¡fuckyeahGuadalupe!

chacal-la-chaise:

(via El Paso author Benjamin Alire Sáenz wins PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction - El Paso Times)

The award will prompt Sáenz to do something outside his comfort zone — read his own published work.

“I never reread any of my books. Only when I give readings do I go back to what’s been published,” he said, and he added that this time he will have to thumb through the book to find the perfect selection.

Overall, the judges considered more than 350 novels and short-story collections by American authors published in the U.S. in 2012, according to a news release from the foundation.

“Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club,” published by El Paso’s Cinco Puntos Press, is a collection of seven stories anchored at the well-known bar in Juárez just four blocks from the international bridge. The bar is the backdrop where the characters “struggle with the impossible ambiguities of borders, whether they be sexual, emotional, national or economic,” the release states.

“The author takes stunning care with language — English, Spanish, and the languages of sunlight, daylight, dimlight, nightlight — twisting and tumbling with the whispered language of the human heart,” judge A.J. Verdelle wrote.

“Sáenz also devotes impressive attention to rendering communities on the borders of the United States and Mexico, on the boundaries of sensual and sexual expression, on the edge of despair, and on the cusp of redemption.”

Another judge, Nelly Rosario, said the collective voices of the narrators in Sáenz’ stories “speak artlessly, as wisdom does, and ask us to listen for the borderless poetry of the spirit.”

Sáenz is no stranger to awards. He has won a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in poetry, a Lannan Poetry Fellowship, and an American Book Award. His other literary work has previously won the Stonewall Book Award presented by the American Library Association’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table.

chacal-la-chaise:

Carolina Gonzalez Jackson, 87, of El Paso passed away Friday, January 4, 2013, at home with her husband Terrell at her side. She was born December 4, 1925, at home in Smeltertown, Texas, to Marciano Gonzalez, Sr., and Julia (Macias).

She attended El Paso High School, and retired from The Popular Dry Goods Company (The Popular). There, she met Terrell Jackson and they married on January 17, 1953. Stylish, energetic, and quick witted, Carolina supervised and managed several women’s wear departments while at The Popular. An attentive wife, mother, and grandmother, she loved to bake, cook, garden, and sew. To her granddaughters she was their Mamaw.

She was a member of St. Raphael’s Catholic Church.

Her parents, her two sisters, Maria Palacio and Consuelo Porras, and seven brothers, Andres, Jose, Lorenzo, Macario, Manuel, Marciano, Jr., and Vicente preceded her in death.

Survivors include Terrell Alison Jackson, her husband of nearly 60 years; two brothers, Robert Gonzalez (Maria Teresa) and Richard Gonzalez (Mary); daughter, Carolyn Drapes (Michael) of El Paso; granddaughters, Michaela Drapes of Brooklyn, New York, and Lauren Drapes of El Paso; and many nieces and nephews.

Visitation is 5-9:00 p.m. with rosary at 7:00 p.m. at Martin Funeral Home at 1460 George Dieter Drive. Funeral mass is 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Raphael’s Catholic Church with repast following.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Loretto Academy and El Paso Humane Society.

The family of Carolina wishes to extend our sincere thanks to Dr. Dwayne Aboud and staff and the nurses and staff with Home Care Unlimited.

Mom.

(via El Paso-area faithful to celebrate Virgin of Guadalupe with processions - El Paso Times, Times file photo)

Around El Paso, people faithful to the Virgen de Guadalupe are preparing to celebrate the Dark Virgin this weekend in honor of her feast day, Dec. 12.

The feast day marks the day in history when it is believed the Virgin appeared to an Indian, Juan Diego. A Catholic church was eventually built on Tepeyac Hill, the site of the appearances.

Traditionally, in Catholic churches in Mexico, the faithful celebrate this special day by taking her roses and singing the traditional birthday song, “Las Mañanitas,” in special Masses.

In El Paso, several groups and churches are planning that and more, including lively processions with people proudly carrying her image and having the powerful traditional performances of matachine dancers.

porelglamordedios:

vicemag:

Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, has become known as the “murder capital of the world” thanks to the seemingly endless string of drug-cartel-related killings, and the law-abiding portion of the population is ready to try almost anything to stop the violence. For the past two and a half years, a group of teenagers calling themselves the “Messenger Angels” have been taking to the streets covered in silver paint and glitter, wearing thick white robes and huge feathered wings, and holding hand-painted signs that address the cops, the cartels, and the worst of the capos. “Zetas, ask forgiveness,” one sign read. “Cop-killers. Enough! Sincerely, Jesus Christ,” read another. 

Keep Reading

This whole drama is about 5 minutes south from my house

interactivesleep:

My hood. 

(Source: panopticomme, via porelglamordedios)

nevver:

Jesus was an astronaut

(via abstrackafricana)

allaboutmary:

Mary Help!

A 19th century hand-coloured engraving of the miraculous Madonna venerated under the title Maria Hilf. The original was painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1537.

chacalteaches:

(via The Colorful Days Of Life On The Border : The Picture Show : NPR)

“The [narco war] changed everything. What had been a society (Juarez) of aspiration and hope … turned to something terrifying, sad and very very real.”

Since then, Berman, who now teaches photojournalism at New Mexico State University, has been shooting in black and white — and the color photos have come to symbolize something else: “I realized that the previous work was, in the end, my mythic version of the border,” he says.

(via Virgin Mary: Our Lady de Guadalupe seen on tree trunk in West New York | Mail Online)

Swarms of devout Catholics and curious bystanders alike have been flocking to a tree in northern New Jersey the past few days, hoping to catch a glimpse of an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. 

People gathered around the tree in West New York, New Jersey to view the Mexican version of the Virgin Mary, placing flowers, candles, and other religious effects by it.

Sceptics told the Jersey Journal that the dozens of people loitering around 60th Street and Bergenline Avenue waiting to catch a glimpse.

West New York resident Gerardo Gaspor told the paper: ‘I think (it’s special if) they believe in Guadalupe,’ but added later that the image was ‘nothing special.’

But not all residents of the town were quite so incredulous. Fellow West New York resident Barbara Questel told NBC New York: ‘As soon as I got here, I felt this rush when I saw it, this rush from my body. It’s such an amazing feeling!’

It was first spotted by Johanna Ramos, who saw the suspicious-looking mark in the tree and reported it to Mayor Felix Roque.

The mayor permitted flowers to be placed at the base of the tree, which then inspired others to investigate.

[…]

Makeshift shrines have sprung up by the tree; people have been praying, crying and leaving flowers and candles as they look at the small opening where the bark was stripped away. 

A fence and other barricades also have been set up around the tree, which is in a sidewalk along a commercial strip.

Newark Archdiocese spokesman Jim Goodness tells The Journal of Jersey City the image is likely ‘some discoloration that resembles Our Lady of Guadalupe.’

The town, with a population just shy of 50,000, is a short ferry ride away from Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

This is hardly the first time the likeness of a religious figure has been found in a common object.
Last month, two boys getting Chinese takeout in the U.K. found the likeness of Jesus Christ in the crumbling wall of the restaurant. 

Ahead of Easter Sunday, a woman walking on the beach at James Island in South Carolina snapped a picture of a stingray with what she said is the Son of God on its back.

The Catholic 24-year-old said it was an interesting coincidence ahead of the Easter holidays. 

(Source: camaliziosa)

A fire destroyed a church in Juarez but spared a Virgin of Guadalupe image despite the fierce blaze. The incident took place at about 4:04 a.m. Wednesday, June 13, at San Agustín Chapel at Paseos del Alba and Paseos del Ángel Streets. (Jesus Alcazar / El Paso Times)