Feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe

QUEEN OF ROSES – MARY, THE EARTH’S SACRED CLOAK

No estoy yo aqui que soy tu madre?  Am I not here, I who am your mother? – San Juan Diego of Guadulupe

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

A young woman appeared in the sixteenth century to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill.

 As the story is told she was radiant with light and he was overcome by awe and fear.  She asked the Aztec man to return to his bishop and to tell him that she asks for a chapel to be built in the place that she appeared.  She also told him to climb to the top of the hill and pick of the roses that is growing there and to bring them back to her.  This was in the middle of December in the heart of winter!! It would surely be impossible for roses to be flowering on the top of the hill?  He however did find roses growing on the top of the hill, picked them and brought them back to her.  

She arranged the roses inside his cloak made of rough fibre.  He took these roses to the bishop hoping to prove to him the miracle of the Lady and Her roses that magically appeared in the middle of winter.  When he opened the cloak, the roses spilled out at the bishop’s feet and an image of the woman herself covered the inside of the garment. An even greater miracle than the roses themselves!

 A basilica was built for her on the spot where she appeared and the same image that appeared on the inside of his cloak, is still hanging in the church. Not only does this image still hang in the church, but the cloak that Juan Diego wore, made of rough cactus fibre, is still intact and also still on display.

The Lady of Guadalupe’s cloak is dark like the night sky and covered in stars.  Her robe is a rose colour, similar to a new dawn, and as in all the apparitions of Our Lady, her robe is in the style worn by pregnant mothers. Our Lady of Guadalupe, standing on the moon, upheld by the angels of creation, surrounded by the radiant rays of the sun emanating from her,  is once again ‘the woman clothed in the sun’ Rev. 7:12.  She is the Cosmic Mary Herself cloaked in the constellations and matter of Earth. 

Without the earthly cloak of the Cosmos she would be invisible as each one of us would be invisible.  And she was not the only one wearing a cloak.  Juan Diego also wore a cloak made of the plants of the Earth and this cloak is also miraculously still intact and part of the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The cloaks of earthly matter demonstrate that Juan Diego’s existence is related to the manifestation of the Cosmic Mary.  Both are made of star dust and earthly soil and green plants.  She tells us that there is no separation between spirit and matter and that the one cannot exist without the other.

blessings

Hettienne

Day Eight of Twelve Days with Mary

Pictures taken today in the Mary shrine in the garden of my studio

Today is 8 December and the

Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

I found this very interesting conversation on the Internet

by Eric Bugyis published in the Commonweal Magaize online

I share a small extract, but here is the link

https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/philosophical-reflections-immaculate-conception

Philosophical Reflections on the Immaculate Conception

This past week, I had lunch with one of my Philosophy professors, Karsten Harries, who does not self-identify as a Christian, but given his specialization in nineteenth and twentieth century German thought, is quite familiar with the tradition. Our conversation veered onto the topic of the Immaculate Conception, and he suggested that this Marian doctrine represented a curious celebration of the divinity of nature, more generally, and an elevation of the feminine, in particular, that challenged the patriarchal theology of the Church. By insisting on Mary's sinless state, he suggested, the Church recognized a Trinitarian divinization of Mary as the Mother, Daughter, and Bride of the Godhead, thereby placing Mary, a human, above one of the divine persons and on an equal footing with the other two. Indeed, he pointed out, there were icons of the Virgin that portrayed her as housing all three members of the Trinity in her womb in churches throughout Bavaria, an area whose church architecture Harries has written on extensively. (This is an image that is also repeated in the writings of female mystics like Frauenlob). 

The theological dissonance between the doctrine we affirm this December 8 and the ecclesial practice currently barring women who may be called, like Mary, to (re)conceive and give new birth to the Word of God made flesh among us should be both felt and mourned as we remember and give thanks for that first woman who said, "Yes."

Here is the link for the

Twelve Days of Mary Pilgrimage

hosted by Rebecca

http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/

Feast Day of Maria de Guadulupe

The Sacred Heart of Maria de Guadulupe

here, today

on her feast day

after having shared,

travelled together,

listened to each other's stories,

visited one another's home

even though miles across the seas.

thank you to each one who visited 

and left encouragement;

and to each one who shared

a piece of your heart

it all started with Rebecca

 

This page and this post today is dedicated to

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe,

Our Lady of Guadulupe

The Perfect Virgin, Mary of Guadulupe

Holy Night

Your Holy Light

Shines on the deserted plains of my being

You carry the lamp

That hushes my heart

As a babe in arms I become

When I hear your voice of sincerity

The Holy night answers

In silent reverence

As It witness the

Star of Love born

Returning love to my eyes

A miracle I behold

My soul is filled

With flowers of mercy,

Compassion and tenderness

Surrounded by your sacred heart.

May we meet soon again

blessings

Hettienne

Day Eleven of Sharing Mary

At St Mary's Cathedral in Bangalore,

India

Mary  is dressed in a sari.  

St Mary's Feast is held during September

and it is a festival that lasts

ten days.

Each day her sari is changed.

With thanks to Samson's Photoblog

anthony-samson.blogspot.com


Visit Rebecca at
http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/
for a feast of Mary

blessings

Day Eight of Mary a Day

 

Our Lady of the Dove - oil on canvas by Hettienne

 

 

Our ordinary lives are in fact sacred and it contains 
everything that we have been searching for.
All the sages and mystics over time have always pointed this out with stories
and poetry. But very few ever believe them.

Often one seeks the sacred and the glorious in places other than
the present, ordinary humdrum of daily living.

