Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes


Art Novena for Lady of Lourdes - an annual tradition on Cloister of the Heart starts
again on
3 February (the day after Candlemas or Imbolc and St Bridgid's feast day) and
culminating on the feast day of Our Lady
of Lourdes, the Immaculate Conception on 11 February.





Seven years ago I started the tradition
of the Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes on my blogs.
This was part of my very first post :

A few months ago I visited the grotto of the Lady of Lourdes. An unforgettable
experience which has touched me deeply - beyond religion, beyond concepts,
beyond labels.


Nine Days for the Lady of Lourdes
a novena
('novem' the Latin word meaning 'nine')
nine days of illuminating art,
poetry,
and sharing
Starting on Saturday 3 February
till 11 February
the feast day of the Lady of Lourdes.




When one participates in a ritual (probably any ritual, but when you regard it as sacred, you add a certain 'light' to it) you are transported into a different time and space : colors are different; the light is different; everything has meaning and the ordinary become extra-ordinary. My art novena for Lourdes in particular, highlights my statement that our lives are the altar to the Divine and I strive to capture that numinosity of the sacred ritual in my photographs and altars. I only started creating sacred altars on my return from Lourdes. These small shadowboxes are vignettes, a moment in time in the life of ordinary human beings, lifted out of the mundane into the numinous, merely by seeing life as sacred.




You can read the previous seven years' novena blog posts here :

Art Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes on Cloister of the Heart

This year I am creating Our Lady of Lourdes Amulet Blessing Sets
based on the Benedicaria way.





The Amulets of Mary Blessing set is a two-fold oracle, blessing
and healing set incorporating various ancient traditions including the Benedicaria,
the sacred path of the pilgrim and priestesshood in the Temple of Mary
and the sanctification of the ordinary through the blessing way.

I am creating only a few Our Lady of Lourdes Amulet sets for use
in the annual novena and for every day!!. All amulet sets
that I create complement the Mysteries of Mary Tarot Deck.





Recently I learnt about the ancient tradition of Benedicaria and the work of a Benedetta. Although I am not born into the Italian culture, my journey as pilgrim did start in Italy with the call issued by Archangel Michael to visit his grotto in Mont Sant’Angelo and I see myself as a modern Benedetta, continuously uncovering more.

Benedicaria, The Blessing Way
Benedicaria, the Blessing Way, is an ancient Catholic and domestic folk tradition practised by the Italians in Southern Italy. This tradition is fast fading from modern society, but many of its practises are still part of syncretic worship and devotion.




One who practices the Benedicaria, is known as a Benedetta, or a Wise Woman and a Benedetto, a Wise Man . Benedicaria is a private form of practising your religion and it blends with many domestic practises, such as the blessing of animals and herbs, infusing oils and elixers, creating an altar, using flowers and holy cards for blessings and wisdom.

Benedicaria is predominantly a woman’s practise.
A Benedetta has much in common with the goddess archetypes of
Demeter, Hestea, Bridgit and even Athena.
She is the homemaker, mother, herbalist, gardener, chef and healer.
This role is not regarded as of any importance
in modern society, but for one who is spiritually aware and
who undertakes these tasks with great intent,
she understands the spiritual force that is being wielded.
The preparing of food is not only a physical act, but a spiritual one.
If this is done in love it will bless the family;
if done in anger and ignorance, it will curse the family.

The physical life and its objects are manifestations and representations of the life and existence of the spirit. Taking care of our physical life is a sacred task and when performed with intent and awareness we realise that the ordinary is indeed sacred.



The Lady of Lourdes amulet sets will contain
items that I collected during my annual visits to Lourdes,
hand cast resin holy medals (including
a cast of the Holy Chemise of Our Lady charm)
charms, holy cards, a miniature Lady of Lourdes resin
statue, a tiny vial of the healing waters of the Lourdes
spring, as well a set of 46 charms applicable to the story of Lourdes
and the Mysteries of Mary
(some of these charms will be the same as in the Amulets
of Mary set but some are completely unique)
and a Our Lady of Lourdes casting sheet with different
sections to the Mary and Goddess sets.
(All sprinkled with waters from the Lourdes spring and touched
to the relic of the Chemise of Our Lady.

The Lady of Lourdes amulet sets will be available in
my shop The French Madonna @etsy.com in the next fortnight.




