Day 12 - OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

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OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE,

The 12th Day of The Advent Series, is here:

http://maninthemaze.blogspot.com/2011/12/our-lady-of-guadalupe.html

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OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

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Our Lady of Guadalupe 

 (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the La Guadalupana , La Morenita , Virgin of Guadalupe (Spanish: Virgen de Guadalupe; Nahuatl: Tonantzin Guadalupe) is a celebrated Catholic icon of the Virgin Mary. Under this title, she is officially proclaimed by the Catholic Church as the Patroness of Americas, Empress of Latin America and Protectress of the Unborn Children.

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According to Catholic tradition, on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a recently converted Aztec indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. The lady asked him to build a church exactly on the spot where they were standing. He told the local Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, who asked for proof in exchange.

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Juan Diego went back later and saw the lady again. He told her that the bishop wanted proof, and she instructed Juan Diego to go to the mountain top, where he found Castillian roses, which were native to Bishop Juan de Zumarraga's hometown and could not possibly bloom during wintertime. Juan Diego cut the roses, placed them in his apron-like tilma and returned to the bishop; an imprint of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on the tilma from the residue of the soil and roses.

Today, the icon is displayed in the nearby Basilica of Guadalupe, now one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world. The Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico's most popular religious and cultural image, with the titles "Queen of Mexico", "Empress of the Americas", and "Patroness of the Americas". Both Miguel Hidalgo (in the Mexican War of Independence) and Emiliano Zapata (during the Mexican Revolution) carried flags bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Guadalupe Victoria, the first Mexican president, changed his name in honor of the icon.
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From Wikipedia
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AZTEC PRAYER

TO THE MOTHER OF THE GODS
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Teleoinan was the Mother Goddess of

the Aztec people and patroness of midwives

and childbirth. It was near the site of

Teleoinan's old temple at Tepeyacac in Mexico

that the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to

Juan Diego, the dark-skinned native.

This version of the hymn to Teleoinan has been

adapted from Daniel Brinton's

Rig Veda Americanus, 1890.

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Hail to our Mother, who caused

the yellow flowers to blossom,

who scattered the seeds of the

maguey as she came forth from Paradise.

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Hail to our Mother, who poured

forth flowers in abundance,

who scattered the seeds of the

maguey as she came forth from Paradise.

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Hail to our Mother, who caused

the yellow flowers to blossom,

she who scattered the seeds of the

maguey as she came forth from Paradise.

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Hail to our Mother, who poured

forth white flowers in abundance,

who scattered the seeds of the

maguey as she came forth from Paradise.

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Hail to the goddess

who shines in the thorn bush

like a bright butterfly.

Lo! She is our Mother,

the goddess of the earth.

She supplies food in the desert

to the wild beasts,

and causes them to live.

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Thus, thus, you see her

to be an ever-fresh model

of liberality toward all flesh.

And as you see

the goddess of the earth

do to the wild beasts,

so also she does toward

the green herbs and the fishes.

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From Healing Prayers by

Joanne Asala

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THE NEW BISHOP - A TALE FROM THE HISPANIC SOUTHWEST

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The following story is from a book titled

CUENTOS - Tales from the Hispanic Southwest,

by Jose Griego y Maestas & Rudolfo A. Anaya.

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The New Bishop

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IT HAD BEEN MANY YEARS since Archbishop Zubiria

of Durango had crossed the Jornado del Muerto [Journey of Death] to visit his flock in the farthest part of his diocese in New Mexico.  Thus people in a small and isolated village were very happy that his Excellency, the new bishop of Santa Fe, was coming to administer the sacrament of Confirmation to their children.  A big feast was planned, and the local parish priest went about telling everyone to prepare for the visit of this very important church dignitary.

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The people had never seen the bishop, so they were overjoyed

to have the opportunity to meet him.  The day the bishop arrived the priest took him to the sacristy where he could meet the people before he administered Confirmation to the children.  But the people, in their excitement, forgot how to greet him.  The men came in first, but none remembered how to address the bishop, and in their awe of him they made many mistakes.

One bowed and said, "How do you do,

 your holiness San Joaquin."

Others greeted him by saying, "How do you do,

most holy Saint Anthony."

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And one woman was so flabbergasted she said,

"How do you do, oh blessed Virgin Mary."

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Finally one man entered and said,

"How do you do, your Excellency."

When this man greeted him correctly the shocked bishop was pleased he had finally met someone who could speak good Castilian Spanish.  He took the man aside and whispered confidently, "Isn't it a shame that these people are so backward and ignorant that they don't even know how to greet me?"

The man replied sarcastically, "Yes, my paisanos [country folk] are a humble people.  Who else would address Your Excellency as a saint or as the Virgin Mary, when it's plain to see you're neither a saint nor a virgin."

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MILAGROS (MIRACLES)

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 The small metal objects that in Mexico are

