Pastor Nick Park, executive director of the #EvangelicalAlliance Ireland, said #EnochBurke’s disrespectful treatment of “everyone” led to his incarceration.
The Evangelical Alliance are #fundamentalist headbangers and #transphobes. They share Burke's obsession with "#BiologicalSex", which is a hilarious stance for a religion based on #immaculateConception. 🤣
But the #BurkeFamily antics are too much for even the #EA.
screenshot from https://archive.is/H9qqb
St. Anne
According to Christian tradition, St. Anne was the mom of the Virgin Mary, wife of St. Joachim, & was Jesus’ maternal grandma.
Her name isn’t in the Bible’s canonical Gospels. In writing, Anne’s name, & Joachim’s come from New Testament apocrypha. The Gospel of Thomas (written circa 150 AD) seems to be the earliest that mentions them. She’s mentioned in the Quran, but not by name.
The Immaculate Conception was eventually made dogma by the Catholic Church following an increased devotion to Anne in the 12th century. In Eastern Christianity dedications start as early as 6th century.
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Anne & Joachim are attributed to the title Ancestor of God. Both the Nativity of Mary & the Presentation of Mary are celebrated as 2 of the 12 Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church.
The Dormition of Anne is also a minor feast in Eastern Christianity. In Lutheranism, it’s believed that Martin Luther chose to enter religious life as an Augustinian friar after invoking St. Anne was jeopardized by lightning.
In the 4th century, & in the 15th century, a belief arose that Mary was conceived of Anne without original sin. The Immaculate Conception is often confused with the Annunciation of the Incarnation (Mary’s virgin birth of Jesus). The 13th century Speculum Maius includes information regarding the life of St. Anne.
In the Eastern church, the veneration of Anne herself may go back as far as circa 550, when Justinian built a church in Constantinople in her honor. The earliest pictorial sign of her veneration in the West in an 8th century fresco in the church of Santa Maria Antique, Rome.
The Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary had reached southern Italy by the 9th century. In the Latin Church, St. Anne wasn’t venerated. Except, perhaps, in the south of France, before the 13th century. A shrine at Douai (in northern France) was 1 of the early centers of devotion to St. Anne in the West.
The Anna Selbdritt was a type of iconography showing 3 generations of the “Holy Family,” St. Anne, the Virgin Mary, & Jesus (grandma, mom, son). This style of iconography emphasized the humanity of Jesus. It drew on the earlier conventions of the Seat of Wisdom. (The Seat of Wisdom is/are icons/sculptures that shows the Virgin Mary is seated on a throne with Jesus, as a kid, on her lap.) This was popular in northern Germany in the 1500s.
Two well-known shrines to St. Anne is that of Ste-Anne-d’Auray in Brittany (France) & that of Ste.-Anne-de-Beaupre near the city of Quebec. The number of pilgrims to the Basilica of Ste.-Anne-de-Beaupre is the greatest of St. Anne’s Feast Day (July 26), & the Sunday before the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (September 8). In 1892, Pope Leo XIII sent a relic of St. Anne to the church.
By the middle of the 7th century, a distinct feast day, the Conception of St. Anne (Maternity of Holy Anne) celebrating Mary by St. Anne, was observed at the Monastery of St. Sabas.
It’s now known in the Greek Orthodox Church as the feast of “The Conception by St. Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos.” It’s celebrated on December 9th. In the Catholic Church, the Feast of Saints Anne & Joachim is celebrated on July 26. The alleged relics of St. Anne was brought from the Holy Land to Constantinople in 710 & was kept there in the church of St. Sophia as late as 1333.
During the 12th & 13th centuries, returning crusaders & pilgrims from the East brought St. Anne’s relics to some churches, including most famously those at Apt, in Provence, Ghent, & Chartres. St. Anne’s relics have been preserved & venerated in the many cathedrals & monasteries dedicated to her name.
For example, in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, & Greece in the semi-autonomous Mount Athos, & the city of Katerini. Duren has been the main place of pilgrimage for Anne since 1506, when Pope Julius II decreed that her relics should be kept there, after they were stolen from the church of St. Stephen in Mainz.
