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1) Religious Diversity
Like most regions of the world, there is religious
variety on the border. However, Catholicism is the
predominant religious culture of Mexican and
Mexican-American residents.
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A) Your Community and the Border
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1. Look in the yellow pages of your
telephone directory under the subject
headings: "Churches",
"Mosques," "Synagogues".
Make a list of the names of twenty religious
denominations.
2. Now choose one religion that you
have never heard of before. Go to the school
library and see if you can find some
information about this group. You may be able
to find a website about them. Write up a few
paragraphs on what you have learned about
this faith.
3. Contact the local library and
find out if they have microfiches of the
Yellow Pages for cities around the country.
You can also find a web site like
Switchboard, Four11 or Zip2. (see below for
URLS) which helps you locate businesses
around the country. Choose a city or town on
the border and search for a place of worship
on the border. Did you find that a religion
in your community is also on the border?
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2) Religious Spaces
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#29. Sharon Stewart.
La Lomita Mission of Oblate Fathers, Mission |
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A) La Lomita Mission of Oblate
Fathers, Mission (#29)
This chapel is in the La Lomita Mission which once
served as a stop-over for priests traveling between
Roma and Brownsville, Texas. This mission is located
in Mission, Texas and gave the town its name.
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1.The first image in this series is
of the interior of a chapel(29). On a sheet
of unlined paper, make a sketch of this
photograph. When you are done sketching the
basic form and the basic details, imagine a
line that divides the sketch from top to
bottom through the middle. Do you notice how
balanced the room is? Look up the term
"symmetry" and copy out the
definition. Now write a few sentences about
how the image is a good example of symmetry.
2. The balance in this room gives
us a sense of peace. In a balanced
arrangement the most important elements are
often the most centrally located. What are
the things that lie along the central line in
this room.
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3) The Virgin of Guadalupe (#29,
20)
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A) Let’s talk about the large painting in the
central space above the altar.
This is a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the
patron saint of Mexico and a special protector of
Mexican people. Find out what you can about her.
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1. What is the story of her appearance
in Mexico?
2. Describe her physical appearance?
3. Why is she so important to so many
people in Mexico?
4. This mission in image #29 was set up
by the Oblate Fathers. What were the missions set
up to accomplish in this area? Can you find out
something about the Oblate Fathers?
5. Notice the image of the Virgin of
Guadalupe on the Mexican flag in image #20. What
do you think this says about the reverance for
her in Mexico?
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B) Votive room at the Virgin
de San Juan del Valle Shrine, San Juan, Texas
(#30)
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#30. Sharon Stewart.
Votive room at the Virgin de
San Juan del Valle Shrine, San Juan, Texas. |
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In Image #30 we see the interior of the votive
room at the shrine for the Virgin of San Juan del
Valle Church in San Juan, Texas. She, like the Virgin
of Guadalupe, is an important patron for Mexicans and
Mexican Americans.
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Notice all the bright light in the room.
This is actually the combined light of
thousands of white candles in glass cups.
They are called votive candles. Votive comes
from the Latin word for vow. These candles
are lit to accompany special requests and to
give thanks for divine help in a difficult
time or illness. People may also wish for a
better, more peaceful world.
1. Write a poem of at least four
lines to describe the glow of these candles.
2. Can you think of a wish that you
would like to make now for a better world?
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C) Church of Our Lady of the
Valley, San Juan, 1984 (#16)
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#16. Ave Bonar.
Church of Our Lady of the Valley,
San Juan, 1984 |
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In Image #16, we see another view of the same
church in San Juan, Texas. Some children are near an
altar. Do you notice the candles here? Here, in
addition to real candles, they are also sculpted
candles on the carved mural.
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1. Why do you think that candles
are used so often here?
2. Find out something about the use
of candles in a cultural traditions you might
be familiar with.
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4). Religion and Comfort
Religion helps people feel protected and safe. Some
people feel that good health is also related to faith, as practiced in
religion.
Religion offers a sense of protection to people in
their daily lives. In Mexican Catholicism, symbols are a
means for always remembering the religion and for
maintaining a holy and a safe home.
Look at the images for this exercise. In #35, a young
couple in Laredo, Texas listen to the heartbeat of their
unborn child as they sit below the protective arms of a
statue of Jesus. In #24, an older woman in Zaragoza,
Coahuila, comes her hair in her bedroom. Above her bed,
hangs a woven tapestry with Jesus’ protective image.
Like the painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Image #29,
the presence of a revered image brings help and
protection. Choose one or both to answer the following
set of questions.
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#35. Magdalena Zavala.
A teenage couple listen
to the heart beat of their
unborn child as they sit
in front of the Sacred
Heart Statue in Laredo. |
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#24. Julianne H.
Newton.
"Peinandose."
Zaragoza, Coahuila, Mexico, summer 1986. |
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1. Are there images in books or on
walls which bring you comfort or protection
in your life? Talk about an image you look at
every day that causes a spiritual or
inspirational feeling in you. If nothing fits
this description, choose something in your
classroom that you see every school day and
that makes you feel warm and happy when you
see it. Now write a short story of five lines
about why you are inspired or pleased by your
special image. Why do you think you like it?
How do you feel each time you see it again?
2. Can you name other images on
road signs, billboards, or bumper stickers
that we see are used to seeing every day and
that make us feel safe or protected?
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5). Religious Practice
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Proclaiming one’s belief can take dramatic
forms or it can be a private, intimate practice.
These images will suggest some of these different
forms in which people practice religion.
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#20. Mary Lee Edwards.
Atonement for: El Niņo Fidencio Constantino.
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A) Atonement for El Niņo
Fidencio Constantino (#20)
Religion can help us to apologize for things we
feel we have done wrong. Sometimes people say
penance, sometimes they vow to improve their
behavior. In this image, we see a person who is
walking in a religious procession. Unlike the others,
she is walking on her knees.
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1. Name at least two things in the
photograph that remind you that this is a
religious procession.
2. Why is the woman walking on her
knees in this photograph?
3. Have you ever done something
that was physically hard for you to do to
prove a point of some kind? How did you feel
after you finished doing it?
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B) Casa Hogar: Where Angels
Sleep (#40)
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#40. Magdalena Zavala.
Casa Hogar: Where Angels Sleep. |
This photograph, like image #20 above, was taken
in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Here young girls in an
orphanage prepare for lunch by blessing themselves
with the sign of the cross. Like the penitent person
in Image #20, these children are showing religious
faith through their bodies.
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1. Can you provide an example of a
gesture which signifies a religious behavior
[kneeling, prayer, bowing head]?
2. Do you or your family do
something special before meals?
3. Can you think of another gesture
that you make to protect yourself or to bless
yourself when you feel afraid? |
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