During our time in St. Marys, Lisa and I stayed at the Spencer House Inn. It is a wonderful Bed & Breakfast that I would highly recommend if you ever make it to that area. It was private enough that though we saw other guests, most of the time we felt like we had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed sitting out on the second floor balcony at night, just soaking in the scents, sights and sounds of the sleepy little town. Directly across the street was Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Catholic Chapel and it was lit up quite nicely at night. The chapel was established at St. Marys Georgia in 1840 and was the sixth parish founded in Georgia. I was never able to find out if the town name had any relation to this chapel, but I think it can be assumed. On our last evening, I took this photo from that second floor balcony, framed by a pine tree on the left and a magnolia on the right. ----- The Cult of the Virgin Mary The cult (which means "pattern of devotional practices" rather than anything more sinister) of the Virgin Mary was an important aspect of medieval religious piety. From the 6th century in Byzantium and rather later in the West, the cult of Mary expanded into a vast artistic, devotional, and imaginative aspect of Christian piety. In Northern Europe the Protestant Reformation largely killed the cult of Mary. It is noticeable, for instance, that although Protestant churches are still commonly dedicated to saints, very few are dedicated to Mary. Most Protestant dedications are to Saint John, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. Paul, or St. Stephen. All these are New Testament figures and so the Biblicism of Protestantism is appropriately emphasized. What is missing is the feminine aspect of the Divine. This is precisely what Mary brings to Catholic, Orthodox and some Anglican piety. It is commonly accepted that Mary assumed the role of the feminine divine as Christianity spread across the world and displaced native, "pagan" religions. Isis, Vesta, Brigid, Artemis and others all were fused into this one Christian figure and then downplayed by the church through its advancement of patriarchal doctrines. But that is another story... ----- Thank you for your pulchritudinous comments on my last upload, St. Marys I - Estuary.

----- Olympus C-8080WZ & PhotoshopCS. (627)