Simon's December 10th Dispatches from Suburbia post inspired mine today.
December 12th is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas. The official story goes that on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego (i.e. Cuauhtlatzin, or Talking Eagle), a divorced Aztec dude in his fifties living near Mexico City during the early Spanish imperial days, came face to face with an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who imprinted an image of herself as Our Lady of Guadalupe on his cloak; she also indicated the miraculous appearance of roses in December, and directed him to bring them back to the local Catholic hierarchy. A shrine was later erected on the spot (now a basilica and major pilgrammage site). Juan Diego is now a saint; feast day December 9th.
Thanks to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Aztec and related peoples converted en masse to Catholicism in a perfect example of syncretism. To the Indians, Tonantzin, an Aztec goddess, shone and survived through Our Lady of Guadalupe; other traditional elements persisted, as well. As far as the Spanish were concerned, the locals were now Christians. In a sense, "everbody be happy."
Catholicism is Christianity's equivalent to Hinduism -- like Indian goddesses and gods, Mary comes in many forms or avatars and retains elements of non-Christian religion. This loosely knit approach to local deities and beliefs gives Catholicism formidable resilience and strength; it also provides a holistic counterweight to centralized patriarchal control from Rome.Local Catholic variations, of course, provide the spice and mystery (and blood) that most Protestant sects lack.
Catholicism is like gumbo, whereas most mainstream Protestant sects are like Wonder Bread -- boring, predictable and sugary, leaving one hungry for more. At least that's how I see it as a Catholic adult convert.
In the second picture, observe Our Lady of Guadalupe stabbing at demons. Looks like she's doing a good job of keeping evil doers at bay.
Catholics get to have it both ways -- wild like Protestant evangelicals, but dismissive of most evangelical limitations such as literal interpretation of the Bible.
Many evangelicals, of course, see Catholics as possessed by demons.
In any case, just about anything's more interesting than mainstream Protestant sects.
Today's Rune: Partnership.
Birthdays today include:
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) -- Madame Bovary (1857)
John Osborne (1929-1994) -- Look Back in Anger (1959)
A prayer for the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe concludes: "Help the countries of this New World live with another in peace, unity, and brotherhood. Amen."
4 comments:
Interesting post. I like to read books on the saints of the church. Nice picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
I used to know everything about Catholicism (I went to church every Sunday and went to Catechism from 1st to 8th grade) but not so much anymore. I do however remember this particular saint. Nice post. Love the picture.
Wonderful post, and I love the picture of Our Lady. Extremely happy to see that my post inspired this (how cool is that!)
I agree about Catholicism. I was raised going to mass with my Grandmother, along with an occasional excursion to other churches with different family members. None of them had the same exotic flavor of the Catholic church. The sacredness is maintained and things are kept so exciting in ways that I don't see elsewhere.
You should remember from your Swedish heritage that today is St. Lucia Day and she came from Sicily. The Swedes once occupied the island. There is a St. Erik. And in the Greek church, a St. Barbara. I actually brought in 3 floribunda roses that were blooming in December. Shall we build a shrine?
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