Gran Poder

Just down from Fanta City-- yesterday's GDP post-- at 4516 West Market Street, you will find the store "La Vaca Ramona." This grocery store caters to the large Hispanic population in Greensboro. For today's Sacred Sunday, we are featuring a few of the prayer candles sold at La Vaca Ramona. Here, we see various depictions of Christ and, to the left, San Juan Diego. In Mexican Catholicism, San Juan Diego was a Mexican who had a Marian apparition in 1531. Recently, in 2002, San Juan Diego became the first indigenous American saint to be canonized by the Catholic Church. In a different (unseen) shelf at La Vaca Ramona, you will find the religious candles with women on them (e.g., The Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadaloupe, Santa Barbara). 

For Greensboro's Hispanic Catholics, many of whom are thousands of miles from home, $1.69 must seem like a small price to pay for the comfort and culturally relevant tradition of lighting a prayer candle. 

 

Comments

[FA]

Great post, J. Occasionally, someone will bring these storebought votive candles in to our chapel and place them before a statue or an some image, asking for the particular saint's prayers and intercession before God. Unfortunately, we have to remove these candles immediately - they are a fire hazard. We are able to use "sanctuary candles", however, which are made specifically for this purpose - their glass is stronger, their is no paint or paper on the glass, and the wax is a greater percentage of beeswax.

I'm curious why they separate the male and female images!?!? Perhaps a cultural thing.

[FA]

Btw, good job on the post. Your historical facts and information are perfect!

[tapirgal]

An interesting dose of culture. Thanks.

[Alice]

Separating the male/female iconographic candles seems unusual until I think back to my childhood when the Baptist retreat had male/female segregated swimming!
You always provide food for thought.