Be sure to visit my blog Cloister of the Heart
on 3 February and follow the art novena to Our Lady of Lourdes



blessings


Hettienne

The Hand of Our Lady of Lourdes

The most powerful experience at the Grotto of Massabielle

at Lourdes in France is one of absolute peace.

Peace beyond words and understanding.

I personally witnessed and became immersed in the peace

and this peace never leaves.  Even when the emotions

and the mind lose focus, the peace sits underneath,

eternally watching and loving, waiting for the storm to

pass and for the mind to become aware of Its Presence again.

When one is at Lourdes and especially during the processions,

you are struck by the absolute acceptance of those who come there

looking for healing, miracles and peace.

And this acceptance is not a passive giving-up but an active

choice of surrender to a Greater Power and

an active act of forgiveness of the self, of the world,

and of God.

The peace of accepting that one is held in the embrace

of loving powerful hands even when nothing makes sense.

The peace of accepting that Love has a plan that will bring you

peace because your own plans has not been able to do.

And the greatest acceptance that our belief systems are only

that : belief systems.  And often and mostly, we have to be

willing to change our minds and to let go of our way thinking

and believing and our need to feel secure and allow

Life to show us a different and better way of being with ourselves

and with life.

The peace of knowing that the Divine is not defined and created

by concepts and words and dogma, but our relationship

with the Divine is crafted from our pain and joy;  from our

personal experiences and our direct knowledge and insights

and that it is a highly personal, individual and unique relationship

which does not depend on the interpretation of it by others.

The peace of knowing that you can never be lost.  That the Hand

of Love has you tightly in her grip.

When visiting the Grotto of Massabielles at Lourdes in France, and especially during the processions,

one is struck by the incredible peace that is present here and by the peace that you experience within yourself.  This peace can be attributed to many things, but the most noticeable is that the absolute dynamic acceptance of the Divine Order of this world and its hardships, by the thousands of pilgrims who visit daily.  Peace that comes from within and peace which is present within each one of us, it just takes some steps on our side to welcome peace into our hearts and minds.

This experience inspires most of my work and especially my

Lourdes pieces such as the Hand of Our Lady of Lourdes

Handmade Mother Mary Our Lady of Lourdes French blue and Sterling Silver Assemblage Rosary Necklace made with Vintage Rosaries and Virgin Mary blue Glass Beads. Includes Vintage Catholic Holy Medals (Our Lady of Lourdes and Vintage Miraculous Medal), a Sterling Silver Heart and a silver hand.  This Unique Handmade Vintage Assemblage Rosary is Blessed with Our Lady of Lourdes, Holy Water. 

A blend of very old Lourdes medals, handcrafted sterling silver charms, fire beads in the most beautiful subtle colours and a double strand of a very old mother of pearl rosary.  All of these together create the sacred wearable altar called the Peace of Lourdes.  The necklace symbolizes that if your heart is safely held by the Blessed Mother you know true peace.

This necklace contains fire beads, a Lourdes grotto centrepiece, two beautiful hands holding the centrepiece, with a very old rosary connector with an image of Our Lady, two sterling silver hearts and a hand hanging from it.  Halfway through the necklace is a beautiful reversible Lourdes grotto rosary centrepiece from which the double strand of mother of pearl rosary follows.  it all comes together with a sterling silver handcrafted hook.

With this necklace you will receive a small bottle of Lourdes water from one of my pilgrimages to Lourdes. added many more pictures here.

As part of my spiritual practise I travel at least once a year to places sacred to the Divine Feminine and especially where she is known and worshiped as Mary. I bring items back with which i create pieces of art to be used and enjoyed as items to remind us of the Divine power of healing, Grace and peace available to us and within reach. The beauty of Her images and sacred symbols soften our hearts and open our minds and Divine Inspiration reminds us that She is as close as our own breath. All it takes is hope and faith and Grace will flow.

All my pieces are shipped with a small amount of sacred salts or holy water, gathered and collected from the sacred places. I carry them in the healing processions and touch them to the Earth which holds these high vibrations where She has appeared in form and is still appearing. 

You can read http://www.hergracesacredart.com/p/sacred.html about the process of infusing my art with sacred oils.

Her Grace Sacred Art and Altars are all sacred items. The wearable shrines and altars

are hand made shadowboxes to be worn as an altar. Each piece is unique and individual and an original. Every wearable altar, shrine and pendant carries the signature of the 

artisan (me) engraved on a sterling silver leaf, or on the back of a sterling silver hand cast icon,

or on a brass dangle, hanging on the necklace.

