new painting
the latest painting my dad is working on. its supposed to be the 2nd or 3rd appearance of the virgin mary 2 juan diego.
juan diego was the first native mexican indian person who was declared a saint by the catholic church (but it is also said that he never even really existed).
the story goes that juan diego was walking in the mountains (his regular daily path) and the virgin mary appeared to him. he realized who she was and when she told him she wanted a shrine built on that spot he promised to tell the bishop. of course, the bishop didn't believe him. he went back and told her that no one believed him and she said he should go again and tell them. that later that day she would send a sign later that night. again he was not believed. that night his uncle got sick so he went looking for a doctor and avoided the usual path but she found him (this is what my dad is depicting in the painting) and insisted again that he should tell the bishop/people what she wanted. she told him to go cut roses from the nearby mountains even though roses were not in season and did not grow there. he went and found the roses and cut them and put them in his sarape (or robes) and showed her. she then said to go show them to the bishop/people and that she would include a sign. he showed the roses and when the roses fell to the ground, there was an image of the virgin mary on the cloth and then the bishop/people did believe and her shrine was built.
you can check out the wiki page if you are interested in more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Diego
juan diego was the first native mexican indian person who was declared a saint by the catholic church (but it is also said that he never even really existed).
the story goes that juan diego was walking in the mountains (his regular daily path) and the virgin mary appeared to him. he realized who she was and when she told him she wanted a shrine built on that spot he promised to tell the bishop. of course, the bishop didn't believe him. he went back and told her that no one believed him and she said he should go again and tell them. that later that day she would send a sign later that night. again he was not believed. that night his uncle got sick so he went looking for a doctor and avoided the usual path but she found him (this is what my dad is depicting in the painting) and insisted again that he should tell the bishop/people what she wanted. she told him to go cut roses from the nearby mountains even though roses were not in season and did not grow there. he went and found the roses and cut them and put them in his sarape (or robes) and showed her. she then said to go show them to the bishop/people and that she would include a sign. he showed the roses and when the roses fell to the ground, there was an image of the virgin mary on the cloth and then the bishop/people did believe and her shrine was built.
you can check out the wiki page if you are interested in more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Diego