The Church of St. Anne in Beit Guvrin National Park was built by the Byzantines & the crusaders in the 12th century. This is known in Arabic as Khirbet Sandahanna, the mound of Maresha being called Tell Sandahanna.
St. Anne is the patroness of unmarried women, housewives, women in labor or who want to be pregnant, grandmothers, moms, & educators. She’s also a patroness of horseback riders, cabinet-makers, & miners.
As the mom of Mary, this devotion to St. Anne as the patron of miners arises from the medieval comparison between Mary & Jesus & the precious metals: gold & silver. Anne’s womb was considered the source from which these precious metals were mined.
St. Anne is the patron saint of Brittany (France); Cuenca (Ecuador); Chinandega (Nicaragua); the Mi’kmaq people of Canada; Castelbuono (Sicily); Quebec (Canada); Santa Ana (California); Norwich (Connecticut); Detroit (Michigan); Adjunta (Puerto Rico); Santa Ana & Jucuaran (El Salvador); Berlin (New Hampshire); Santa Ana Pueblo, Seama, & Taos (New Mexico); Chiclana de la Frontera, Marsaskala, Tuadela, Atarfe & Fasnia (Spain); Town of Sta Ana Province of Pampanga, Molo, Iloilo City, Balasan; Iloilo, Hagnoy, Santa Ana, Taguig City, St. Anne Shrine, Malicboy, Pagbilao, Quezon, & Malinao, Albay (Philippines); Santana (Brazil); St. Anne (Illinois); Sainte Anne Island; Baie Sainte Anne & Praslin Island (Seychelles); Bukit Mertajam & Port Klang (Malaysia); Kl’ucove (Slovakia) & South Vietnam.
The parish church of Vatican City is Sant’ Anna dei Palafrenieri. There’s a shrine dedicated to St. Anne in the Woods in Bristol, United Kingdom.
Anne is also revered in Islam, recognized as a highly spiritual woman & as the mom of Mary. She’s not named in the Quran. She’s called “the wife of Imran.” The Quran describes her remaining childless until old age. One day, Anne saw a bird feeding its young while sitting in the shade of a tree, which awakened her desire to have kids of her own.
She prayed for a kid & eventually conceived. Imran, her husband, died before the kid was born. Anne expected the unborn kid to be a boy, so she vowed to dedicate “him” to isolation & service in the Second Temple.
Anne had a daughter (Mary) instead. Anne named her: Mary. Anne’s words upon delivering Mary reflect as a great mystic, realizing that while she’d had wanted a son, this daughter was God’s gift to her.
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Interesting perspective of the day: Mary was most likely between 12 and 15 years old when she gave birth to Jesus.
#christmas #immaculateconception
The miracle of Jesus’s conception
... that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:19
#faith #ImmaculateConception #jesus #Messiah #salvation #virginbirth
https://lightforthelastdays.co.uk/articles/jesus-and-judaism/the-miracle-of-jesuss-conception/
#Television #Amusement #SaulGoodman #WalterWhite #ABQ
#VinceGilliganWasRight #WGA 2025 /\ Inner Reaches of Outer Space RNA metaphors of #Eden pregnancy of #MotherMary #ScienceFiction #MonoMyth #ImmaculateConception Kepler-22B
Lewistown's Festival of Ice has taken place for thirty years, and shows off our beautiful downtown. #festivalofice #icefestival #ice #lewistown #smalltown #allamericancity #christmaslights #holidaylights #holiday #kwanzaa #hanukkah #paganyule #immaculateconception #BodhiDay
Quote of the day, 8 December: Blessed Marie-Eugène
The Holy Church has established a feast to praise and thank God for the marvel of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. The Immaculate Conception is, indeed, an exception to this law of misery and privation that strikes all humanity coming into this world since the fall of our first parents.
At Mass, the holy Church had us read, in the Book of Wisdom, the passages that concern in a special way the Word of God—the Wisdom of God—always present before the gaze of the Most Holy Trinity before anything existed, and present as He created all things.
