Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel

Meeting some friends for a coffee near the old port I stumbled across the dainty
chapel of Our Lady of Good Help. I had never been in a place fully devoted to The
Virgin. The entire chapel is coated with visual meanings. With a large painting of the
immaculate conception standing above the main altar, surrounded by golden rays
that pull you in.

The side glass mosaics, however, were of most interest to me. On the left side is
depicted the story of Mary from birth to adulthood. On the right the story of Jesus,
parallel to that of his mother. In small frames at the bottoms of the colorful arcs is
painted The Passion of Jesus Christ. Through the organizing of the chapel itself, the
bond between mother and son was highlighted.

Now also seen as a museum, the chapel celebrates the history of its founder, St.
Marguerite Bourgeoys. Starting the construction in 1655 and finishing in 1678,
however the building burnt down in 1754 and was rebuilt in 1771. The only thing that
survived the fire was a small wooden figure of Mary that Bourgeoys had brought
from France. At first it sat on top of the entry of the new building, now replaced by a
golden Mary and child.

https://margueritebourgeoys.org/en/

Mysticallity
Mysticism is an aspect within most religious practices. IN BRIEF AND NOT FULL
EXPLANATION; In a Christian lens, mysticism is understood as having a union with
God. It is a possible aspiration of devoted Christians who take on paths such as
body negation, contemplative prayer, convent living, and many others.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mysticism
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity/Christian-mysticism

The deep spiritual insight one experiences, however, has been historically seen as
awfully confusing and hard to share with others! It is a VERY individualistic event.
For example, THE ECSTASY OF SAINT TERESA OF AVILA, pierced by an angel
with a golden spear describes her mystical union as:

‘The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness
caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one cannot possibly wish it to cease, nor
is one's soul content with anything but God.’

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/baroque-art1/
baroque-italy/a/bernini-ecstasy-of-saint-teresa
Sadly, the average devotee might never experience the stabbing of an angel. Yet
mystical experiences aren’t reserved for the selected few. Miracles, as some can
choose to call them, can be small experiences of the mysticality of faith. THE
WOODEN STATUE SURVIVING FOR EXAMPLE. As well as the history of marian
apparitions and its influence on devotees.

https://anastpaul.com/2021/03/05/notre-dame-de-bon-secours-our-lady-of-good-
help-montreal-canada-1657-and-memorials-of-the-saints-5-march/

The Virgin of the Miracle is a painting believed to have been made by the grace of
God. In Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia devotees gather every year on the 24th of august
to celebrate and witness the image that in 1628 appeared. Two Conceptionist nuns
returning from morning prayer saw the image of Mary on the reflection of a rain
puddle; which led them to then see the initial apparition on the sky.

Upon further investigation, they saw a room high in the convent expunge a torrent of
light. Going to it, they saw how the sky apparition showed through the canvas
curtains of the room and ultimately cemented the image of the immaculate
conception onto it.

https://boyaca-colombia.jimdofree.com/nuestra-señora-del-milagro-tunja-boyacá-colombia/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXtpP5QnLjc&t=411s

Mysticality / Individual devotion (1)

This image of the Virgin is the one on my mother’s prayer booklet she’s had since
2000. Here pictured is the booklet’s sleeve, in a ziploc bag and meticulously
laminated with clear tape. It is by itself and in a bag since it got exposed to humidity
and affected the paper. Yet, my mother holds on to it.

Guadalupe
Returning to the miracle of apparitions, a prime example is that of Our Lady of
Guadalupe. A total of 5 apparitions, it is the story of how a Chichimeca native St.
Juan Diego saw the Virgin in Cuautitlán, Mexico.
The forth was on
December 12 of 1513
When Juan brought the roses Mary signaled to the bishop, revealing the image of
the Immaculate Conception upon unraveling his carry cloth, and confirming the
apparition.

https://www.uag.mx/es/mediaHub/santa-maria-de-guadalupe-presencia-constante-en-la-
historia-de-mexico

Guadalupe (2)
In The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception we see how
important this miracle is for devotees. Representative of the indigenous communities
who welcomed The Virgin, St. Juan Diego is pictured to the feet of Mary as she.

‘is surrounded by the people of the North, Central, and South Americas,
carrying lighted candles in procession. The walls of the chapel are curved to
imitate the experience of the apparition.’

The colonization and eradication of native religions is of course not to be dismissed

in this apparition story.

https://www.nationalshrine.org/blog/st-juan-diego-and-the-miracle-of-our-lady-of-guadalupe/

Our Lady of Guadalupe is sometimes seen to be a re-branding of the original

matriarchal native practices. Regardless, she is presently used as a protector for
immigrants, and different latino communities.

“No estoy yo aquí que soy tu madre” “Am I not here your mother?”
Line Guadalupe said to St. Juan Diego when he did not come to her for help with his
sick uncle.

The Virgin, here, straightens her image as a caring mother for those in need.
Someone to hold on to.

Mysticality / Individual devotion (2)

After 21 years of constant use; surviving attacks by a creative toddler and a hungry
boxer puppy. As well as migration from Colombia into cold cold countries… I can’t
help but see an aura of mystical devotion on the relaying on the Virgin Mary. As a
maternal image, she is an image to which most people can easily gravitate towards
and perform passionate and deep prayer. Maybe finding comfort in that alone or also
requesting Mary to communicate with Jesus.

Cuba
Serving as a pilgrimage, shrine, and Cuban heritage; Our Lady of Charity is praised
in Miami. Informing her devotees not only of the apparition of the Virgin to three
ships men in 1612 during a storm, but also of the ritualization and processing of
traumatic history of involuntary exile. She, as much as existing as a proof of the
divine, strengthens those in need in the world with community and guidance.

The altar also serves as a form of divine connection to the homeland of the exiled.
“Under the altar are placed earth, stone, and sand from the province, cast with
water brought from Cuba on a raft on which fifteen refugees died while trying
to make their way to the United States.”
A mystical facing of the tragedies of life while maintaining the torch of devotion lit up,
the altar merges humanity, specially suffering, with divinity.

https://www.miamiarch.org/CatholicDiocese.php?op=Article_archdiocese-of-miami-ermita-
shrine-our-lady-of-charity-cuba
Simon Coleman, “Mary in a Mobile World: The Anthropology of a Moving Symbol”, The
Oxford Handbook of Mary, edited by Chris Maunder, Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2019, 608-620.

HUMANITY
There is the inevitable humanity we must consider whenever approaching the
concept of mysticism. In some ways, it is ironic that a mystical revelation or
experience is non the less felt in the living world. That is since organized religion and
orthodox practice often calls forth for disconnect from the earthly.

Yet only through knowing that all divine experiences have the background of our
humanity can we really appreciate them. For St. Bernard, a divine and deep
connection with the mother of Christ was to be blessed with a stream of breast milk
from her.
Without spirituality anyone can see these images as strange; and they are a little
bit… but they allow devotees to see themselves in the divine, or at least to begin to
understand it.

In general mysticism, for there to be union with God, one must first do away with
themselves in order to find God's nature within. Paradoxically, the personal
connection people may have with the images of Mary allow for a meditative tool.
Provokes practitioners to exert their practice to personal and profound levels.