As December is another Marian month, I wanted to do another post of Our Lady’s Wardrobe and dive into some more clothing symbolism. Last post, I discussed Our Lady of Walsingham, Our Lady of Lourdes (The Immaculate Conception), and Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Here I’m going to focus on some titles of Mary that are honored in the month of December.

1. Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec. 12)

If you’ve ever heard about the clothing symbolism of a Marian apparition, it was probably Our Lady of Guadalupe—her mantle alone warrants an entire post just to analyze it. Mary appeared to St. Juan Diego as a young native woman in a pale red floral dress with a black sash and a long cerulean mantle with gold trimming and stars. These colors were considered royal and also represent her queenship over Heaven (blue-green with stars) and earth (pink with flowers). Her hair is loose under the mantle, indicating that she is a virgin, and her dress is cinched with a black sash or ribbon tied high above her waist, indicating that she is pregnant. The image of this apparition can be found on St. Juan Diego’s tilma, miraculously preserved for nearly 500 years (when the natural life span of a tilma woven from agave fibers is only 30 years). The image was once crowned with a gold 12-point crown;1 some reproductions and depictions still include this.

Imitating Mary: pink with pops of green, long loose hair, florals

2. Our Lady of Loreto (Dec. 10)

Although Our Lady of Loreto is a fairly recent addition to the Church’s year, being added to the new calendar in 2019, Mary has been honored under this title since the 14th century. Loreto refers to the Sancta Casa, the home of the Holy Family in Nazareth which is now in the town of Loreto, Italy.2 Our Lady of Loreto refers to a unique statue now in the Sancta Casa. Mary stands upright holding the Christ Child close to her face; both are wrapped neck-down in an embroidered gold cloth with large black and red appliques down the front. The appliques are adorned with silver and jewels in floral motifs around designs like the Sacred Heart and the Auspice Maria. Christ holds a royal orb and cross, similar to the Infant of Prague. Mary’s hair is loose under her mantle, and her elaborate gold crown, a larger version of her Son’s, is topped with six-pointed stars and a cross. I love this strangely conical shape created by bundling both Mary and Jesus in the cloth (underneath, she is wearing a fairly standard long gathered robe with a sash).

Imitating Mary: long tent dresses, silver embroidery, gold hair accessories

3. Our Lady of Bethlehem (Dec. 25)

This title refers to a specific version of the Madonna Lactans, or nursing Madonna, painted in the early 16th century in the Flemish style. The Madonna Lactans traditionally shows, you guessed it, the Blessed Virgin nursing a baby Jesus.3 Our Lady of Bethlehem depicts Mary as a young mother sitting outdoors and breastfeeding. Her hair is loose in waves around her shoulders (notice a pattern here?). She’s wearing a deep blue robe with a voluminous red mantle draped over her shoulders and lap, and a white undergarment can be seen at her neckline and the cuffs of her sleeves. The garments are completely unadorned. Both Mary and Jesus have rays of light emanating from their heads, as opposed to the two previous depictions where they have physical crowns—this is a more simple, natural style of depiction, an intimate moment between Mother and Son in Bethlehem.

Imitating Mary: wavy hair, simple, solid colors, an oversized red coat

I love that in a month when we’re all thinking about Mary as a Mother and preparing for the Nativity, these depictions of Mary all emphasize her virginity (through her hairstyle). She is truly a mother like no other. It’s also interesting to see the range of adornment and ornament that she can be depicted with—Our Lady of Loreto is drastically different from Our Lady of Bethlehem in that aspect, and yet they both are similar in their loving embrace of Jesus. Although we always associate Our Lady with blue, and of course that’s always a good color to wear to honor her, we can also see some other colors here that could be worn on a Marian feast day. Rose/pink, gold and silver, and red can all be used to represent different aspects of Mary or celebrate her particular feasts.

What other titles or depictions of the Blessed Virgin Mary would y’all like to see? Let me know in the comments!

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Pax Christi!