This assimilation of the Virgin Mary to divine Wisdom shows us that, from all eternity, when God was bringing forth His creative work, His contemplation did not rest only upon the distant vision of the Incarnate Word and His Church—His masterpiece, the end of all things, the goal of His creation. Already, He was distinguishing, in a clear and precise way, this Immaculate Conception whose realization filled Him with joy in advance.
Let us enter into this joy of God, which we sense in these passages from the Book of Wisdom. God rejoiced beforehand, and He rejoiced immeasurably when His work was accomplished. In doing so, He affirmed His power—the power of His Love and His mercy. Let us rejoice today in the joy of God. And let us also offer our congratulations to the Blessed Virgin in her joy.
Did she realize the privileges she had received? Perhaps not. The Virgin was so humble, so simple; the light within her was so pure that she scarcely perceived she could ever have been stained. She hardly saw how she had been preserved. But now, in heaven, she certainly sees it; today she sings the mercy of God. Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Saint John of the Cross—they all sang this mercy, just as we ourselves sing it.
On certain days of grace, we feel in a special way the weight of God’s grace upon our souls. The Virgin sang it; let us unite ourselves to her canticle of thanksgiving. We will offer the merits of the Sacrifice of the Mass to help her, in a certain way, to sing even more perfectly this glory of God and her gratitude toward the Eternal One.
Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus
La Vierge Marie Toute Mère, “Marvel of Mercy” (excerpt)
Marie-Eugène de l’Enfant-Jésus, B & Centre Notre-Dame de Vie 1988, La Vierge Marie Toute Mère, Editions du Carmel, Toulouse.
Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: This cope hood featuring an image of Mary Immaculate was created ca. 1850 by the Dominican Sisters of St Catherine of Siena in Staffordshire, England. Image credit: Lawrence Lew OP (Some rights reserved)
#blessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #gratitude #immaculateConception #joy #mercy2
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception honors Mary, full of grace 🌿. From her conception, God kept her free from original sin so she could bear His Son 🙏.
Her humility and faith make her a model for us all. As we honor her on December 8, we thank God for His mercy and the gift of Mary’s “yes” ✨.
https://young-catholics.com/442/immaculate-conception-blessed-virgin-mary
Today's poem:
Duns Scotus's Oxford
- by Gerard Manley Hopkins
https://www.tumblr.com/ukdamo/796013190436749312/duns-scotuss-oxford?source=share
#poetry #ImmaculateConception #JohnDunsScotus #GerardManleyHopkins
It's pathetic and ridiculous it's necessary.... but can you spot a penis anywhere?? After pulling an allnighter?? That's how much I'm not the same person as my half-sibling.... #aphrodite #ivf #immaculateconception
Mariology
This is the Christian theological study of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. Mariology looks to relate doctrine/dogma about Mary to other doctrine of the faith, like those concerning Jesus & notions about redemption, intercession, & grace.
Christian Mariology looks to place the role of the historic Mary in the context of Scripture, tradition, & the teachings of the Church of Mary. In terms of social history, Mariology may be broadly defined as the study of devotion to & thinking about Mary throughout the history of Christianity.
There’s a variety of Christian, & non-Christian, views on Mary as a figure ranging from the focus on the veneration of Mary in Roman Catholic Mariology to criticism of “mariolatry” as a form of idolatry.
As a field of theology, the most substantial developments in Mariology, & the founding of specific centers devoted to its study. In recent centuries, it’s taken place within the Roman Catholic Mariology.
The Eastern Orthodox ideas, & veneration, of Mary are integral to the rite as a whole (theotokos). They’re mostly expressed in liturgy. The veneration of Mary is said to permeate, in a way, the entire life of the Church as a “dimension” of dogma, as well as piety, of Christology as well as of Ecclesiology.
While similar to the Roman Catholic view, barring some minor differences, the Orthodox don’t see a need for a separate academic discipline of Mariology, as the Mother of God is seen as the self-evident apogee of God’s human creation. Apogee is the highest point in the development of something.
A significant number of Marian publications were written in the 20th century. Theologians Raimondo Spiazzi & Gabriel Roschini produced 2,500 & 900 publications respectively.
Over the centuries, Roman Catholic Mariology has been shaped by various forces ranging from sensus fidelium to Marian apparitions to the writing of saints to reflection by theologians & papal encyclicals. Encyclicals are papal letters sent to all bishops of the Roman Catholic Church.