Often the seeking is driven by a longing to escape the humdrum
of ordinary living; or one seeks in order to prevent disaster
from striking again or to prevent the painful feelings of loss, betrayal, rejection and
death.

 But the truth of the matter is that discomfort, unhappiness, boredom, death,
dying, pain, cruelty, injustice and more is an intrinsic part of life.

 The spiritual life does not exempt us from this. Living with devotion
and spiritual awareness and faith
does not mean that we no longer feel the pain of the world.
 It is probably true to say that that the less self-centred we are, 
the less self-absorbed and the less occupied with
our own selves , the greater our sensitivity, the greater
our empathy and our compassion
with others and with all living creatures
and the deeper
 you feel the pain in the broken heart of the Mother.

 But then it is also true that he deeper and more intense we feel, 
the greater the call to add to the world in some way or another; 
not for glory and fame, nor power and money, 
but to add tenderness,
beauty, love and wisdom
 in some form to this world.

“In the turmoil of our time, we are being called to a new order of reality. Working toward that consciousness, we suffer, but our suffering opens us to the wounds of the world and the love that can heal. It is our immediate task to relate to the emerging feminine whether she comes to us in dreams, in the loss of those we love, in body disease, or in ecological distress. Each of us in our own way is being brought face to face with Her challenge.”~Marion Woodman

 

Please visit

 

 

 

 

blessings

 

 

 

 



Day Seven in the Pilgrimage of Marys

Forty days and forty nights,

she roams the desert plains.

Cloaked in tatters,

wearing her garment of grief,

lost in the wilderness of her mind.

Calling out, listening for a reply,

an echo to the walls of her heart.

Following the drumbeat

set by her feet.

Enslaved by its rhythm

always onward, forward.

Until she can no more!

She surrenders, gives in to exhaustion

willpower failing her

salt tears pooling mud

her love roots into the clay

Her bleeding heart blooms red

showers of petals set alight,

thorns sprouting a trailing vine,

paradise is found.

Poem by Hettienne http://alchemicalmarriage.blogspot.com

Painting by Hettienne ' Living Waters'

Please visit Rebecca for other offerings

on this wonderful pilgrimage of Mary.

blessings

a virgin a day, haiku my heart

It is day two of 'A virgin a day' and on 

Fridays Rebecca hosts 'Haiku my Heart'.  

What a wonderful offering.  

Today is my first time in participating in Haiku my Heart. 

 A Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry reminiscent of a Zen Koan. 

 In Japanese it has rather strict requirements

 for lines and syllables and juxtaposition.

Star of Love born

Returning beauty to my eyes

A miracle I behold

An assemblage created by myself : Hands of Compassion

To read some very proficient Haiku poets make your way to http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/2011/12/a-virgin-a-day-haiku-my-heart.html

blessings

Hettienne

A Virgin a Day

From today, the first of December till Mary's Holy Day, the twelfth, I will be sharing Her with you as part of Rebecca's A Virgin a Day at Recuerda Mi Corazon. If you want to join in, the link is here on my blog and her invitation is below.

Ave Maria

Mary, Maryam, Maria, Mares

Holy Woman

So much more

Than a head bowed down

Arrow fierce and fast

Directed at the heart

No sin of error here

Cloak of power

All-embracingly blue

Heart on fire

Flowing from the sacred well

Eternally walking on the bed of coals

You seduce me into dancing in the flames

Eyes blinded

Only the heart sees

And hears

The howling winds of compassion

Screaming through my ribcage

Cracked open

Finger by finger

Pomegranate juice flowing in my veins

Persephone’s ashes

Caked with the tears of Demeter

Entangled in the hair of Medusa

I follow where you lead

The perfume of your feet

The guiding light my holy woman

Sacred Am I

Ave Maria

You can find Recuerda Mi Corazon here http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/2011/11/a-virgin-a-day.html and here is Rebecca's beautiful invitation :

each year beginning december 1, 

i post "a virgin a day" every day until december 12,

mary's feast day.

today i am 

calling all virgins...

enchanting, traditional, contemporary, 

exotic, edgy, campy, irreverent, irresistible,

unusual, joyful, rapturous, lovely,

glorious, ordinary, astounding,

simply

bring her on!

i hope you will join me in a pilgrimage of marys.

feel free to re-post this invitation on your blog,

and link back to

recuerda mi corazon.

as december grows busier we will

quietly greet the new day one mary at a time.

mr. linky will be here to gather all the virgin sightings.

just add your name and direct link back to your virgin 

so we can effortlessly share the divine. 

***

(here's the virgin a day participation button linked to this post)

A Virgin A Day

Mary's Blessing Seeds

Our spiritual Mother, Mary, asks all of us to pray to Her regardless of our religion or culture.  She has said to many visionaries that all people are her children – her spiritual children.  Our bodies are temporary, but our spirits live forever, that is why Mother Mary is our true Divine Mother, the Mother of our Souls.  Her love for all of us is truly that of a mother who would want nothing more than to help her children.

I created these blessing seeds from ceramic clay that will deteriorate and dissolve back into Mother Earth when buried.   Each of these seeds are imprinted with the divine image of Divine Mary and thus contains Her sacred energy.

You can say a prayer whilst holding the seed in your hand, and then make a hole in the ground with your finger and plant these seeds wherever you want healing to take place.  This way you can call on Mother Mary as you walk on her earth;  you can place these at sacred places;  in your garden or at places of sadness and trauma.

Mary's Blessings Seeds are packaged with dried lavender seeds brought back from Lourdes in France, in a small voile pouch.  

Mary's Blessing Seeds are available to purchase on http://http://www.etsy.com/listing/86536820/prayers-and-blessings-mother-mary