the view from my window

This photo I took this morning at around 10 a.m. and you can see the mountains in the distance but not very clear.All this week I could not see the mountains due to heavy smoke or smog in the area.This is due to the burning of the fields in Santa Cruz, a city which is around 6 hours from here to the West by car and only 30 minutes away by plane.It is spring time here and the temperatures are in the 80's as I write this to you. The farmers burn the fields for planting. So the smoke rises and the city of Santa Cruz is at sea level and here in Cochabamba we are at 8,000 feet above sea level.So it becmes very difficult for people who have asthma or other breating problems.
Such is life here this week in Cochabamba.

The Assumption of Mary

Magnificat - The canticle of Mary

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,my spirit rrejoices in God my Saviorfor he has looked with favour on his lowly servant....

From this day all generations will called me blessed:the Almighty has done great things for me,and holy is his Name ....

He has morcy on those who fear himin every generation....He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.....

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,and has lifted up the lowly.....

He has filled the hungry with good things,and the rich has has senty away empty....

He has come to the help of his servant Israelfor he has remembered his promise of mercy,the promise he made to our fathers,to Abraham and his children forever....

(The photo is of the image or Our Lady of Urkupina that I bought the other day in a religious store near the church of San juan de Dios - St. John of God here in Cochabamba. - today. August 15th, is the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven as well. )

Virgin of Urkupina August 15th, 2010

Virgin of Urkupina means Virgin of the Mountain - It was in the mountians of Bolivia in the 1800's that Our Lady appeared to a young girl as she was watching the sheep.The woman told the girl to pick up stones at her feet and take them home to her family. When the girl arrived at her home the stones had turned to silver, therefore releaving her family of poverty.The people of Quillacolla heard the news they began to have faith in the miraculous virgin of Urkupina.

The festival is held in Quillacolla which is 10 miles or 16 km from Cochabamba. The dates are August 14th to 16th.People from all over the country of Bolivia as well as from other countries such as the United States, Spain, and other latin America countries come here for this festival.

Prayer -

Oh Mary, assumed into Heaven, in you we find every virtue shining resplendently. In you. is the fullness of grace because you are united to God.Oh Virgin of Urkupina, work amidst the thorns that grow in the arid deserts of our hearts, that roses of goodness and virtue might sprout forth! Weed out the vanities of this world and replant in us the flower of Life - that our souls might become as nature in springtime to the delight of Christ our Redeemer!

Virgin of Urkupina

The Quechua people of Peru and Bolivia have integrated their original belief in "Pacha Mama" (Mother earth) with the belief in the Virgin Mary.The Quechua people always knew that "Pacha Mama" gave them the basic necessities required to live: water, food, animal wool for clothes, mud and rocks for houses.
In the seventeenth century, Spanish priests seeking converts told the Andean Indians that "Pacha Mama" was gone, they should pray to the Virgin Mary. The Quechuas knew "Pacha Mama" would not abandoned them. To them, the Spanish image of the Virgin wearing her triangle-shaped robes looked like a mountain.
They decided "Pacha Mama" and the Virgin must be the same.Bolivian Quechuas agree that "Pacha Mama" provides the basic necessities . They also believe that the Virgin provides material goods.
The Festival of Urkupina was first established in 1870. Today around ten percent of the population f Bolivia (500,000 people)attend the Festival of Urkupina to ask the Virgin to make their dreams come true.They carry miniatures (alasitas) that represent what they wish for;tiny trucks, television sets, todor houses, telephones, college degrees, cars, clothes, sewing machines, visas and businesses..and more. For two days they dance to petition and thank the Virgin, then attend a Catholiv Mass.Finally. they visit the shaman women on the nearby mountain who conduct traditional ceremonies and ask Virgin/Mamacita to answer the pilgrims' prayers.

The ceremonies are held in a small town called Quillacollo which is around 10 miles from Cochabamba.The days of celebration are from August 14th to 16th and Masses are celebrated at the main church of Quillacollo: San Idelfonso church.

This festival comes from the middle of the seventeenth century when the Virgin appeared to a little shepherd girl and she was witnessed by her parents and neighbors.Urkupina it is a mixture and interaction of pagan with religious things, that it last three days overflowing days of happiness, faith and its thrills, accompanied by the Bolivian Traditions.

August 6th, independence day in Bolivia

This is a photo of the Virgin of Urkupina with the Bolivian Flag and flowers on the table in our dining room here at the Maryknoll Society house here in Cochabamba for the celebration of the 185th anniversary of Independence of Bolivia which was August 6th 1825.

life in Cochabamba

This Saturday morning I took a picture of this young native woman with her baby who is selling different items on her wheel cart.

July 31 2010

Leaning on God
by Joyce Rupp
A reflection for you this coming week. frankie

Which of you walks in darkness and sees no light? ... lean on GodIsaiah 50:4-10
Some people lean against fence postswhen their bodies ache from toil.Some people lean on oak trees,seeking cool shade on hot, humid days.
Some people lean on crutchesBrozova/dreamstime.comwhen their limbs won’t work for them;and some people lean on each otherwhen their hearts can’t stand alone.

How long it takes to lean upon you,God of shelter and strength;how long it takes to recognize the truthof where my inner power has its source.
All my independence, with its arrogance,stands up and stretches within me,trying to convince my trembling soulthat I can conquer troubles on my own.
But the day of truth always comeswhen I finally yield to you,knowing you are a steady stronghold,a refuge when times are tough.

Thank you for offering me strength,for being the oak tree of comfort;thank you for being the sturdy supportwhen the limbs of my life are weak.
Praise to you, Eternal Lean-to,for always being there for me.Continue to transform mewith the power of your love.