To My Boys: October 6, 2020
Good morning!
Like I mentioned yesterday, I would like to continue writing about our patroness, Our Lady of Belen. When we see something all the time, we run the risk of taking it for granted. The image of Our Lady of Belen can be found all over the school and we always respond by saying “pray for us!” after someone says “Our Lady of Belen.” For that reason, we may be familiar with the image or the devotion, but may not know as much as we could about it.
The image of Our Lady Belen is taken from the original image the Jesuits received when taking over the Our Lady of Belen Hospital in Havana, Cuba. It was this hospital they transformed in 1854 into a school.
The first thing you notice in the image is that the Blessed Mother is sitting on a manger filled with hay. This, of course, makes reference to the place where the infant Jesus was placed after he was born. It expresses the extreme poverty and simplicity the Son of God was born into. Normally, babies are placed in cribs or incubators immediately after they are born. Jesus, instead, was placed in the trough they used to feed barn animals.
But the manger also has a deeper theological meaning. The word Bethlehem (Belen in Spanish) means "house of bread" in Hebrew. Jesus is "the bread of life” (John 6: 35) that comes down from heaven. Placing him in a manger is a clear sign of being invited by God to receive and eat the body of Christ in the Eucharist. We, who are sinners and oftentimes behave inhumanly (like animals), are called by God to receive the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. And it is Mary who provides this bread from heaven for us.
Tomorrow I will mention a couple of more interesting things about the image. Hopefully, the more we understand, the more we will grow as men of faith.
Auspice Maria
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba, by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the school's property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit is situated on a 34-acre site in western Dade County, just minutes away from downtown Miami.