Angel of God, my guardian dear

In 1580, Saint Turibius became Archbishop of Lima (Peru), at that time the largest archdiocese in history, extending from Nicaragua to Tierra del Fuego. First he set out to reform the clergy; then, equipped by the king of Spain, Philip II, with the title and full powers of “Protector of the Indians,” he liberated them from the mercantile trafficking that victimized them, and created for their benefit an effective system of social security. Furthermore he did not hesitate to order that the property of those suspected of having accumulated wealth at their expense be seized and redistributed to the Indians. To console those who had been expropriated by his zeal, he told them: “You will thank me in the next world, because the poor Indians are banks; through their intervention your treasures are now capital invested for you in heaven.” 

His great work, however, would be to promote, again for the benefit of the Indians, the establishment of little autonomous Christian republics in which the citizens would be able to live under the direct protection of the royal crown. Governed by democratically elected Indian chiefs and organized by the Franciscans, then also by the Jesuits, these republics—later called Reducciones (“organizations”)—were centered on a group of institutional buildings: a church, a school, a hospital, a residence for the elderly, and several centers for professional and artistic training. The native Incas showed little aptitude for commerce and industry, but a real genius for arts and crafts, and so priority was given to developing those talents. Hence the founding of admirable schools of art, such as Cusco’s school for painting. Music, dance, and the liturgy flourished, too, giving rise to a festive civilization that expressed its genius and joy of living on every Christian feast day. 

The painting that adorns the cover of this issue of Magnificat bears witness to the final lights of this Christian epic in which, in the spirit of Mary’s Magnificat, the humble were blessed to be so. For unfortunately, in the 18th century, in the name of “Enlightenment” philosophy, the “enlightened despots” who were reigning in Spain and Portugal abolished the Reducciones and left their citizens at the mercy of ruthless men who looted and profaned their institutions; then, these were exploited, and irreparable sufferings were inflicted on these native populations of South America. 
 

At the heart of a lost paradise

Uniting our hearts, souls, and minds with these Christian communities, let us consider here one of their surprising artistic expressions from Cusco’s school. The talented artist is able to transport us to the heart of a lost paradise in which marvelous things are expressed by gold, color, luxuriant settings, and symbols that are inscrutable to the uninitiated, successfully creating an original syncretism between the Baroque influences brought by the Spanish evangelizers and the indigenous artistic traditions. A guardian angel—like the Archangel Raphael taking Tobias by the hand—leads a young child, whose demeanor expresses piety. In his right hand the angel shows a heart—throbbing Divine Love—a Heart which, according to the teaching of Saint Augustine, loudly proclaims the safest rule for all Christian conduct: “Love, and then do what you will.” 

In the background looms a pale blue mountain range, the Andes, while scattered through all the nooks and crannies of the landscape colored birds, all of the same species, connect the Christian message of the painting to the most venerable traditions of the Incas. Upstream from the site of Machu Picchu, in the center of the Sacred Valley, at an altitude between 9000 and 10,000 feet, there is a place in which more than two hundred species of multicolored birds flit around, including more than thirty species of hummingbirds. It is one of these hummingbirds that is depicted here. For the Incas, this hummingbird was a messenger from God, therefore an angel. But in addition it communicated among the members of the community each one’s expressions of good will and love for the others. What a beautiful symbol for what is accomplished by the angelic grace of all communication in a Christian community! And how close it is to the childlike spirit of little Thérèse, who prayed to her guardian angel saying: “Glorious Guardian of my soul, I beg you, fly in my place to those who are dear to me.”

Pierre-Marie Dumont

Guardian Angel, Cuzco School, 18th c., Philadelphia Museum of Art. © Bridgeman Images.