Interesting Catholic poetry site

The good news is that Tiempo de Poesia has lots of Catholic poetry. The bad news is it's all in Spanish! Hee!

However, there's also a very useful section called Marian Spain, which consists of pictures of all the famous Mary statues from cities in Spain and its former colonies. If you've ever wondered why a girl was named Candelaria, Pilar, Luz, Soledad, or Montserrat, this is a good resource for you. Once you know the name to look for, you can Google up the various famous churches and stories for yourself.

La Divina Peregrina is pretty neat. Check our Our Lady's pilgrim scrip, hat with a Compostela cockleshell, and walking stick with water gourd attached.

One thing you'll notice is the huge robes and decorations worn by many of these statues. These often cover up almost entirely the original statues, many of which date back to medieval or even Gothic times. The difference between the statue with and without robes can be substantial! Dressing the statue every year is often an occasion for a big city-wide festival.

This picture of Our Lady of the Abandoned shows the beautiful faces of mother and Child. Unfortunately, you can't see the two "Desamparados", abandoned children, who are kneeling at Mary's feet inside the protective circle of her robes. Here's what the statue looks like without robes.

Here's a Desamparats float for Valencia's festival! And here's the float right outside Valencia's cathedral. (Beautiful window, huh?)