[Buddha-l] New postage stamps with Hindu gods!

[Katherine Masis]

Richard Hayes wrote:
 
"Is the Virgin of Guadalupe popular in Costa Rica? One can hardly find a Catholic church in New Mexico that does not feature her. (Being rather fond of goddess figures, I even have one or two in my house, right next to Guanyin.) I have always associated the Virgin of Guadalupe with Mexico, but I encountered her in Andalusia, so I guess she might have come from Spain originally. The name "Guadalupe" in Extremadura is, after all, most probably derived from Arabic, so it makes sense the virgin of Guadalupe was of southern Spanish provenience."
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There is a town near where I live called Guadalupe, and its main (Catholic) church is the "Iglesia de Guadalupe" with a huge "Virgen de Guadalupe" inside.  But the patroness of Costa Rica is the "Virgen de los Angeles," which translates as "Our Lady of the Angels."  I have to brush up on my middle school colonial history to refresh my memory about the old legend.  Every August the 2nd, the faithful make pilgrimages on foot from wherever they are to Cartago, the city where Our Lady of the Angels has her main church.  Last year the Minister of Health made a plea to call the pilgrimage off because of the A1H1N1 scare.  It was cancelled for the first time in over a century.  Some priests were furious and demanded that the stadiums be closed for soccer games as well.  Ah, that's Costa Rica's real religion:  "futbol".
 
Katherine Masis