inSPIREd Sunday

Beth and Sally hosts inSPIREd Sunday!

December 2015 - Mazatlan Mexico

Carol has talked about this church several times. So we went on a hunt for it, Carol knew the general direction.

Here is a link to Carol's blog from 2011 when they first found the church. It was quite unfinished but now they have added many touches.

This is the Sanctuary of Fatima.

In 1991 the priest decided to build a new church for his neighborhood. He designed the whole thing and supervises all work on it. It is far from finished – work on it continues daily.
All the money for the building has been from donations, fiestas, raffles etc. All raised by the neighbors.

It was not open when we arrived, the sign said hours were 4-6. But that never stops Bill. He knocked and the priest's assistant came out and let us in. 

While we waited we took some photos around the church.

The Ten Commandments.

Mural depicting the history of Christianity ending with the story of Our Lady of Fatima.

St. Peter's in Rome and the Mazatlan Cathedral.

One of the front doors.

The church houses one of the biggest figures of Christ in the country.The statue of Jesus makes visitors gape with surprise. It measures 6.10 meters in height and the cross is 11 meters.
Made entirely of wood, it is impressive because of the life-likeness of its color and expression.

In Carol's blog the statues were housed ready to be placed in their niches. They now reside in their spots and beam down on visitors.
There are 22 replicas of the Virgin Mary from different countries of Latin and North America that the priest collected.

I had to google this as I had not idea.

The most important Marian Shrine of Canada is the Our ​​Lady of the Cape(Capa) or Our Lady of the Rosary, located halfway between Montreal and Quebec City Cap de la Madeleine, in the diocese of Trois Rivières. In 1659, the first chapel was built on a piece of land called "Reward Santa Maria". Sold to the parish in 1661, will be moved to the territories of the sanctuary and became the first church in Cap de la Madeleine, the church of Sainte Marie Madeleine. On May 13, 1714, the bishop of Saint Vallier signed a decree authorizing the construction of a new parish church. Then they chose with great difficulty stone fields surrounding the place, construction began in the summer of 1717 when the first stone was laid on 17 June of the same year. The small church was opened for worship in 1720. It is the oldest stone church preserved in its entirety in Canada.

NOTE to self - must visit.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is Mexico's patron saint. Click here to see photos of the Shrine in Mexico City which we visited in 1989 and 2002.

A mural dedicated to Our Lady in Las Cruces NM.

The church was decked out for the Christmas season. It is Christmas Eve and the baby Jesus is in his crib.

The stained glass hadn't been installed on their last visit.

We are then taken into the sacristy and the assistant unveils their latest prized possession.

All I can say is WOW!

The priest then placed the staff, once the assistant got the ceiling to stop spinning.

We then stepped out the back.

John and the priest's assistant having a chat.

Click here for the murals in the courtyard.