Originally started the project to improve my photography skills. Over a 2500 photos later it's become a personal diary. I post pictures that mark my...
The Shrine of Our Lady of Bethlehem is in Tsheseng, the village below Witsieshoek, built by the devout local Catholic community. In the '80s their Bishop arranged for a Madonna statue to be blessed by Pope John Paul II while on a papal visit to neighbouring Lesotho. So far, all good.
But when the Madonna arrived the Sotho congregation did not want to accept the Madonna because it was brown, and didn't look like the typical one seen in other churches. That Madonna was gifted to a convent in Senegal, where it remains.
At a later date this statue was gifted to the Shrine, also duely blessed, but only by a representative of the Pope. I don't know why this brown Madonna was accepted, but suffice to say it is secured in a well protected cage next to the altar in the Shrine Amphitheatre. The current Priest attempted to get the original Madonna back from Senegal, but the good sisters are not relenquishing their Madonna.
April 8th, 2022
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But when the Madonna arrived the Sotho congregation did not want to accept the Madonna because it was brown, and didn't look like the typical one seen in other churches. That Madonna was gifted to a convent in Senegal, where it remains.
At a later date this statue was gifted to the Shrine, also duely blessed, but only by a representative of the Pope. I don't know why this brown Madonna was accepted, but suffice to say it is secured in a well protected cage next to the altar in the Shrine Amphitheatre. The current Priest attempted to get the original Madonna back from Senegal, but the good sisters are not relenquishing their Madonna.