her credit for. She is humble, and wants us all to return to Jesus.
Lilian
5 months ago
The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is also on the Web address below. It is really wonderful.

http://www.catholic.org/about/guadalupe.php
Rizzo The Bear
5 months ago
Theophile, if I had a dollar/pound sterling coin/Euro for every time I read posts like yours referring to Our Blessed Lady - and the misunderstanding thereof of her place in the life of the Christianity... I'd be rich!

Roman Catholics/Orthodox DO NOT WORSHIP OUR LADY AND NEVER EVER HAVE WORSHIPED HER. Period. In fact, it is as sinful to worship her and the saints as any idol!

When we pray the Hail Mary, we do not say 'blessed art thou above women' but we pray, 'blessed art though AMONGST women.' The Hail Mary is, when you boil it down, recalling the mystery of the Incarnation as written in the Gospel. The greeting of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary and the unspeakably profound and joyous words of her cousin, Elizabeth, in whose womb her child leaped for joy. In Elizabeth's womb was John the Baptizer.

In other words, we are repeating words from the Gospel.

We ask Our Blessed Lady to PRAY FOR US, in the same way when people ask us to pray for them in times of joy and strife. She is the Mother of Christ - the same Christ who tells us 'no-one can come to the Father except through me.' Even Our Blessed Lady goes to her Son with our prayers and hers. Do you see where we are coming from?

Would an idol accept that? No.

Christ gave Our Blessed Lady to US as he hung on the cross in the words he said to Our Lady: 'Behold your son.' and to Saint John: 'Behold your mother.'

So, are we not to make a home for Our Blessed Lady in our lives as St John did at Calvary? Failing to do so would be letting down Our Blessed Lord very, very badly.

Our Lady, when she appears, is a good and perfect mother doing what good mothers do: constantly reminding us of what's important - whether its tying your tie, being careful, being aware etc. Our Lady is the same with us, reminding us constantly of her Son, of the dangers of sin and asking us time and time again to turn TO her Son and even turn back to her Son, to do penance (Lourdes) and be aware of what's happening in the world (Fatima).

To paraphrase Pope Paul VI, 'Our Lady is the lamp through which Christ is the Light'.

Now, a god who demands worship would not be happy being a lamp...

Think about it.
Francis Xavier
5 months ago
There are many mysteries about our lady,I believe that she herself is a mystery. as one can't easily understand God,so it is with our lady.in my country,it is believed that the apparitions took place in Guadalupe in Mexico,it is also believed that it was there that she got the title,Mother of Mercy.the book of the prophet Ezekiel chapter 44:1-3 reveals her as the east gate.this is one of the many proofs that Mary is truely who the church say she is
jh
5 months ago
Wonderful explanation, Father. May our Blessed Mother help us all.
R. Elizabeth
6 months ago
The Book of Revelation states that the elected will rule with Jesus in Heaven (Rev. 20:4 -6). And,that this kingship or the authority is given to them for laying down their lives for the sake of their witness for Christ and for the Word of God. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, no doubt, suffered in her heart the agony of Jesus. I wish every Christian (Protestants, Pentecostals, Assembly of God, Jehova Witnesses and whosoever call himself a Christian) to meditate on this. This will help them crush the head of satan effectively.

And, to those who say that Jesus never called Mary 'Mother', I want to ask : do you think Jesus sinned against the fourth Commandment of Moses? No, we all know Jesus is sinless. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus is sinless. And His mother is also Immaculate, sinless. The original sin of Adam and Eve has nothing to do with the Immaculate Mother. Because, the mighty God has done great things for her. She is made special, so special than the Angels in Heaven. Meditate on this fact. I guarantee, you will not sin, throughout your life.

God bless you. May Mother Mary guide your ways.
Ken
1 year ago
Good story!!!
abey
1 year ago
With regard to the above article, the event at the garden of Eden need to be more clearly understood. Satan through deceiving Eve got to Adam, for that is how he goes about doing things & from the Biblical words which says that it was the woman who was found in transgression & not the man. It was to keep the woman from going with satan into the future that GOD put a wedge which is the enmity between the woman & the serpent, further GOD also told the woman that her desire will be to her husband, meaning not to satan, even though she obeyed the serpent. The second part which says the seed of the woman will bruise the head & the seed of the serpent will bruise his heel. Now Jesus Christ as the first fruit is the seed, then again Rev: CH 12 says of the remnant seed of the woman who make war with the devil. This remnant seed who are the Elect of GOD & as Rev states 144000 males redeemed & sealed of men with Jesus are them who will be involved in the war with the serpent .These are males as the seed(s) of the Women who do the bruising & not the woman or the female kind, but who will keep only the enmity against the serpent. In other words the female cannot crush the head of the serpent but the male of her seed, for the simple reason that the woman was the one who transgressed, over whom satan holds the power. A through theological study is needed to understand it in the rightful context, lest misinterpretation can cause more harm than good, as is widely seen through the ways of Anti-Christs, that which the cunning devil seeks.
Maria
1 year ago
@Theophile: The "queen of heaven" referred to in Jeremiah 7 is Ashtoreth/Ishtar whom the canaanites of those days worshipped by "making cakes" and "pouring out drink offerings". The prophet Jeremiah lived in the 6th - 7th century BCE, and at that point of time, Mother Mary would have been an unknown Jewish girl whom no one had ever heard of.

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