Monday, December 12, 2011

Saint Juan Diego's Feast Day & Our Lady of Guadalupe


This morning, I drew Our Lady of Guadalupe, but did not color her in. I thought it might be fun for the kids to learn the symbols and meanings of the colors, color her, cut her out and then use her in playing. The more complete image with the rays and a more filled-out angel is seen on Juan Diego's tunic later in this post.

You can download her from here.

Here's the key to the symbols and colors:

Sash: The position of the sash (it's up high) and the folds in the tunic show that the lady is pregnant. The color should be black, which is symbolic of the Aztec maternity belt.
Pattern of the dress: Be sure to draw decorative flowers. The flor y canto pattern (flower and song) connect her to the native people and suggest divine revelation.
Her dress: A light rose/pale red is for the color of dawn. This color was hugely important to Aztecs, who saw considered the color to be the symbol of life, blood and earth.
Stars on the mantle: The eight-point gold stars are arranged as they would have appeared to Juan Diego in the night sky that winter in December 1531. Mary is also known as the Queen of Heaven, hence the stars.
Mantle: The blue-green color is the one worn by royalty according to the native people. The gold trim is symbolic of royalty and a person meriting great respect.
Moon: The moon was worshipped by the native peopole. By her stepping on them, it shows how the old gods do not exist, only the one god. Color the moon black.
Angel: In Aztec culture, only honored people would ever be carried around on someone else's shoulders. The angel supporting the Blessed Mother show that she deserves the highest honors and that even angels care for her. Color the angel wings maroon, gray and blue.

And then comes Saint Juan Diego ...

Far and wide, the most popular Paper Dali is the very humble and plain Saint Juan Diego. The story of how humble and kind Juan Diego was and his extraordinary encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary ("La Virgen de Guadalupe") resonates with all of us who long to be as obedient, loving and humble as dear Juan Diego.

Read more about Juan Diego here.

Download a free black-and-white Juan Diego coloring page.



Download the tilma to color and place over Juan Diego here.


13 comments:

Dawn said...

Perfect!! Thank you!

Evann said...

They are beautiful, Vee. Thanks!!!

Paper Dali said...

Dawn: Thanks! Enjoy them!

Evann: Thank you, too. Delivered as promised. ; )

Jessica Gordon said...

My children really enjoyed making these! Thank you very much!

Paper Dali said...

Jessica,
You're very welcomed! Take care. And I'm keeping your last days of pregnancy in my prayers .... :)

Carrilu said...

I love the color explanation. Our family has had a growing appreciation for Our Lady of Guadalupe over the last few years and this doll is great. Thank you for the history that you give with your wonderful art.

elena

Rubi said...

What a lovely idea! I will be sure to print out the images you have provided here and take to our parish catechists! I'm certain they will LOVE it. I'll also make copies for the kids in the children's choir. Absolutely Awesome!!!

Paper Dali said...

Carrilu: You're very welcomed. :D

Rubi: Oh, it gladdens the heart when I help out a catechist. We pray for parish catechists and DREs every night. Hope the kids in choir like them, too. Blessings!

Christy said...

Thank you so much I am sure my fifth grade CCD kiddos will love this to add to the story.

Megan said...

Thank you so much Vee!
We will be using the set during our lesson tonight at church with our K-4th graders.
We love Our Lady of Guadalupe and the story is so wonderful for the children to hear. Now they can act it out too!!!
I hope its ok, I added it to my pinterest board, but it links straight to you!
If not let me know and I will delete!
thanks,
Megan

Paper Dali said...

Christy:
Awesome. Hope it was fun!


Megan:
You are very welcome. And how FUN. If you can send a photo, that'd be lovely (or you can upload it to the Paper Dali Facebook Page), so I can see, that'd be sweet.

Nice. I've been hearing so much about Pinterest but haven't gone there to play around. As long as it links to me, we're a-OK. :)

Happy Advent!

Kelly said...

We love these! Thank you so much! I linked over to this post, too. :)

God bless!

Paper Dali said...

Kelly,
So glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for the link.
Happy day! And I hope you enjoyed your champurrado. :)

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