Tres Virgen

A Virgin a Day

December 6, 2011

A Virgin a Day is a daily recognition of The Blessed Virgin Mary. It celebrates the first 12 days of December as the month leads us to the Feast Day of the Patroness of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose Feast day is celebrated on December 12th. You can see more of her image at Rebecca’s recuerda mi corazon blog. Click on any of the images in this post to enlarge and see detail.

This first print was found at the annual Mexican Independence Day Fiesta in the small town of Mesilla, New Mexico, near Las Cruces. I travel there often when I visit the land of enchantment. I love the town square and the Basilica of St. Albino. During the celebration, held in the esteemed town square, one of the vendors, a fellow named Perez, was selling prints. He had many for sale. I couldn’t resist the one shown above of Our Lady.

Called the Diez y Seis de Septiembre Fiesta, The Sixteenth of September Festival, the village of Mesilla commemorates Mexico’s independence. If you ever go, expect to catch folklorico, (folklore) dancing, mariachi music, art and religious goods vendors and authentic Mexican cuisine. You’ll have a really good time.

My usual contact for Saintly artwork when I visit Mesilla is a woman I met many years ago. She sets up a small table in the town square of Mesilla and offers her 5” X 7” paintings of Saints. Her name is Francesca de Garcia and her website is Saintly Gifts. I have four of her small paintings. One is an original of Our Lady of Guadalupe, shown here, that I traded for a Dream Catcher. On the back of each framed print comes a short story about the subject. In this case, it is the brief story about Our Lady of Guadalupe. I wrote about her last year on This Post.

Francesca Garcia, an artist friend of mine who regularly sets up shop in the town square of Mesilla, NM

Some of Francesca's artwork

Later that same day, we cruised the second hand stores and found a suitable frame for the Perez print. We still haven’t had it matted and placed in the frame, but that will happen before long. I plan on giving this to my sister as a gift to commemorate our mother.

Our Lady of Guadalupe from Francesca's collection

The Story of Juan Diego and his Vision of Gaudalupe , hand written on the back of the  print

Later in the month, on that same visit to New Mexico, we spent the night in Taos and found a gallery that had many paintings and sculptures of Los Dias de Los Muertos, the Days of the Dead, and of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This artist is a woman named Anita Rodriguez. I bought four prints from her collection that evening. Most were Los Dias themed, but one was Our Lady of Guadalupe with three soldiers standing at her feet.

The print from Anita Rodriguez

The prints came with Ms. Rodriguez’ card with contact information and a website address. I wrote to her and asked her about then significance of the soldiers with Our Lady. I mentioned in my e-mail that I was a Vietnam Veteran and one of the soldiers was wearing a black beret and the sky blue infantry braid on the shoulder. I went on to mention I was an infantry sergeant and wore these colors. Here is her response:

Hi Joe,

       The original painting was a commission by the father of one of the 3, the one with the black beret, in fact.  The purpose is to ask for the blessing of Our Lady of Guadalupe upon the 3 figures in the painting, who are presently in Iraq, to keep them safe and far from the trauma of war.  The father, a friend of mine, is to use it as an "ofrenda" or kind of visual prayer - he has placed the painting above an altar where he keeps candles lit, fresh flowers, and places objects that have meaning for him.

Anita Rodriguez

You can see the connection to this print that I have. Besides its use as an object of affection I have for Mary, it is also on our ofrenda, come November, for Los Dias de Los Muertos, as it honors the Warrior spirits that have walked before us. This has much meaning to me in my life and seems to be showing me, 40 plus years later, that Our Lady had watched over me as a nineteen year old boy when I was called to duty.

I end this Day 6 of A Virgin a Day sharing with you some of what I have collected over the few short years that I have became enthralled with Mary and her image. As I continue to understand the full meaning to me, I can’t help but to believe that the main influence came to me through my mother and her faith in Mary as the mother of God. It just took a few dozen years to manifest itself. Maybe my heart has something to do with it.

Peace

Here a Mary, There a Mary, Everywhere a Mary Mary Day 5

A Virgin a Day  

December 5, 2011

We are celebrating the first 12 days of December by posting photos and stories of Our Lady, the Virgin Mary, each day. We started on December 1st and will end on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, on December 12th. For more photos and stories, visit Rebecca's recuerda mi corazon blog.

While I was looking for fabric and came across the site I posted about for day 2 of A Virgin a Day, I also came across many other goods that used the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I certainly have seen my share of items while walking through the shops in the Southwest. In Santa Fe alone every gallery and gift shop has something in the Our Lady motif.

