Archive for the ‘The Blessed Virgin Mary’ Category

SACRED ART MADE REAL FROM SPAIN AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

LANDMARK EXHIBITION TO EXPLORE IMPACT OF LIFELIKE RELIGIOUS SCULPTURES ON PAINTINGS FROM BAROQUE SPAIN, ON VIEW AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
FEBRUARY 28-MAY 31, 2010

Attributed to Juan Martinez Montañés
Immaculate Conception (la Purisma), about 1628
polychromed wood
University of Seville

(Updated December 11, 2009) Washington, DC— Arrestingly real sculptures and paintings of the saints, the Immaculate Conception, and the Passion of Christ are among some 20 Spanish masterpieces of the 17th century on view in a landmark exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, from February 28 through May 31, 2010.The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture, 1600-1700 will showcase major paintings by Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Zurbarán, and Francisco Pacheco, with painted and gilded sculptures carved by Gregorio Fernández, Juan Martínez Montañés, and Pedro de Mena, among others.

The exhibition will also reveal the dynamic and intricate relationship between two-dimensional pictures on canvas and painted sculptures that has long been noted by scholars but little known by the general public. Many of the sculptures have never been exhibited away from the Spanish churches, convents, and monasteries where they continue to be venerated and to inspire the faithful.

“We hope that this exhibition will convey the artistic excellence and spiritual profundity of Spanish art to our visitors,” said Earl A. Powell III. “We are grateful to the museums and Spanish ecclesiastical institutions that have agreed to lend these exceptional works of art, which together provide an illuminating and powerful experience.”

The Sacred Made Real is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and National Gallery, London, where it will be on view from October 21, 2009, through January 24, 2010.

Michelangelo’s Madonna Della Pieta

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Growing up Michelangelo was my favorite artist of the Italian Renaissance period. His beautiful sculptures and fresco paintings in the Sistine Chapel are breathtaking. The most beloved piece of art and greatest sculptures ever is the Pieta in St Peter’s Basilica who brings millions every year. We are fortunate to have in our museums collection Michelangelo’s Madonna Della Pieta.

“My eyes longing for beautiful things together with my soul longing for salvation have no other power to ascend to heaven than the contemplation of beautiful things”

Michelangelo Buonarroti


Written by Christina Cox

Our Lady of Fatima

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Pope John Paul 2 praying to Our Lady of FatimaOur Lady of Fatima Shrine Vandalized

1/13/2010

Zenit News Agency (www.zenit.org)

The graffiti includes the words Islam, moon, sun, Muslim and mosque.In the John Paul II Plaza, statutes of Popes John Paul II and Paul VI were painted.
An outside Prayer Service at Fatima
An outside Prayer Service at Fatima
FATIMA, Portugal (Zenit.org) – The church of the Holy Trinity and four statues at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima were vandalized early Sunday morning.

In a press release Monday, officials from the shrine announced that in the early hours of Sunday morning, four statutes on the sides of the church as well as the church itself were painted with graffiti.

In the John Paul II Plaza, statutes of Popes John Paul II and Paul VI were painted. In the Pius XII Plaza, statues of Pope Pius XII and Bishop José Alves Correia da Silva were painted.

The graffiti includes the words “Islam,” “moon,” “sun,” “Muslim” and “mosque.”

According to the statement from shrine officials, “the difficult work of cleaning” is under way.

The communiqué added: “In reporting what has happened and without knowing who has done this, the shrine [officials] confirm [our] sadness and assure that the issue has been reported to the police.”

New Years Day is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Friday, January 1st, 2010

theotokosvladthumbThe origins of a feast celebrating Mary’s divine maternity are obscure, but there is some evidence of ancient feasts commemorating Mary’s role as theotokos. Around 500 AD the Eastern Church celebrated a “Day of the Theotokos” either before or after Christmas. This celebration eventually evolved into a Marian feast on December 26th in the Byzantine calendar and January 16th in the Coptic calendar. In the West, Christmas has generally been celebrated with an octave, an eight day extension of the feast. The Gregorian and Roman calendars of the 7th century mark the Christmas octave day with a strong Marian emphasis. However, eventually in the West, the eighth day of the octave of Christmas was celebrated as the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus. The push for an official feast day celebrating Mary’s divine maternity started in Portugal, and in 1751 Pope Benedict XIV allowed Portugal’s churches to celebrate Mary’s divine maternity on the first Sunday in May. The feast was eventually extended to other countries, and by 1914 was being celebrated on October 11. The feast of Mary’s divine maternity became a universal feast in 1931.

