Our Lady of Guadalupe

Two Marian Feast Days are fast approaching; December 8th is The Immaculate Conception, and December 12th is Our Lady of Guadalupe

The Blessed Virgin Mary, by her title, Our Lady of Guadalupe, is the Patroness of Mexico and the Americas and the Protectress of the Unborn

sculptured by artist Miguel Angel Macias, from Mexico City, and Douglas Clark

Beautiful technique and use of muted pastels -- I love this artists use of color!

In Prayer: Our Lady of Guadalupe by artist Stephen B. Whatley

Beautiful technique and use of muted pastels -- I love this artists use of color!

In Prayer: Our Lady of Guadalupe by artist Stephen B. Whatley

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenbwhatley/3271145627/in/photostream/

David Pettit’s sculpture "Our Lady of the Bottles"  Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Photo: Kay Rogers

http://www.humanflowerproject.com/index.php/weblog/comments/our_lady_of_the_bottles/

All Saints' Day Celebration vs Halloween

I volunteer to teach religious preparation classes to the 7th-9th grade kids at my parish.  It is my responsibility to relate the teachings of the Catholic Church to the kids in a way that is fun, engaging and insightful so they can apply Christ's teachings to their daily lives.  It is a small group, but challenging because one student can really be a drag on the mood and momentum of the entire class.

This age group bores easily and tries to be persuasive at every opportunity, so you can imagine the reaction I got when I told them we were not allowed to have Oct. 31st class as a "Halloween Party" because it is not a religious celebration.  In response to the protests, I told 1 girl to then research All Saints's Day and we'd discuss the possibility of celebrating that instead.

I searched the net and found some good blogs and recent articles posted about this very topic!  In particualr, http://nightoflight.org/ is a (international) campaign effort by the Catholic Church in England to have children dress up as a favorite SAINT and have a celebration and activities based on LIGHT.

I then found an article about Pope Benedict's Sunday Mass discussing 6 new Saints and to follow their example of active prayer for our own prayer lives:

Pope Benedict noted that although the faithful might at times consider prayer tiresome and ineffective, being tempted to use human means to reach their goals, the Lord underscores the importance of prayer as in the parable in the Gospel reading. 

"God in fact is generosity personified," said the Pope, "he is merciful, and therefore he is always willing to listen to prayers. Therefore we must never despair, but always persist in prayer."

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/benedict-xvi-six-newest-saints-show-faith-can-still-be-found/

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2010/10/13/bishops-halloween-advice-dress-children-up-as-saints-not-witches/

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2010/10/13/debate-can-catholics-take-the-horror-out-of-halloween/

Coat of Many Colors

Mary the Colorful One by Bro. Cletus Behlmann, S.M.

I really love these bright and happy works -- all title Mother and Child, acrylic on paper -- because the combination of bright and muted colors using blending techniques creates a unique interpretation of the same simple image of Mother and Child.  These are adorable renderings that feel whimsically unsophisticated like a small child's artwork, but shows the maturity of a stained glass 'technique'...the repetative nature and reinterpretation of the same image, and simple lines are very popart -- Warhol meets Matisse (two of my favorite artists).  You cannot look at these paintings and not feel overjoyed!! 

The interesting thing about the artist, a Marianist brother, is that he did not begin to take art lessons until he was 28 years old!  How encouraging that anyone can find a creative outlet for their passion or talent in their own personal way. http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/gallery/exhibits/behlmann.html

Land of the Blue Virgins

This semester I'm taking a theology course about Mary: Insights and Images.  The topic for my class presentation is going to be about the Blessed Virgin Mary (of course!), specifically the interpretation of the Madonna in blue mantle with arms outstretched.  The Mary Page (http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/index.html
from the Marian Research Institute at University of Ohio/Dayton) features an entire section about Marian art and poetry celebrating Mary!  http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/gallery.html

These images were very inspiring because they are simplistic aesthetically, yet capture the essence of "Mary"...the artist has an interesting presentation of Mary by superimposing photographed images of the statuary in the found environment.  The exhibit describes the artists' work as follows:

What is equally fascinating about this collection, however, is the realism of the individual statues. The variety of the pieces in material, style and execution is remarkable, as well as the occasional architectural settings in shrines or niches. The state of preservation also claims attention, ranging from brand-new unpainted through various stages of wear-and-tear to downright neglect.

Land of the Blue Virgins by artist/photgrapher Mark Charleville
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/gallery/exhibits/charleville.html

Mary in the Clouds
This photograph was taken while visiting Camilla