Eastern Orthodox theology calls Mary “the Theotokos” or the God bearer. The virginal motherhood of Mary is at the center of Orthodox Mariology. The title of Ever Virgin is/was given to Mary. The Orthodox Mariology approach emphasizes the sublime holiness of Mary, her share in redemption, & her role as a mediator of grace.
Eastern Orthodox mariological thought goes back as far as St. John Damascene, who in the 8th century, wrote on the mediative role of Mary & one the Dormition of the Mother of God. Dormition is from the Latin “dormine” meaning to sleep. This is in reference to the death & subsequent assumption into Heaven to Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Eastern Christianity & some other churches.
In the 14th century, Orthodox Mariology began to flourish among Byzantine theologians who held a cosmic view of Mariology. This puts Jesus & Mary together at the center of the cosmos & saw them as the goal of world history.
More recently, the Eastern Orthodox Mariology achieved a renewal among 20th century theologians in Russia. Mary is the heart of the Church & the center of creation. Unlike the Catholic approach, Eastern Orthodox Mariology doesn’t support the Immaculate Conception Mary. Before the 20th century, Eastern Orthodox Mariology was almost entirely liturgical. It didn’t have any systematic presentation similar to Roman Catholic Mariology.
Protestant views on Mary differ between different denominations. Focus is generally on interpretations of Mary in the Bible, the Apostles’ Creed (which professes the Virgin Birth), & the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431, which called Mary the Mother of God. Some early Protestants created Marian art & allowed limited forms of Marian veneration. Most Protestants today don’t share the veneration of Mary as practiced by Roman Catholics & Eastern Orthodox. Martin Luther, John Calvin, & Karl Barth’s views on Mary, & others have contributed to modern Protestant views.
Anglican Marian theology varies greatly from the Anglo-Catholic, which are very close to Roman Catholic views. The Anglican Church formally celebrates 6 Marian feast days: the Annunciation (March 25), Visitation (May 31), Day of Mary/Assumption or dormition (August 15), Nativity of Mary (September 8), Our Lady of Walsingham (October 15), & Mary’s Conception (December 8). Anglicans, with some other Protestants, teach the Marian dogmas of divine maternity & the virgin birth of Jesus. Even though there’s no systematic agreed upon Mariology among diverse parts of the Anglican Communion. The role of Mary as a mediator is accepted by some groups of modern Anglican theology.
Lutheran Mariology is informed by the Augsburg Confession & honors Mary as “the most blessed Mother of God, the most blessed Virgin Mary, & the Mother of Christ.” The Lutheran Churches, asserts the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary.
The Oriental Orthodox Churches regard Mary as the highest of saints & the Theotokos. They also celebrated a variety of Marian feast days.
In the Islamic perception of the Virgin Mary (known as Maryam in Arabic), she’s an extremely pious & chaste woman who miraculously gave birth, while still a virgin, to the prophet Jesus (called Isa in Arabic). Mary is the only woman named specifically in the Quran. The 19th chapter of the Quran, which is named after her, begins with 2 narrations of a “miraculous birth.”
The First Council of Ephesus, in 431, formally approved devotion to Mary as the Theotokos. Its use implies that Jesus, whom Mary gave birth to, is God. Nestorians preferred Christotokos, meaning “Christ-bearer” or “Mother of the Messiah”, not because they denied Jesus’ divinity. But because they believed that since God the Son, or Logos, existed before time & before Mary. Jesus took divinity from God the Father & humanity from His mom. So calling her “Mother of God” was confusing & perhaps heretical. Others at the council believed that denying the Theotokos title would carry with it the implication that Jesus wasn’t divine.
The Council of Ephesus also approved the creation of icons having the images of the Virgin & child. Devotion to Mary was already widespread before this point. This is reflected in the fresco depictions of Mother & child win the Roman catacombs.
Mary, as the 1st Christian saint & Mother of Jesus, was deemed to be a compassionate mediator between suffering mankind & her son, Jesus, who’s seen as a king & judge.
