Our Lady La Virgen de los Ángeles

In back-to-back celebrations, today in Costa Rica we celebrate the day of Our Lady, the Virgin of the Angels, or "La Virgen de los Ángeles". This is a holiday, so people don't go to work on this day (in most workplaces, that is), and actually, many don't work since yesterday, as this celebration is usually held with a pious peregrination from different points of the country towards the Basilic in Cartago. Then again, most of the peregrins usually get to the center of San José city, our capital city, and walk from there to the city of Cartago, our old capital city.

According to the legend, a humble native woman by the name of Juana Pereira, found a small figure carved in stone sitting on top of a rock as she was gathering firewood. She liked the figure - thinking it was a doll - and took it to her home, carefully storing it in a box. The next day she found the figure again on the same spot. She thought it was another doll, so she took her to her place, only to find the box empty. As the figure returned to the rock a third time, Juana Pereira, scared, ran to a priest in Cartago, to tell him about the figure. The priest didn't believe her at first, but as the figure continued disappearing and reappearing on that particular rock, he got convinced that it was a sign from the Virgin Mary, that she wanted a church there, which is why the Basilic, in the end, was built in that place (sort of).

It's curious how today at Biblie Class we studied the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21). The message we gathered from it is that we shouldn't be so overly concerned with the material aspect of our lives, but must also spend time on our spiritual richness and the improving of our soul.

The figure of Our Lady is hardly known for many Costa Ricans as we are all used to see and recognize the image of her burried under loads of gold and precious stones, covered in all the signs of the material splendor, but hiding the simple, humble nature of the carved stone that showed in gentle miracles to Juana Pereira and her peers, where to build the church. Thus, like in the afore mentioned parable, we are like the guy asking Jesus to fix the heritage issues with his brother on his behalf, or the Rich Fool, who has so concerned about this material richness that he really thought that was all his soul needed; I look at this image of Our Lady and I wonder, do we really need all that gold and additions to make the faith sound? Is the church and the Catholic faith in Costa Rica hiding the humble nature of the Virgin to make people believe that true devotion is showed through its material manifestations?

Some people who are deeply involved in the church and study the Bible consider - for instance - that your going to the church is void if you don't give money when the offer baskets are passed around. Do they really think that the only way people have to show God their devotion is through money?

Our world - and by default our churches - are heavily premeated by money and the material aspect of our lives. For many is also much simpler to donate money to the church to have their "souls sated" in the religious department, just as many solve their familiar and emotional problems by opening their wallets instead of taking a dive into their hearts and their souls. And truth to be told, today's world goes for this: spend money, buy, give, donate, invest... call it what you want, just get your money out of your wallet and into the safeboxes of others.

As today's parable cautioned us and instructed us to seek balance - so lets not fall to the other end, where we deny ourselves food, cloth and shelter - learning to say enough when we have enough of the material to satisfy our needs, and also taking time to look into our souls, to seek our spiritual enlightment and find our paths to commune with The Divine. Let's think for a moment of the beautiful miracle of Our Lady The Virgin of the Angels, and lets see past the glitter and the material ornaments added by the Rich Fools, and find the humble, the beautiful, the simple Virgin carved in Stone, and with her reflect on the simple figure of stone hidden inside us. Lets strip from our pretty clothes, our brand new car, our posh shoes and expensive bags. Let's wash off our make-up and forget about the expensive cosmetics in our bathroom. Let's not think of our iPhone or our iPad, or our expensive home and our luxury vacations. Lets not think about our jobs or our material concerns and plans for the future. Sit on the floor, wherever you are, or go our if you can, and mind not the dirt, sit on the floor, feel the Earth beneath you, and connect with your soul - simple and naked - and find the core of your existence. Meditate, pray, circle, open up and find out that though you need the material things to keep your body going and ensuring the well being of yourself and those you love, your soul, your spirit need only a bit of time, a moment of open, honest dedication, to develop, to grow, to bloom and reach out for The Divine, and thus, to allow you to become wiser and a much better and happier person.

Reach the humble Virgin of the Angels inside you.