The vibrant, 35-foot-tall mural has caused passersby to stop, cross themselves, and take pictures of the massive image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, painted on the side of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in the Home Gardens community between Riverside and Corona.
It’s been two weeks in the making, and Mexican artist Antonio Martínez Guzmán, on Thursday, Feb. 2, was painting the finishing details, adding red roses and decorating the virgin’s mantle. He leaves for Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 4.
Church members think it’s one of the biggest images of the Virgin of Guadalupe in California.
“It’s a monumental image,” said Guzmán, who is based in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
Guzmán, who studied art at the Universidad de Guadalajara, was brought on by Corpus Christi Catholic Church member Raul Lopez, who had a family connection with the artist.
Guzmán has won numerous awards, and most recently, he was recognized by Guadalajara’s Secretary of Culture with the Jorge Martínez award for painting.
The church paid for the art supplies, and Guzmán volunteered to paint the mural, Lopez said.
“I think this mural will bring a force of spirituality,” said Lopez.
Full story at The Press-Enterprise.
I am sure that this 35-foot- tall mural, depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe, will be a source of inspiration and comfort to many, from miles around! Wonderful! Beautiful religious art for centuries, has inspired people to deep conversions, and renewals of faith!
Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Miracle of Divine Love
https://stream.org/lady-guadalupe-miracle-divine-love/
One of the great Christian communicators in American history, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, described Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she is seen in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions: a human being free of personal sin, simply and wholly pleasing to God, not through her own efforts but through the saving grace of Christ working retroactively. On this view Mary is simply the perfect Christian, the one plain human being whose earthly image is exactly what God had in mind for her. She is in that sense a window into the very mind of God.
continued….
continued…
Our evangelical friends take a different view, of course. They see the apostle Paul’s statement that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” as applying to Mary. At the same time, they also recognize her as an extraordinarily Godly woman, chosen by God to bear and raise the son of God, and in her faithful response to the angel Gabriel demonstrating one of the great moments of faith in all of Scripture.
Whichever view you take, you can’t ignore Mary’s role in the spread of faith in her Son across the world. Over centuries, Catholics have believed that Jesus has sent His mother from time to time to appear to certain people, to offer encouragement, or a warning, or to call us to more fervent prayer…
……Typically, these “apparitions” have been to the poor, the weak, the forgotten in society, and yet the words believed have changed the fate of nations. First of all, the image teaches us about human dignity, and where it comes from. If Mary is a perfect reflection of God’s vision of her in his own mind, then in this portrait we have a picture of how God sees mankind: more important than all of nature, since Mary stands on top of the moon, is backlit by the sun, and is clothed in the stars of heaven (reflecting the description in Revelation 12:1).
continued….
continued.
The human person, which our Culture of Death treats as a means to pleasure and power, is in fact much more important than the rest of the created universe. What gives us such dignity and importance? Only the grace of God. Mary’s head is not turned by her glory; in fact it is bowed in prayer. She knows that all her importance derives from her Son, that all her virtues are only the fruit of His grace. We only fully retain our dignity when we unite our will with God’s, and obey His plan for us. It is perfect obedience to the promptings of grace, not power, learning, or knowledge, that elevates a person.
continued…
continued..
When we try like Satan to rise against God’s will, we degrade ourselves — as our culture today has diminished the sanctity of life and the value of self-sacrifice, pretending to elevate man while in fact reducing him to the level of just one more primate.
https://stream.org/lady-guadalupe-miracle-divine-love/
Thank you, Antonio Martínez Guzmán of Jalisco, Mexico! The mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe is absolutely beautiful! God bless you for using your talents to honor His Mother and may Our Lady of Guadalupe always keep you close in her maternal care!
Antonio Guzman has done a beautiful job of painting Our Lady. I love the background, too, the hillside where she appeared I believe.
I should have written Our Lady and St. Juan Diego since he seems to have included the whole scene.
Nice work indeed, and gratitude for the inspiring work. That said, I predict it will be defaced in a very short time. Such are the times in which we live.
Mainly, OLG is about Mexican identity and nationalism; less about religious devotion. And given the social activism of many churches, a subtle cover for the Mexican flag or Viva la Raza, only less brazen. The church by the way is named Corpus Christi, not OLG, isn’t it.
hymie, granted that in some ways it’s a form of flag identity, but the constant pilgrimages to the oiiginal tilma in mexico city tell a deeper story of religious devotion. i stood outside and mingled after a spanish language mass in texas and witnessed a very touching expression of faith. a grandmother wearing a gauze OLG wrap-arounf outfit very humbly approached the priest joyously waiting for a special blessing. she explained that she was dying of cancer and that her ‘guadalupe garment’ was what she would wear for her funeral. she was radiant with expectation. for her, our lady of guadalupe was the expression of the very mother of God…
I was speaking of the USA, chiefly California, here and now.
Hymie, You ARE absolutely RIGHT, and thank you, for taking the time to charitably educate Catholics on the reality that OLG’s image is often used as a political tool to garner unity for ungodly uses such as gang activism or leftist causes that have absolutely nothing to do with gaining humility or sanctifying grace. Catholics MUST know their faith so they don’t fall prey to the wolves. The image of the rainbow is another example and it is currently being hijacked for very ungodly reasons too. God bless you Hymie, for going the extra mile to educate others with the full truth.
continued….
No one, posting on this thread, ever denied the deeper religious experiences or meaning of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. One, can read though, how drewelow’s, timely tug at the heartstrings post, is very heartwarming, yet it simply proves your point *all the more*! Sometimes, there will be, activists, who ARE able to duplicitously steer groups with thought processes in order to manipulate the emotions of His very trusting sheep. God will not be pleased with those who mislead his sheep because of ungodly agendas. God have mercy on those who duplicitously misrepresent the reasons why He sends His Mother to help mankind. Excellent post, Hymie!
Eccentricity and creativity often go hand in hand, but why is Guzman dressed like the Frito Bandito? Sans bandolier.
There’s a great free-market economics lesson here: Corpus Christi was able to procure Martinez-Guzman’s services largely free of government intrusion, i.e., minimum wage, racial quotas, health insurance, environmental regulations, etc., ad stupido–but only because he volunteered (or worked under the table–oops).
On the federal level, M.G. might have been tariffed out of the picture so that a local union tagger’s job be saved and his wages not undercut.
Viva la Free Market. And don’t forget to tip your artists; it’s legal–for the present.