Guadalupe and Linguistics

Posted on December 12, 2024 by Friar Musings

Today it is common to find villages, towns, cities, and even districts in Mexico, Central and South America named “Guadalupe.” But in the year 1531 there was no such place in Mexico. So, I have always wondered why the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to as “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” It is an interesting story of linguistic misunderstanding.

Guadalupe is the name of an area, a city, a river, and a Marian shrine in Spain. The word itself comes from a mixture of Arabic and Latin roots. Remember that Spain was occupied in part and whole by an Islamic regime from 720 CE until 1492 CE, hence many words have Arabic origin. The Arabic wadi (seasonal river bed) became the Spanish “quadi” having the same meaning. “Quadi” seems to have been combined with the Latin lupus (wolf) to come up with Guadalupe.

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The Many Faces of Our Mother

Posted on December 12, 2023 by Friar Musings

From our first reading: “Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you” (Zech 2:15)

When I was in Kenya I remember the first time I saw local artwork portraying Jesus, Mary, and the Holy Family. The images were black people that looked like the people among whom I lived. Of course I had grown up with the same images – only the faces were white. I can remember thinking of seeing the Kenyan images… “makes sense.” It made sense, because if we thought about it we all answer that Jesus was of Middle eastern features. But at the same time, we all want to see our identity in the images of Jesus, Mary, the Holy Family, the saints, and all those things that are icons of our faith. Continue reading →

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Friar Musings

From our first reading: “Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you” (Zech 2:15)

When I was in Kenya I remember the first time I saw local artwork portraying Jesus, Mary, the Holy Family. The images were black people that looked like the people among whom I lived. Of course I had grown up with same images – only the faces were white. I can remember thinking of seeing the Kenyan images… “makes sense.” It made sense, because if we thought about it we all answer that Jesus was of Middle eastern features. But at the same time, we all want to see our identity in the images of Jesus, Mary, the Holy Family, the saints, and all those things that are icons of our faith. Continue reading →