Mary, Juan & Quisp

While passing through the cereal aisle at a discount grocery store today, I saw boxes of Quisp. How long has it been since I've seen Quisp? I couldn't say. Certainly not during any year than began with a 2. Why now? Why here? As an illustration, Quisp seemed exactly the same as 40+ years ago -- another Jay Ward cartoon legacy.

At more than $5 for a 9-oz. box, it wasn't priced to sell, despite being in a discount grocery. I might feel a twinge of nostalgia for the sugar-coated saucers, but not that much. Also, Quake was nowhere to be seen. I believe that character ultimately died in a mining accident.

This is a view of the outdoor part of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, late Saturday morning.

The figures on the mound are the Virgin Mary and St. Juan Diego, canonized only in 2002; 471 years from apparition to sainthood.

I'd never seen a cross quite like this.

I've found various sites describing it, such as this and this, but I'm still not quite certain of its significance in relation to the shrine, though at the base of the cross is a reference to the Venerable Concepción Cabrera de Armida, the Mexican mystic.

In a reliquary in a glass case cemented into the base of the cross is a bit of wood, and three metal signs mounted next to it say (in English, Spanish and Polish): "Original Relic of the Cross of the Apostolate. This cross will chase away the devil, spread warmth and life, cure souls and bodies, and make many miracles. The promise of Jesus to Concepción Cabrera de Armida."