Day Nine of Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

Photograph taken by myself during procession at Lourdes

Visionary or apparitional culture is no static force, a cultural 'given' that people can join as members.
It is dynamic, responding to contemporary political, social and religious realities
and shaping those realities, and is also shaped
by the individuals who identify themselves as Marian devotees
and visionaries.
Visionary culture is a confluence of Catholic devotions, symbols,
and traditions of innovative responses to modern
contexts of negotiations among social, religious and interpersonal
forces of the interactions of apparitions believers
and apparition doubters and of the loving
and guiding influence of Our Lady, who for believers is imminently present.
Visionary culture is a worldview, a palette of practices, an understanding
of the cosmos, a palette on which individuals paint
the stories of their lives.
              Extract from Out Lady of Emmitsburg by Jill Krebs

Photographs taken by myself during procession at Lourdes

'I realized that all the powers of the Mothers, of Tara, Durga, Kali are in Mary.

She has Tara's sublime tenderness;

Durga's inaccessible silent calm force;

the grandeur and terribilta of Kali.

But Mary is also a woman,

a poor woman

and a human mother.

In her the full path of the sacred feminine is lived.

In her we have a complete image of the Divine Mother,

an image at once transcendent and immanent,

other-worldly and this-wordly,

at once mystical and political and practical.

In Mary the Divine Mother comes to earth and lives on earth

and lives, the passionate, strong, serious,

simple and transforming life that shows us all how to live.

 Mary is the bridge between heaven and earth,

between the human and the divine worlds,

between human and divine justice."

Andrew Harvey in The Return of the Mother

Mary statue in my garden in Durbanville South Africa

A blessed feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes to you

Novena and Amulets to Our Lady of Lourdes 2018

Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

Art Novena for Lady of Lourdes - an annual tradition on Cloister of the Heart starts

3 February (the day after Candlemas or Imbolc and St Bridgid's feast day) and 

culminating on the feast day of Our Lady

of Lourdes, the Immaculate Conception on 11 February.

When one participates in a ritual (probably any ritual, but when you regard it as sacred, you add a certain 'light' to it) you are transported into a different time and space : colors are different; the light is different; everything has meaning and the ordinary become extra-ordinary. My art novena for Lourdes in particular, highlights my statement that our lives are the altar to the Divine and I strive to capture that numinosity of the sacred ritual in my photographs and altars. I only started creating sacred altars on my return from Lourdes. These small shadowboxes are vignettes, a moment in time in the life of ordinary human beings, lifted out of the mundane into the numinous, merely by seeing life as sacred. 

You can read the previous seven years' novena blog posts here :

Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes on Cloister of the Heart

This year I am creating Our Lady of Lourdes Amulet Blessing Sets

based on the Benedicaria way.

The Amulets of Mary Blessing set is a two-fold oracle, blessing 

and healing set incorporating various ancient traditions including the Benedicaria, 

the sacred path of the pilgrim and priestesshood in the Temple of Mary

and the sanctification of the ordinary through the blessing way. 

I am creating only a few Our Lady of Lourdes Amulet sets for use

in the annual novena and for every day!!. All amulet sets that I create complement the Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck.

Recently I learnt about the ancient tradition of Benedicaria and the work of a Benedetta. Although I am not born into the Italian culture, my journey as pilgrim did start in Italy with the call issued by Archangel Michael to visit his grotto in Mont Sant’Angelo and I see myself as a modern Benedetta, continuously uncovering more. 

Benedicaria, The Blessing Way

Benedicaria, the Blessing Way, is an ancient Catholic and domestic folk tradition practised by the Italians in Southern Italy. This tradition is fast fading from modern society, but many of its practises are still part of syncretic worship and devotion.

One who practices the Benedicaria, is known as a Benedetta, or a Wise Woman and a Benedetto, a Wise Man . Benedicaria is a private form of practising your religion and it blends with many domestic practises, such as the blessing of animals and herbs, infusing oils and elixers, creating an altar, using flowers and holy cards for blessings and wisdom.

Benedicaria is predominantly a woman’s practise. 

A Benedetta has much in common with the goddess archetypes of 

Demeter, Hestea, Bridgit and even Athena. 

She is the homemaker, mother, herbalist, gardener, chef and healer. 

This role is not regarded as of any importance 

in modern society, but for one who is spiritually aware and 

who undertakes these tasks with great intent, 

she understands the spiritual force that is being wielded. 

The preparing of food is not only a physical act, but a spiritual one. 

If this is done in love it will bless the family; 

if done in anger and ignorance, it will curse the family. 

The physical life and its objects are manifestations and representations of the life and existence of the spirit. Taking care of our physical life is a sacred task and when performed with intent and awareness we realise that the ordinary is indeed sacred.

The Lady of Lourdes amulet sets will contain

items that I collected during my annual visits to Lourdes,

hand cast resin holy medals (including

a cast of the Holy Chemise of Our Lady charm)

charms, holy cards, a miniature Lady of Lourdes resin

statue, a tiny vial of the healing waters of the Lourdes

spring, as well a set of 46 charms applicable to the story of Lourdes

and the Mysteries of Mary

(some of these charms will be the same as in the Amulets

of Mary set but some are completely unique)

and a Our Lady of Lourdes casting sheet with different

sections to the Mary and Goddess sets.

(All sprinkled with waters from the Lourdes spring and touched

to the relic of the Chemise of Our Lady.

The Lady of Lourdes amulet sets will be available in

my shop The French Madonna @etsy.com in the next fortnight.

Be sure to return on 3 February and follow the art novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

blessings

Hettienne

The Grotto of Massabielle in a miniature diorama

A sacred shrine in a diorama depicting the

amazing experience of being in the powerful

and healing energies of the sacred spring

at the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, France.

All the elements of the procession and devotion

to the Holy Woman, Our Lady of Lourdes,

whom appeared to Bernadette Soubirous

on many occasions, are used in this beautiful shrine.

I included one of the candles that I used during

my last pilgrimage to Lourdes during the candle lit procession

The background of the shrine is the front of the candle shield

The shrine has a replica of the image of the holy card

in tiny miniatures including Bernadette and her sheep

The shrine is dripping with Our Lady of Lourdes medals

brought back after having been dipped into the sacred

waters of the spring.

A very unusual piece of rosary with tiny images

of Our Lady and the Rose of Lourdes on each bead,

hangs down the one side.

On the back of the shrine is the Hail Mary

from the candle shield

I took this image from the internet at www.biblesetnombres.free.fr

It was taken from the top of the Basilica and it gives you an idea

of what the candle lit procession looks like.

This shrine forms part of my Our Lady of Lourdes Series

Catalogue number 385

The Grotto of Massabielle, Lourdes

Please read about my Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

and my annual pilgrimage to sacred places

And it is flying to the USA with

a bottle of water from the sacred spring

of Massabielle

My prayers are with the world, with the cities of Paris and Beirut,

with each one of us and may we find the compassion to forgive

these painful acts of violence and destruction and take the

first step towards ending the vicious cycle of hate and retaliation.

Love is the strongest and most powerful force in the world.

May Love Prevail

blessings

Hettienne