Tonight I have been led on a journey, just by looking at one friend's blog I have brought back into memories and something deep and special to my soul. I want to thank Gloria for leading the way to Rebecca's blog, Recuerda Mi Corazon, and the Virgin a Day project.
How lovely to read others' meditations on Mother Mary. They have rekindled my emotions and memories. I was brought up Catholic and always had a special place in my heart for Mary. Years later, while no longer a practicing Catholic, I still pray to the Mother of God. There is a part of me that needs the solace of a feminine deity, that needs the world to accept the feminine aspect of the spirit: the peace and unconditional mother's love that she offers. Not long ago when I was going through a particularly difficult time, my prayers to Mary helped me regain strength and faith in my worth.
The Virgin a Day project is full of beautiful images collected and created by the participants. I thought about what I could add to the collection, looked around and was surprised to find quite a bit of Mary right here in my studio, and almost all of them linked to MY mother. I was unaware of the project for the first six days, but I will share what I have over the next half a dozen days.
Day 6
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This was one of my mother's plaques. It hung on a narrow wall just outside her bedroom. When it came time for my siblings and me to sort through Mom's things, I knew that this was something that I wanted to keep. La Virgen de Guadalupe. The story of the Virgin of Guadalupe is one that I dearly love. In 1531, a poor Nahuatl man, Juan Diego, who is being converted to catholicism during the Spanish colonization of Mexico, is visited by the Virgin Mary. She asks that a church be built on the site, in honor of her. Juan Diego tells the archbishop about it, but the priest doesn't believe him. The archbishop tells Juan Diego to go back to the hilltop and to ask for a sign. When Juan Diego returns to the hill, Mary appears to him again, giving him a bunch of Castillian roses - roses that were not native to Mexico, and which certainly would not be growing in December, when this happened.. Juan Diego took the roses back to the archbishop as the sign of Mary's visitation. When he went to show the priest the roses, they fell away from his cloak and in their place appeared the image of Mary, surrounded by light.
Why do I love this story? I love that Mary appeared to this indigenous man, a humble man who had more faith than the churchman. I love the symbol of the roses, impossible and yet real in their beauty and fragrance. Mary spoke to Juan Diego in his native language, Nahuatl, showing that the holy spirit knows no boundary or prejudice. Or perhaps showing that she was still in essence the same spirit as the Nahua goddess Tonantzin, whose shrine had previously occupied this location. The history is fascinating to me. She is the Queen of the Americas. She feels like home, my local goddess. May her light shine on.![]()
How lovely to read others' meditations on Mother Mary. They have rekindled my emotions and memories. I was brought up Catholic and always had a special place in my heart for Mary. Years later, while no longer a practicing Catholic, I still pray to the Mother of God. There is a part of me that needs the solace of a feminine deity, that needs the world to accept the feminine aspect of the spirit: the peace and unconditional mother's love that she offers. Not long ago when I was going through a particularly difficult time, my prayers to Mary helped me regain strength and faith in my worth.
The Virgin a Day project is full of beautiful images collected and created by the participants. I thought about what I could add to the collection, looked around and was surprised to find quite a bit of Mary right here in my studio, and almost all of them linked to MY mother. I was unaware of the project for the first six days, but I will share what I have over the next half a dozen days.
Day 6
This was one of my mother's plaques. It hung on a narrow wall just outside her bedroom. When it came time for my siblings and me to sort through Mom's things, I knew that this was something that I wanted to keep. La Virgen de Guadalupe. The story of the Virgin of Guadalupe is one that I dearly love. In 1531, a poor Nahuatl man, Juan Diego, who is being converted to catholicism during the Spanish colonization of Mexico, is visited by the Virgin Mary. She asks that a church be built on the site, in honor of her. Juan Diego tells the archbishop about it, but the priest doesn't believe him. The archbishop tells Juan Diego to go back to the hilltop and to ask for a sign. When Juan Diego returns to the hill, Mary appears to him again, giving him a bunch of Castillian roses - roses that were not native to Mexico, and which certainly would not be growing in December, when this happened.. Juan Diego took the roses back to the archbishop as the sign of Mary's visitation. When he went to show the priest the roses, they fell away from his cloak and in their place appeared the image of Mary, surrounded by light.
Why do I love this story? I love that Mary appeared to this indigenous man, a humble man who had more faith than the churchman. I love the symbol of the roses, impossible and yet real in their beauty and fragrance. Mary spoke to Juan Diego in his native language, Nahuatl, showing that the holy spirit knows no boundary or prejudice. Or perhaps showing that she was still in essence the same spirit as the Nahua goddess Tonantzin, whose shrine had previously occupied this location. The history is fascinating to me. She is the Queen of the Americas. She feels like home, my local goddess. May her light shine on.