We were returning from New Mexico at the end of September earlier this year and spent the night in Taos. I had been there earlier that month and browsed a gallery and wanted Mrs. Spadoman to see the fabulous Los Dias de Los Muertos artwork in this one place in particular. While browsing, we discovered an artist and bought some of her prints of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which I will share in another post soon.

On another trip, six months earlier, we were strolling through the shops and galleries of Prescott, AZ. In each of these places, there was no shortage of Our Lady of Guadalupe folk art, or kitsch art, as I might call it. But I love this stuff. Hammered tin, paintings, prints, both serious and whimsical and everything in between. A lot of statues, kitchen magnets, pot holders, flags, banners, aprons, even  one depicted on an Air Freshener for the car!

Our Lady of Guadalupe Air Fresheners. I'm wondering about what scent was chosen for these. I might purchase some just to appease my curiosity

Once, I saw a picture of a gear shift knob for the car. Since we drive a manual transmission, I thought that would be the ultimate, to get a genuine Our Lady of Guadalupe gear shift knob. Just as I searched the internet to find that fabric to cover the chairs, I scoured the World Wide Web for a gear shift knob.

Our Lady of Guadalupe gear shift knobs

I found a site that sells them, but they have been out of stock. I found one on Ebay, but because of how scarce they must be, the price was way over the top. I’m still looking. What I did discover was the endless lengths to which people have gone to idolize Our Lady as This Article will attest.

My searching has brought me to more and more of this iconic figure. I quickly was overwhelmed with the choices. The door hanging with her image, like those beaded doorway coverings from the 1960’s, was something we wanted to use in a doorway of our New Mexico place. We thought it would go well with our new chair seat coverings. I found a site to order one of these but found them not to be cheap to purchase.

Our Lady of Guadalupe hanging door curtain

Shops such as Catholic to the Max and The Mary Shop are unique to non Catholics and people that never would think of “buying” Mary, but they exist for those that honor and cherish and want Our Lady to touch every part of their lives.

This Icon of the world is out there in full force. Even the last second desperation forward pass in the National Football League is called the Hail Mary pass, and its meaning is known throughout sports. Announcers use this term with the understanding that everyone watching the game or reading the sports news article knows what they are referring to.

Want more Mary in your life? You can check out the links I have strewn throughout this post and find a plethora of goods with her image, or maybe try a simple prayer. Either way, when you find yourself in times of trouble, Mother Mary will come to you and she’ll speak words of wisdom. Let that be as it may be. (Thanks John and Paul).

Peace

Sacred Earth Mother

A Virgin a Day

FROM: December 8, 2010

             Day 8 last year, Day 4 this year, 2011

This is another Repost from last year. This one represents how I feel about our connectedness to the Sacred Mother Earth. I believe the natural earth is indeed the Mother of us all and nurtures, heals and allows us to live .

Our Lady of Guagalupe

A Virgin a Day is the title of this Meme Project. It is a tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe. It started on December first and will culminate on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is December 12th.Of course I continue to dedicate all of these posts to my Mother, Carmelina Rosa Caruso Spado. A memorial to her love and devotion to her family, and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

To participate, see Rebecca’s recuerdo mi corazon blog. There, you will get more definition and instructions as well as see other’s submissions, which, If I may add, are quite fascinating, artistic, poetic and bold.

A Virgin a Day. Yes, Mother Earth. The Supreme Mother of all of us, but a virgin? Well, think of it this way. She renews herself constantly, always fresh and pure is the water that comes up in her springs, even after we pollute it with waste and chemicals, she purifies the water for our renewal. The water, the life blood, our life blood, the life blood of the Sacred Earth Mother. We do our best to pollute the water and the air, but the Earth Mother renews and allows us to breathe and drink.

We blemish her body with scars from war, mining, buildings, roads and general disregard. We heap trash onto and into her, but she contains and holds and renews for us. The soil regenerates for plant growth naturally. Ever see a place where nothing is growing? Even the rockiest and driest of all desert landscapes, or the icy netherlands of the coldest places, have life. One seed can sprout and grow a plant just as one was made into a Man God in the form of Jesus Christ from Mary’s womb. 

Mother Earth takes all of the suffering in the form of mankind’s waste and garbage, just as Mary is said to take mankind’s suffering, and gives us healing

In Northern Minnesota, they used to mine iron ore. There are huge abandoned open pit mines, not only there, but in many places on Earth. An example of the power of the Sacred Earth Mother is that these places, once scars and open wounds on Mother Earth, are tree covered beautiful places now that the mining has stopped, some with lakes teeming with fish, and habitat to protect other plant and animal species. Just as we heal from scars, just as we heal from what happens to us.

The womb of Mother Earth is everywhere. Life can and does spring forth. Try as we might to scar her, tread on her, soil her, deplete her, she rises and gives us more. There is always a place, the Sacred Earth Mother provides for us. Even the barren desert is shelter.