In the East, devotion to Mary blossomed in the 6th century under official patronage & imperial promotion of the Court of Constantinople. The popularity of Mary as an individual object of devotion only became in the 5th century with the appearance of apocryphal versions of her life, interest in her relics, & the 1st churches dedicated in her name. Like St. Maria Maggiore in Rome.
Since the writing of the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James, various beliefs have circulated concerning Mary’s own conception. This led, eventually, to the Roman Catholic Church dogma. It was formally established in the 19th century of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. This exempts her from original sin. This story goes: When Mary’s mom got pregnant with her, it was an Immaculate Conception. So when Mary was born, she was free from original sin. After Mary was born, she was sent to the Temple to live, so she wouldn’t get corrupted by the world. So Mary could be pure to have Jesus.
Roman Catholic & Eastern Orthodox teaching also extends to the end of Mary’s life ending with the Assumption of Mary. This was formally established as dogma in 1950 & the Dormition of the Mother of God respectively.
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#19thCentury #20thCentury #431 #5thCentury #6thCentury #8thCentury #Anglican #AnglicanCommunion #Apocryphal #Apogee #ApostlesCreed #Arabic #Assumption #AssumptionOfMary #AugsburgConfession #August15 #bible #Bishops #Byzantine #ChristBearer #Christian #Christianity #Christotokos #Churches #CourtOfConstantinople #December8 #Dogma #Dormition #EasternOrthodox #Ecclesiology #EcumenicalCouncilOfEphesus #Encyclical #EverVirgin #FirstCouncilOfEphesus #GabrielRoschini #GodBearer #Idolatry #ImmaculateConception #Isa #Islam #Jesus #JohnCalvin #KarlBarth #King #Liturgy #Logos #Lutheran #March25 #Mariology #MartinLuther #MarySImmaculateConception #Maryam #May31 #MotherOfGod #MotherOfTheMessiah #Nativity #Nestorians #October15 #OrientalOrthodoxChurch #OriginalSin #Papal #PerpetualVirginityOfMary #Prophet #Protestant #Quran #RaimondoSpiazzi #relics #RomanCatholicChurch #Rome #Russia #Saint #Saints #SensusFidelium #September8 #StJohnDamascene #TheAnnunciation #TheProtoevangeliumOfJames #Theolgians #Theotokos #Veneration #VirginBirth #VirginMary #Walsingham
Quote of the day, 23 July: Blessed Marie-Eugène
The Holy Church has established a feast to praise and thank God for the marvel of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. The Immaculate Conception is, indeed, an exception to this law of misery and privation that strikes all humanity coming into this world since the fall of our first parents.
Through their fault, our first parents lost for themselves and for all their descendants the privileges of preternatural gifts as well as supernatural gifts. God reacts with his mercy. He had already foreseen this fall, this fault: it was directed toward new outpourings of his mercy.
What will these new outpourings be? They are the great mysteries of the Incarnation, of the Redemption, and of the Church, mysteries that will ensure the salvation of humanity, its return to God.
Before accomplishing these mysteries, God wanted to prepare his work. He caused to spring forth a marvel of purity and integrity from this mud in which humanity was plunged (so to speak). This is the Virgin Mary. The sun will rise: it is the Word who becomes incarnate, the God-Man.
We do not see the infinity proper to God in this prodigy, only that which is created in the Virgin. But this creation exists in all its fullness and beauty: it is the integrity of her body, her human nature in which there is no stain or shadow.
We find a fullness of created grace in this resplendent human nature. It is already a marvel for the angels of heaven, and for all those who contemplate her directly with the power of vision of the lumen gloriae [light of glory]. Only this power, which allows them to penetrate the depths of the Holy Trinity, can uncover all the Virgin’s beauty. Also, the angel will come as if in ecstasy, admiring, to greet the Virgin and say to her, “You are full of grace.” She is full of human grace and full of divine grace.
Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus
Merveille de la Miséricorde
Marie-Eugène de l’Enfant-Jésus, B & Centre Notre-Dame de Vie 1988, La Vierge Marie Toute Mère, Editions du Carmel, Toulouse.
Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: Detail from Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, The Immaculate Conception, 1767–1769, oil on canvas, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado. Image credit: © Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado (used by permission).
#BlessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #BlessedVirginMary #ImmaculateConception #mercy #MotherOfDivineGrace
#ImmaculateConception by #LingLingHuang is featured in last Thursday's #newbooks roundup! Also, come catch us at the Bay Area Book Festival June 1!!
Full video: https://youtu.be/nS1r3F8-b7c
Buy the books: https://tinyurl.com/4n4mwyu9
Fundraiser: igg.me/at/locusmag2025
ALL LINKS IN BIO!
The Immaculate Conception captivates with its dynamic arrangement and exquisite detailing. Crafted by Johann Pieter Wagner, it symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. How does this piece resonate with your views on faith and artistic expression?
#ClevelandArt #RenaissanceArt #ImmaculateConception
https://clevelandart.org/art/1963.674
Quote of the day, 9 December: Silvio José Báez, ocd
In Mary’s life, the grace of God, which had filled her from the first moment of her being, was not “received in vain” (cf. 2 Cor 6:1). She was always “full of grace,” the “tota pulchra,” as we call her in the Marian antiphon.
What is the secret behind the beauty of Mary’s life? The Virgin Mary was the transparency of God.
Mary used to listen to God and spent much time in dialogue with Him. “The Word of God was her secret: close to her heart, it then became flesh in her womb. By dwelling with God, in dialogue with him in every circumstance, Mary made her life beautiful.” (Pope Francis, Angelus, 8 December 2017).
It is not the outward appearance that makes a person beautiful. What makes a life beautiful is having a heart that is open to God, docile to God, and full of God.
Beauty is like the gleam of harmony. It is essential to the notion of the beautiful that beauty should be united to truth and goodness. The irradiation of that harmony between truth and goodness is beauty.
God is supreme goodness, supreme truth, and supreme beauty, which in Christ has been fully revealed as redeeming love. The famous Russian writer Dostoyevsky said that beauty would save the world. Beauty awakens our spirituality, brings out the best in us, captivates us, makes us transcend the merely material, and makes us enter the world of generosity and contemplation.
Unfortunately, many people are deprived of beauty because where sin breaks down dialogue with God and distances us from love, beauty disappears. For this reason, we must turn our eyes to Mary, whose beautiful, luminous, inspiring existence continues to attract us, the disciples of her Son, who contemplate in her the best realization of the Gospel and the ideal of the Church’s vocation.
The Virgin Mary, the “all beautiful,” the “full of grace,” is the creature in whom the paschal beauty of the new life of the Risen Lord was reflected in the purest way.
Silvio José Báez, o.c.d.
Auxiliary Bishop of Managua
Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s majestic image of The Immaculate Conception was part of a cycle of seven altarpieces commissioned in 1767 for the new royal church of San Pascual Bailón at Aranjuez, founded by Charles III in the same year. The symbols in the altarpiece refer to the virtues and significance of the Virgin. She vindicates the original weakness of Eve by trampling on the serpent. The palm tree symbolizes her victory and exaltation and the mirror symbolizes her freedom from all stain. The crescent moon and twelve stars refer to the Woman of the Apocalypse (Rev 12:1-10), while the crescent itself is an ancient symbol of chastity. At the same time, the moon’s light derives from the sun, just as the special grace of Mary derives from the merits of Christ. The shimmering profile of an obelisk shape in the background is a further reference to traditional symbols associated with the Immaculate Conception—the Tower of David and the Tower of Ivory—with their evocations of impregnability, virginity, and purity. Image credit: Copyright ©Museo Nacional del Prado (Public domain)
#beauty #BishopSilvioJoséBáez #BlessedVirginMary #God #homily #ImmaculateConception #inspiration #spirituality
Mary Immaculate, the "all beautiful," reflected God's grace in its fullness. Bishop Silvio José Báez says she was the "transparency of God."#ImmaculateConception
Today is a National Holyday in Italy!
🎉
We celebrate a couple having sex more than two thousands years ago!
🎊
Congratulations to Anne and Joachim!
I hope you had fun.
🥳
Quote of the day, 7 December: St. Teresa of Avila
Her undaunted spirit first began to show signs of itself when she was only seven and decided to set off with her brother Rodrigo for the land of the Moors to have her head cut off for Christ.