However, following Vatican II, Pope Paul VI decided to change the feast of Jesus’ Circumcision to the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God to reclaim the ancient Western Marian emphasis at the end of the Octave of Christmas. Celebrating Mary’s divine maternity during the Christmas octave makes complete sense in that the celebration is connected closely to Christ’s birth. Pope Paul VI gave his reasoning for the change:

In the revised arrangement of the Christmas season, we should all turn with one mind to the restored solemnity of the Mother of God. This feast was entered into the calendar in the liturgy of the city of Rome for the first day of January. The purpose of the celebration is to honor the role of Mary in the mystery of salvation and at the same time to sing the praises of the unique dignity thus coming to “the Holy Mother…through whom we have been given the gift of the Author of life.” This same solemnity also offers an excellent opportunity to renew the adoration rightfully to be shown to the newborn Prince of Peace, as we once again hear the good tidings of great joy and pray to God, through the intercession of the Queen of Peace, for the priceless gift of peace. Because of these considerations and the fact that the octave of Christmas coincides with a day of hope, New Year’s Day, we have assigned to it the observance of the World Day of Peace (Paul VI, Marialis Cultus, Feb. 2, 1974, no.5).

Thus Pope Paul VI highlighted the feast’s celebration of both Mary and Jesus. He also noted the connection to New Year’s Day and Mary’s role as Queen of Peace. January 1st, the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God is also the observed “World Day of Peace.”

The Feast Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

We always celebrate the feast with a mass and then mexican food and dance. Here is painting created by American- Mexican artist Fred Villanueva of the “Patroness and Oueen of America and Mexico.DSCF0340

 

Why the name “of Guadalupe”?

Our Lady against the serpentRose“Then the uncle manifested that it was true that on that occasion he became well and that he had seen her in the same manner as she had appeared to his nephew, knowing through her that she had sent him to Mexico to see the bishop. Also, the Lady told him that when he would go to see the bishop, to reveal to him what he had seen and to explain the miraculous manner in which she had cured him, and that she would properly be named, and known as the blessed Image, the ever-virgin Holy Mary of Guadalupe.”(Nican Mopohua)

 

Why would the Blessed Virgin Mary appearing to a Native American of the recently conquered Aztec empire, and speaking to him in the native Nahuatl language, call herself “of Guadalupe”, a Spanish name? 
Did she want to be called “de Guadalupe” because of the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Estremadura, Spain?
In all apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary she identified herself as the Virgin Mary and phrases like Mother of God or another of Her Titles, and was later usually known by the name of the place or region where she appeared (Lourdes, Fatima).
So why should Mary, when appearing to a Native American in recently invaded Mesoamerica and speaking in the local language, want to be named with the Spanish name of Guadalupe?
Was she referring to the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, that was given by Pope Gregory the Great to the Bishop of Seville, Spain, was lost for 600 years and was found in 1326 by a cowherd named Gil Cordero guided by an apparition of Our Lady? This statue was named Guadalupe for the village located near the place of discovery.
The origin of the name Guadalupe has always been a matter of controversy. It is nevertheless believed that the name came about because of the translation from Nahuatl to Spanish of the words used by the Virgin during the apparition to Juan Bernardino, the ailing uncle of Juan Diego.
Some believe that Our Lady used the Aztec Nahuatl word of coatlaxopeuh which is pronounced “quatlasupe” and sounds remarkably like the Spanish wordGuadalupeCoa meaning serpenttla being the noun ending which can be interpreted as “the“, while xopeuh means to crush or stamp out. So Our Lady must have called herself the one “who crushes the serpent.”

Aztec human sacrifice
Aztec illustration. Human sacrifice to a blood thirsty god.

We must sadly remember that the Aztec priest class executed annually at least 50,000 inhabitans of the land, men, women and children, in human sacrifices to their gods. In 1487, just in a single 4 days long ceremony for the dedication of a new temple in Tenochtitlan, some 80,000 captives were killed in human sacrifice. The same practices, which in most cases included the cannibalism of the victims limbs, were common also in earlier Mesoamerican cultures, with widespread Olmec, Toltec and Maya human sacrificing rituals.

Temple Serpent
Serpent-god decorating Mesoamerican temple.

An almost universal symbol of that religion was the serpent. The temples were richly decorated with snakes. Human sacrifices were heralded by the prolonged beating of huge drums made of the skins of huge snakes, which could be heard two miles away. Nowhere else in human history had Satan, the ancient serpent, so formalized his worship with so many of his own actual symbols. 
Certainly, in this case She crushed the serpent, and few years later millions of the natives converted to Christianity.

 

October is the Month of the Rosary

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

images-7images-6

There is nothing more powerful than prayer! Many of us say our prayers before we go to sleep. Some of us pray when we wake up and say Good Morning Lord, I am wishing for a good day today. I keep a cassette tape in my car of the Rosary for my trips from NYC to Washington, DC. I would like to share with all of you this great website called www.comepraytherosary.com. It is a great way to say your rosary at your computer while watching beautiful pictures if Jerusalem. You are also joined by others around the world in prayer. Pray for peace, pray for your loved ones and give God thanks and praise. When you focus on the Lord everything better, knowing he is there for you. I receive e-mails everyday from people from all over the world. My answer to most questions are are you tuned in? Are you praying several times a day? Long or short, everyday there is time for God. These are two of my favorite paintings by Bartolome Murillo (1599-1682) called  ”The Madonna of the Rosary” which hangs in the Prada Museum in Spain and “The Virgin Presenting the Rosary to St Dominic.”