I can easily make a connection between The Blessed Virgin Mary and Mother Earth as one in the same. They both are Sacred. They both are the Mother of all things. One is the other, or at least epitomizes each other. 

The Blessed Virgin is steady, and has led mankind to God in her mission. She does this constantly and never fails in moving forward on that mission. Never faltering in her attempt to free mankind from bondage.

Mother Earth is the same. The sunrise is never late. Unbending intent, can be said, to show how the sun, moon and stars align in an unfaltering rhythm, day after day, year after year, millennium after millennium.

My presentation today, Day 8 of this Virgin Project, is Earth. Mother Earth. It’s part of the language. We say “Mother Earth”. She is known to most everyone by that moniker, just as Catholics and Non Catholics alike know who Our Blessed Virgin Mary is.

The Queen of Heaven is allowed to stand upon the Sacred Earth Mother

The blood, skin, bones and hair of mankind and animals, along with the plant life and decomposition make the soil. Mother Earth then, is all of us. The Universe is all of us. God is all of us, and makes no distinction. Cold makes everything cold, heat the same. Mother Earth will swallow you, whether in a box or as an ash, and we all will revert back for renewal.

The Mother of The Blessed Virgin is Mother Earth. I thank the Sacred Earth Mother for giving us so much, for giving us Mary, for giving us a Higher Power that we can see everyday in the heavens as stars at night, and the brightness of the sky in the day, for feeding us and taking away our thirst.

Think about it.

Peace

On the Road With Mary

A Virgin a Day

Day 3

Excuse me as I post this from last years A Virgin a Day

A Virgin a Day is the title of this Meme Project. It is a tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe. It started on December first and will culminate on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is December 12th. Of course I continue to dedicate all of these posts to my Mother, Carmelina Rosa Caruso Spado. A memorial to her love and devotion to her family, and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

To participate, see Rebecca’s recuerdo mi corazon blog. There, you will get more definition and instructions as well as see other’s submissions, which, If I may add, are quite fascinating, artistic, poetic and bold.

I just returned from a quick trip out East to Washington DC. That's why there are no Virgin posts from Round Circle for Days 3,4,5 and 6. So, I continue this fabulous project with Day 7. I went alone and when I wasn’t listening to the radio or singing to myself, I was thinking about whatever popped into my head. I knew that I wanted to write stories to fill in the remaining six days of, what I consider to be a great project meme, A Virgin a Day. I was reading the comments on another person’s blog, and one made by a friend of mine. She referred to my posts as Encyclopedic. I guess the others were, to a degree, and so is this one. But hopefully, I’ve added some personal flair. Certainly don’t want to get a reputation.

It wasn’t only on this latest trip that I noticed the existence of Mary on the side of the road. Mary is everywhere. Statues in Catholic cemeteries standing guard over the graves of loved ones, or in a religious goods store that might have examples from the sublime postcard to the extravagant hand painted life size plaster rendering fit for a church. You'll find her In lawn and garden shops, and at roadside vendors who sell cement statues of everything from the aforementioned Mary to a giant elephant. When In New Mexico, the displays at every garden shop and gift store is Our Lady of Guadalupe with her colorful clothing and background fan of glory.

Cement lawn ornaments being sold at the side of the road

You can find small grottoes outfitted with Our Lady by the side of the road while in the Southwest. Up here in the Northland, not so much, but I did almost pass by the Dickeyville Grotto, located in a small town in the extreme Southwestern corner of the state, close to where US Highway 61 meets the Iowa border.

This is called The Dickeyville Grotto. It sits on the grounds of The Holy Ghost Church in Dickeyville, WI

This grotto was built by Father Matthias Wernerus during a time period between 1925 and 1930. A stone mason, he used all kinds of materials from all over the world. This passage, from their website, mentions the materials used:

It is a creation in stone, mortar and bright colored objects-collected materials from all over the world. These include colored glass, gems, antique heirlooms of pottery or porcelain, stalagmites and stalactites, sea shells, starfish, petrified sea urchins and fossils, and a variety of corals, amber glass, agate, quartz, ores, such as iron, copper and lead, fool's gold, rock crystals, onyx, amethyst and coal, petrified wood and moss.

Here is a close-up example of some of the stonework.

Click to enlarge any of the photos. In this example, you can see the colorful assortment of stones used at the Dickeyville site. Quite an undertaking when you consider the size of the entire area

The grotto of the Blessed Virgin is the frontal piece of this area, situated at the side of the Holy Ghost parish church. Here is a photo of Our Lady, inside the grotto, protected under glass.

