If you missed Part I (in which I learn that not all modern architecture reminds me of jello jigglers) and Part II (in which I wax poetic about Lourdes) of the recap, you already missed my favorite part of the trip. Today, you’ll get to see my SECOND favorite part, though, so that’s not too bad.
It’s a nice mosaic, right? I mean, who doesn’t like the Holy Family out for a little stroll?
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
After Lourdes, we headed off to another, lesser-known Marian apparition site, dating back to the eleventh century: Our Lady of Torreciudad. The Shrine is very, very big and very, very brick.
Inside it are all sorts of interesting things, including a very big altar piece housing a very small Our Lady of Torreciudad statue, and an impressive collection of statues of Our Lady from all over the world.
So there I was, just sitting in a little side chapel devoted to the Holy Family, minding my own business. Ya know, just being prayerful and whatnot, admiring the mosaic scenes from the childhood of Jesus.
Scenes like this one, in which Our Lady is snapping a quick photo of little J on her iPhone 6 so she can share it on Instagram. #callmeblessed #greatthings
Amirite?
This chapel was finished in 1975. The iPhone was introduced in 2007. So EITHER the artist was a prophet who somehow knew that eventually we moms would really appreciate FINALLY having a depiction of the Blessed Virgin to whom we could relate, or . . . that gold stripe is just the edging of Our Lady’s mantle.
But once you see the iPhone, you can’t EVER not see the iPhone.
Our Lady of Blessed Multitasking While Parenting, Pray for Us.
(h/t to Laura at Mothering Spirit for coming up with the perfect title for this image when I posted it on Facebook!)
Stay tuned, unless you’re sick of this, in which case . . . I’m almost done. Just one more stop before Madrid, and the main event, for which we had MUCH better seats than we deserved. And SOMEONE is going to WIN #whereislulu. I said there would be prizes, and prizes there will be!
Join Kendra on a pilgrimage to England!
“We’ll be spending time in London, visiting the sites of St. Thomas More’s imprisonment and martyrdom ON HIS FEAST DAY 🙌. We’ll have a dinner cruise on the Thames, and visit the shrines of St. Simon Stock, St. Julian of Norwich, and Our Lady of Walsingham. We’ll go to Oxford where the great St. John Henry Newman, J.R.R Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis spent much of their lives. Lastly, we’ll swing by Shakespeare’s house before we head on home.”
