How and who produced the Images of Jesus and Mary not made by human hands?
The Images of Jesus and Mary before which Catholics and Eastern Orthodox pray, are a sign that symbolizes them, they do not try to be neither Jesus nor Mary.
They evoke them and allow to better focus the devotion.
Many of the images were created by human artisans, but others were not created or finished by human beings.
These are called acheropitas, which comes from the Greek, not made by human hands.
And just mentioning it surely makes the skin of Protestants and Catholic modernists bristle.
There are very famous acheropit images such as the Virgin of Guadalupe or the Shroud of Turin.
And it seems that they have had a special touch, so that the person depicted has transferred something special to them.
Here we will talk about the best known acheropit images, not created by human hands, and we will tell how they have been created, told by a nun who witnessed what happened with an image.
Acheroptic images are those that came into existence miraculously by divine action and not created by human hands.
They are invariably images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary.
There are many of them, some well known and some not.
In Eastern Christianity there are many more than in Western Christianity.
One venerated in Eastern Christianity is the image of Edessa, also known as Mandylion.
It was a square or rectangle of cloth on which was a miraculous image of the face of Jesus.
It was printed by Jesus for King Abgar V of Edessa and delivered by St. Jude Thaddeus.
Abgar V wrote to Jesus asking him to come and cure him of an illness, but Jesus refused the invitation and sent his disciple carrying that cloth which is said to have contained the image of Jesus' face when the cloth was passed over his face.
And the king was miraculously cured of leprosy at his touch, and it was exhibited at the entrance of Edessa and drove away the enemies.
The original of this image disappeared, but copies remained.
Another oriental icon not made by human hands is that of the Odigitria Our Lady of Smolensko, which is also known as Our Lady of Sweetness.
Halfway between the Eastern and Western worlds is the icon of Christ of Camuliana, which was the most famous Greek example.
The image today is in the Pontifical Shrine of the Holy Stairs in Rome, in a room now known as Sancta Sanctorum.
The legend is that this image was begun by the Evangelist Luke and finished by angels.
In the West we have the Veil of Veronica, which is preserved in Manoppello. Veronica met Jesus on the Via Dolorosa on the way to Calvary.
She offered him a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his face and the image of Jesus' face was imprinted on the cloth.
But the best-known acheropit image of Our Lord is the Shroud of Turin.
Which is a linen cloth on which was imprinted the image of a man who appears to have been physically traumatized in a manner consistent with the crucifixion of Jesus.
And that there is ample evidence that it is the image of Jesus Christ dead, before the resurrection.
There are many more, another is the statue of the Lord of Miracles of Buga, a three-dimensional image of Jesus Christ crucified, dating from the sixteenth century.
And of Our Lady there are even more.
The first seems to have been Our Lady of the Pillar, which would have been imprinted in the early days of Christianity, when Santiago, one of the original 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ, was preaching in what is now Zaragoza, discouraged with his mission, because he had made only a few converts.
While he was praying on the banks of the Ebro with some of his disciples, Mary miraculously appeared to him on a pillar accompanied by angels.
It was in the year 40 when the Virgin Mary was still alive.
There is also Our Lady of Las Lajas, which is a painting that dates back to 1754, and was printed in a cave in Colombia and has impressive supernatural qualities.
The Virgin of Guadalupe is the best known, which appeared miraculously printed on the tilma of Juan Diego.
Her apparition turned the evangelization of America around in a short time, just 4 decades after the Discovery of America.
The image has inexplicable and supernatural properties, especially in his eyes, which have infinitesimal images and functions of living eyes.
And this wonder of the eyes also happens in the tiny engraving of Our Lady of Coromoto, which miraculously remained in the hand of the cacique Coromoto when he tried to grab the apparition of Our Lady.
And another little-known acheropita image is the so-called Sindone of Conegliano, on which was imprinted on one side the face of Jesus and on the other that of Padre Pio, when the saint wiped his face in 1968.
And how did heaven produce these images that are not made by human hands?
We know this because Sister Mariana de Jesus Torres has told how the angels made the image of Our Lady of Good Success while she was present.
Between the years 1594 and 1634, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to this Conceptionist sister in Quito, Ecuador.
Our Lady appeared to her asking her to be known under the title of Our Lady of Good Success.
And she made a series of prophecies that have been fulfilled, especially she spoke to her about the apostasy that would happen in the 20th century.
But he also prophesied the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and papal infallibility.
The consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the martyrdom of one of the presidents of Ecuador who would be "truly Christian", Gabriel Garcia Moreno.
Our Lady also told him "I will preserve this Church, so dear to Me, until the consummation of time.
It will be strongly attacked, but never defeated. Because, if men are lacking, I will send legions of Angels from Heaven for its preservation, defense and triumph".
And also, when all seems lost, when "evil seems to triumph", Our Blessed Mother promised the Marian Mother that the time of her victory would come.
Our Lady ordered Sister Mariana to make a statue of Our Lady of Good Success in her likeness.
"Now I ask and command you to make a statue for the consolation and preservation of my convent and for those faithful souls of that time when there will be a great devotion to me, because I am the Queen of Heaven under many invocations."
That era to which he refers is the 20th century.
Our Lady of Good Success also told him that this statue was to be made, first so that men in the future may realize how powerful She is to placate Divine Justice and obtain mercy and forgiveness for every sinner who comes to Her with a contrite heart.
And secondly, so that when the tribulations of the spirit and the sufferings of the body oppress them and they seem to be drowning in this bottomless sea, they may look to Her holy image and there She will always be ready to hear their cries and soothe their pain.
Our Lady of Good Success had asked a sculptor, Francisco del Castillo, who was known for his artistic skill and also for his virtue and devotion to the Blessed Mother, to create the statue.
This sculptor worked long and hard on this statue.
And when he was about to put the final coat of paint on the statue, he decided that he would go and get the best paints he could acquire, which would be the most suitable for the faces of the Mother of God and the Child Jesus.
And while the sculptor was away, Mother Mariana and the other sisters went up to the choir to implore Our Lady of Good Success to keep her promise and finish it well.
And later that night, Mother Mariana found the choir loft illuminated with a heavenly radiance.
The archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel appeared and bowed reverently before the Blessed Trinity as if acceding to a command.
And together with St. Francis, they approached the statue to miraculously finish it, so quickly that Sister Mariana could not understand how they did it.
Then St. Francis took off the white cord he wore around his waist, and girded it around the waist of the Most Holy Image, saying with love and reverence: "My Lady, I commend to your maternal love my sons and daughters of the three Orders that I founded and spread throughout the world. I entrust to you today and forever this convent founded under my care".
And immediately the Image was completely illuminated as if it were in the middle of the sun.
The Most Holy Trinity looked at it with pleasure, the Archangels sang a hymn and the Queen of Heaven approached the image and entered it, the way the rays of the sun penetrate the crystals.
And at that moment, the sanctified Image came to life and sang the Magnificat.
This took place at 3 o'clock in the morning of January 16, 1611.
And when the bishop was informed of this miraculous event, he ordered "ad aeternum", that her feast day be February 2 and be preceded by a novena to Our Lady of Good Success, beginning on January 24.
And Our Lady specifically requested that her name be complete, "Mary of Good Success of the Purification and Candlemas", and that this date of February 2, be especially remembered because it would produce "great gifts and mercies".
Foros de la Virgen María