The Virgin Mother under glass at Dickeyville

Other Virgins can be seen with a keen eye while traveling through rural areas on two lane roads or in towns and cities. The statues are everywhere. Some white plaster, some painted with her majesty wearing the robin’s egg blue robe. Some people build mini grottoes to hold her, like little houses, and some buy a grotto from a store that might specialize in such matters, like Lawn Ornaments and Fountains.com.  They also have a great selection of statues of Mary

Mary in a Bathtub is a way of life

And then there is Mary in a Bathtub. I’m not going to tell you that there isn’t some humor involved, but then again, this is serious Virgin Business. Ever since Mrs. Spadoman and I got married and started traveling, we have spotted these roadside Marys. We drive a lot of small two-lane roads across the United States. Here’s how it started for us:

“Mary.” Barb said, pointing her finger in the direction of a statue in someone’s front yard.

“What? Those are everywhere.” I’d say in a matter of fact response.

Five minutes later

“Mary, Oh, and another Mary, one in a bath tub", she’d exclaim.

“So, how many have you seen today” I ask.

“I have three, you don’t have any, you better start lookin’” she taunts.

“I’m not playing this game, those are all over the place.” I say sarcastically.

“You don’t have a choice, it’s a way of life, like seeing a VW bug, Oh look, Mary in a bath tub, I have four.”

You get the idea. We don’t go anywhere and not have this competition. VW beetle automobiles, signs where someone has used a “K” where a “C” should be used and Mary/Mary in a bath tub. We have used the phrase Naked Mary, to denote no bath tub or other grotto being used, and the yard statue stands “naked”.  Of course you don’t get credit for any Marys that are seen in a cemetery or at a church, those are public domain.

Here’s a photo of a simple Mary in a grotto at someone’s home close to where I live. 

A typical rural Wisconsin roadside Mary seen displayed in a home made grotto

The Catholic religious stores and garden centers that sell lawn art usually have a plastic “aura”, or bath tub-like enclosure, that can be used with your statue, like the one seen in the photo below, more info at THIS LINK.  

You can buy this one, along with a statue of Mary, online.

It takes quite an artistic talent and a lot of brute strength and determination to use an old claw foot cast iron 350 pound bath tub, but some do it, and some make the wooden structures themselves as well. Here’s an example of a tub model from Google Images.

That's a big bath tub!

So, that’s my Virgin today. The Blessed Virgin Mary, on display, at the side of the road, along with a way of life for spotting her. I can't help but wonder how many people's lives might be transformed by the site of these simple images of the Mother of God. For that matter, I wonder if anyone else has the way of life?

By the way, as I was writing this article, I asked Mrs. Spadoman where she thought we have seen the most. Her response? Upper Peninsula Michigan in Ironwood, Bessemer and Wakefield. The area seems to be loaded with them. She’s winning, I’m sure, but no one has an actual count.

Peace

Some Art Fabric

A Virgin a Day & Haiku My Heart
December 2, 2011

Today is Day 2 of the 12 days of A Virgin a Day. Many of us will post a Virgin Mary themed post every day, starting on December 1st and culminating with the Feast Day celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, on December 12th. The common disclaimer is that this is not meant to be religious, but rather to create community with visuals and words. More posts can be seen and you can find out how to participate at Rebecca’s recuerda mi corazon blog.


It is also Friday, and that means haiku My Heart, also at Rebecca's recuerda mi corazon. I will add a Hiaku to this post and try to say what these fabrics are telling me.

Guadalupe art

Whimsical Mary visions

Decorate my heart

I’ve always enjoyed the colorful artwork of the paintings, statues and paraphernalia of the Virgin Mary. Especially Our Lady of Guadalupe. She is colorful with her oranges, blues, purples and reds. When we bought a used dinette set at the Goodwill store in Las Cruces, NM last September, we looked at the tattered seat covers and immediately thought we’d recover them.

Since this small table and chairs would be used in our Winter abode in New Mexico, we thought we’d use a common theme of the Southwest, Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was quite simple. I Googled Our Lady of Guadalupe fabric and came up with THIS SITE.

I have posted some photos of the fabric that is sold by Some Art Fabric,  which is actually a Blog! We chose one and got a couple of yards. Now that our plans have changed and there will be no Winter abode or even any Winter travel this year, I am thinking I’d like to get a shirt made from one of these Guadalupe fabrics. After all, Mrs. Spadoman has a

Guadalupe dress, as I posted last year during this Virgin Business.

Mrs. Spadoman modeling her Guadalupe dress

We’ll see. Mrs. S got a new sewing machine recently. Maybe she’ll have her first big project. We’ll both need something to keep us busy spending the Winter in the Northland. In the meantime, I’ll stay busy gathering up more “Mary Stuff” for the rest of the days leading up to the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th.

Peace