collloquially called milagros (miracles) or
 milagritos (little miracles) belong to a devotional genre
 known as ex-votos. There is a wide range of representational
 forms of milagros, including legs, arms, heads, hearts, angels,
 animals (dogs, chickens, pigs, and horses, among others)
 and entire humans, both male and female, either standing face
 forward or kneeling with hands outstretched in prayer.
 Objects virtually identical to these can be found in
 Andalusia, Spain, and throughout the Mediterranean world, 
where they almost certainly originated and from which
 they diffused to Mexico and other parts of Latin America
 at the time of the Spanish conquest.
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Throughout Mexico, milagros belong to the world of 
popular or folk religion rather than to that of religious othodoxy.
 As devotional objects, they therefore pertain predominantly, 
if not exclusively, to the world of the working classes. 
Members of the intellectual and social elite, however,
 appreciate these small objects for their aesthetic value
 and sometimes collect and display them.
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 Milagros are sold in churchyards and at chapels,
 sanctuaries, basilicas, and cathedrals throughout Mexico.
 Typically, a believer who suffers a serious or persistent health
 problem makes a promesa, or vow, to a saint that, if cured,
 he or she will present the saint with a token of gratitude in the
 form of a milagro. The milagro selected for presentation reflects
 the afflicted body part - eyes, hands, feet, or head, for example.
 In the case of sick farm animals or small children,
 believers choose milagros that represent those victims 
of misfortune. Almost always, presentation of the milagro
 follows upon a cure, in repayment for the miraculous recovery.
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Frequently the promise keeper attaches
 the milagro to the clothing of an image of a saint.
 Even more often,
it is fastened to a cloth hung on the wall
 next to the saint's image.
 These small metal objects facilitate a
 social relationship between supernatural beings
 and believers. Displayed as they are in public,
 they announce to the world the successful realization
 of a divinely aided recovery.
 They have been an integral part of folk
 medical systems in the Mediterranean
 world for centuries.
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Edited from an essay by Stanley Brandes in

FAITH AND TRANSFORMATION -
Votive Offerings and Amulets

Published by the International Museum of Folk Art

Santa Fe, New Mexico
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A PRAYER FOR THE KENTUCKY CLUB

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The Kentucky Club in Juarez, Mexico

first opened its doors in 1920. Over the years

that followed it became one of the most famous

watering holes along that hot and dry Mexican border.

Jack Dempsey drank a few here, so did John Wayne,

and Jack Kerouac. Marilyn Monroe bought the

house a round of drinks the night she celebrated

her Juarez "quickie" divorce from playwright

Arthur Miller. Richard Burton and Liz Taylor

"celebrated" a divorce here, and in more recent

times Bob Dylan and friends put a few down.

The walls are loaded up with photos of stars

and the legendary - politicians, boxers, artists -

that have sat right there, in that booth,

or on that barstool. It's a museum of sorts.

It's said that the drink -the Margarita - was

invented here by a house bartender in 1946.
It was traditionally interesting, fun, and safe.
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Today, business is off 75% or better.

The drug wars. The incredible carnage.

Over 8,000 killed here the last few years.

Eight to nine a day average over recent months.

It's considered to be the most violent city in

the world not in an actual combat war zone.

The fatalities now include lots of "civilians,"

people in no way connected to either gangs or

drugs. Adolescent birthday parties have been a

favorite target lately, and a dozen or more kids get

mowed down at a time. Decapitations are on the

increase, and one unlucky soul had their face

cut away from their head and stitched on to a

football. A couple of American college kids

with some youthful bravado got shot down

last week, just two blocks from the bridge

they were heading to cross, on their way home.

This is seriously evil stuff.
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When I was a kid growing up in El Paso, Texas,

Juarez's neighbor across the Rio Grande River , we

often came to Juarez for haircuts on Sunday mornings

after Mass. Afterward, on occasion, my dad would take

my brother and I a block up the street to the

Kentucky Club, where he'd have a morning highball

while looking over the Sunday Sports page

in The El Paso Times, and treat us to Coke's -

crushed ice in a tall glass with lime and a cherry.

It was a class act. The bartenders

always outfitted in starched white shirts and ties,

every hair in place, hands and nails immaculate,

gold fillings gleaming. Sunday mornings they

restocked the coolers and shelves, murmuring in

low tones to each other. An occasional laugh.

But very quietly, very low key.

A janitor slowly swept between the tables.

Glasses were polished to a glimmering shine.

But it seems now like it was all in slow motion.

This was like a church too, in some ways.

The place was almost always empty at this hour,

just an occasional elderly gent, or two, from the

neighborhood, or unusual anglos, like ourselves.

The Mexican Catholics were

mostly in church, or bed. The turistas were just

getting up in their motels on Mesa Street,

across the river.
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I loved the joint, and in later years always tried

to find time for a visit when I had the opportunity

to be in the area, even if for just an hour or two

on a hot afternoon.

It's one of those memories that "fits" well for me,

and makes the absolute obliteration of the old

Juarez hard to take. The Juarez of clubs and restaurants,

the vendors along Juarez Avenue, the photographers,

shoe shine boys, cigarette sales kids, whorehouse

hawkers, taxi drivers, and hustlers of every

type imaginable, hustling almost every thing

imaginable, and some things that went

beyond imagination. Past beyond.

But music, lots of music. In a visit

to the city market and a couple of clubs,

you could easily have heard a half-dozen

mariachi bands and combos of various stripes.

The music was always there.

I doubt that it is now.

It was poor, but the tourists came

and ate, and drank, and spread some dough.

Anyway, that's pretty much over now.

It's very apocalyptic, the way it's all going down.

The Kentucky Club, however, at last report,

still had its doors open.

And so we pray:

God in heaven, protect this old place we beg you.

Keep the guns far, far away, and allow those

who are brave enough to come to work here,

or enter in to share a cold one and camaraderie,

do so in peace and safety.

Though the "good times" are over in Juarez,

let them be remembered and talked about

as long as the doors of this old bar remain open.

Because once they're closed, it's all over and out.

Keep the darkness out there, O God, and spare

el propietario, su empleados y su clientes,

(the owner, his employees and his customers).

O Dear Virgin of Guadalupe,
Mystical Rose,
give to us sweet hope in the midst of the
bitterness of this life.
Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe,

ora por nosotros.
Our Lady of Guadalupe,
pray for us.
Amen

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For more info on the mess go here:

http://www.prayforjuarez.org/

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