Each one of my pendants, shrines, paintings and other sacred art  are first infused with holy water from Lourdes (which I brought back),  and then infused with holy relic oil of more than 53 Saints & pure essential oils.  A mixture of one hundred oils are used, including frankincense, 

myrrh, spikenard, agarwood and rose.

It is also immersed in blessed pink dead sea salts,  infused with rose petals steeped in holy oil of a third relic of St Therese of Lisieux  and it is packaged with blessed salts, frankincense and

sprinkled with holy water collected form many sacred places in the world.

So it becomes a holy object to be handled with reverence and care.

blessings

Hettienne

Blue Cloak of Mary

The Blue Cloak of Mary
a sacred altar


'She says that she is with her beloved from the beginning
before the foundation of the world,

speaking from the deep ground of life as the hidden law that orders it,

the craftswoman of creation. 

She is the intelligence within nature, the animating

energy of the cosmos;

rooted in tree, vine, earth, and water and active in the habitations of humanity.

She is the principle of justice that inspires all human laws.

She is the invisible spirit guiding human consciousness;

a hidden presence longing to be known,

calling out to the world for recognition and response.

To those like Solomon, who prized her more highly than rubies,

she becomes their wise and luminous guide.

blessings

Hettienne

The Peace of Lourdes

The Peace of Lourdes
http://hergracedevata.blogspot.com

This gorgeous piece is a sacred altar to the Peace of Lourdes.

The most powerful experience at the Grotto of Massabielle

at Lourdes in France is one of absolute peace.

Peace beyond words and understanding.

I personally witnessed and became immersed in the peace

and this peace never leaves.  Even when the emotions

and the mind lose focus, the peace sits underneath,

eternally watching and loving, waiting for the storm to

pass and for the mind to become aware of Its Presence again.

When one is at Lourdes and especially during the processions,

you are struck by the absolute acceptance of those who come there

looking for healing, miracles and peace.

And this acceptance is not a passive giving-up but an active

choice of surrender to a Greater Power and

an active act of forgiveness of the self, of the world,

and of God.

The peace of accepting that one is held in the embrace

of loving powerful hands even when nothing makes sense.

The peace of accepting that Love has a plan that will bring you

peace because your own plans has not been able to do.

And the greatest acceptance that our belief systems are only

that : belief systems.  And often and mostly, we have to be

willing to change our minds and to let go of our way thinking

and believing and our need to feel secure and allow

Life to show us a different and better way of being with ourselves

and with life.

The peace of knowing that the Divine is not defined and created

by concepts and words and dogma, but our relationship

with the Divine is crafted from our pain and joy;  from our

personal experiences and our direct knowledge and insights

and that it is a highly personal, individual and unique relationship

which does not depend on the interpretation of it by others.

The peace of knowing that you can never be lost.  That the Hand

of Love has you tightly in her grip.

I Am the Immaculate Conception

I Am the Immaculate Conception

wearable shrine on Etsy.com

For the past four years I have visited the Lourdes sanctuary

once a year.  I have written about my many pilgrimages

to Lourdes on my blog Cloister of the Heart.

I have also dedicated nine days a year on my blog to

an Art Novena for Our Lady of Lourdes

where I create and share art inspired by Lourdes

for nine days in a row culminating on the feast day

of Our Lady of Lourdes.

My visits to Lourdes have inspired my work as an artist.

The miracle of Lourdes is not limited to specific religion

or church.  It is an on-going event which inspires hundreds

of thousands of people from all walks of life and

from all philosophies to visit Lourdes and to see for

themselves what it is that draws so many to visit 

a spring the grotto of Massabielle.

This wearable shrine or rosary is called

I Am the Immaculate Conception, the words

that the 'lady in white' spoke to young Bernadette

in her own mother tongue, a French dialect

spoken in that part of France.

The image is baked onto a porcelain cabochon

set in brass filled rhinestones

and the beads match the colours on the

image perfectly.

The beads and chain and tiny rhinestone cross

are all vintage pieces.

You can read about my pilgrimages on

Cloister of the Heart

and see my other pieces of sacred art that

are for sale at 

Her Grace Devata on Etsy.com

blessings

Hettienne