Kieran Kavanaugh, o.c.d.
The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Introduction
My brothers and sisters did not in any way hold me back from the service of God. I had one brother about my age. We used to get together to read the lives of the saints. (He was the one I liked most, although I had great love for them all and they for me). When I considered the martyrdoms the saints suffered for God, it seemed to me that the price they paid for going to enjoy God was very cheap, and I greatly desired to die in the same way. I did not want this on account of the love I felt for God but to get to enjoy very quickly the wonderful things I read there were in heaven. And my brother and I discussed together the means we should take to achieve this. We agreed to go off to the land of the Moors and beg them, out of love of God, to cut off our heads there.
Saint Teresa of Avila
The Book of Her Life, ch. 1, no. 4
The Fascinating Story of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of El Viejo
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of El Viejo is the patroness of Nicaragua. The town of El Viejo was named in honor of one of St. Teresa of Avila’s brothers, who lived there in his old age. Many accounts suggest it was her brother Rodrigo.
Rodrigo shared one of St. Teresa’s earliest spiritual adventures. At seven years old, the young Teresa believed the quickest way to heaven was to travel to Moorish lands and be martyred for the faith. She persuaded Rodrigo, four years her senior, to embark on this mission with her. Thankfully, their uncle found the siblings and brought them back to their parents, much to the relief of their family—and the entire Church.
Saint Teresa and Her Brother Leave for Moorish LandsDecades later, Rodrigo, now an elderly man, traveled to Central America. He intended to go to Peru, but a storm forced his ship to land, and Rodrigo ended up in Chamulpa, Nicaragua, where he stayed.
When Rodrigo set sail for the Americas, he brought with him a statue of the Blessed Mother, believed to have belonged to St. Teresa. The people of Chamulpa quickly developed a deep devotion to the statue and were disappointed when Rodrigo decided to continue his journey to Peru, taking the statue with him. Once again, bad weather intervened, forcing the ship to return to Nicaragua with the statue.
This event convinced the people of Nicaragua that Our Lady had chosen them and desired to remain among them. The town of Chamulpa was later renamed El Viejo in honor of Rodrigo.
The statue first arrived in Nicaragua in the 16th century. It was solemnly crowned by the people in 1747. Pope John Paul II approved its papal coronation in 1989 and granted the shrine the status of a Minor Basilica in 1995. In 2001, the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference declared her the country’s patroness.
Shrine Basilica of the Immaculate ConceptionDocuments linking the statue to St. Teresa of Avila and her family date back to the early 17th century. While most versions of the story agree on its essential details, some differ—such as whether Rodrigo reached Peru or remained in Nicaragua with the statue until his death. One version attributes the story to Lorenzo de Cepeda y Ahumada, another of St. Teresa’s brothers, who is said to have brought the statue to Nicaragua.
Even though the exact details remain uncertain, the connection between the statue and St. Teresa’s family is well-established.
When the image found its home in Chamulpa, local Franciscan friars encouraged people to visit the statue and bring it offerings of sweets and fruit. Over time, the blessings and favors received through Our Lady’s intercession far surpassed these simple gestures. To this day, local sweets are distributed to children every December 8 in honor of the Immaculate Conception of El Viejo.
Immaculate Conception of El Viejo, pray for us!
Ellen Mady, Aleteia
¿Conoces la conexión entre santa Teresa de Ávila, Nuestra Señora, y Nicaragua?
Aleteia, 8 March 2018
Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: The Immaculate Conception by Italian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770) was one of the last paintings created by Tiepolo before his death. This majestic image was part of a cycle of seven altarpieces commissioned in 1767 for the new royal church of San Pascual Bailón at Aranjuez, founded by Charles III in the same year. The anonymous portrait of St. Teresa comes from the 16th century. They both flank the traditional blue and white flag of Nicaragua. Image credits: Museo del Prado, Discalced Carmelites (Public domain)
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Immaculate Conception of El Viejo, patroness of Nicaragua: A statue tied to St. Teresa’s family, devotion spans centuries. #ImmaculateConception
