(and yes, you're right, the first one is closest to the right feel. it's a pity there isn't an option for a proper amount of gold leaf. Our Lady of Guadalupe is my favorite... probably partly because of how joyously gaudy she is when you're a small Catholic girl.)

*I just love her name.

Around here, decals of her are sold in coin-op gumball machines, and there are shrines to her in corner bodegas. Patrick told me that when he went to see a concert by Cafe Tacuba (currently in the running for Best Rock Band in the World), there were enthusiastic concertgoers down on the main floor waving big N.S. de G. banners. You see tough-looking guys in their twenties who've painted icons of her on their jackets.

Let me show you some stuff. Fleece blankets: 1, 2. Pre-printed quilt blocks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, plus coordinating fabric, 9. Iron-on transfers: 1, 2, and patches and appliques, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. On a light switch plate cover. With the Stars and Stripes. On a refrigerator magnet. Worked into a candle holder, a holy water font, a lace curtain, a wristwatch, a checkbook, a porcelain urn fitted with a music box, a very nonstandard Mexican flag, an "antique" lighted mirror, a tapestry throw, a tote bag, a clock, a bull-rider's belt buckle, and a mousepad. It's, like, anything that's good to start with is better if it has the Virgin of Guadalupe on it, as long as you treat it respectfully. I hope I'm not insensitive to sacrilege, but when I saw those shoes, I could only think of them as a good thing.

Mad: Why not St. Thecla/Tecla/Tekla? Several reasons. It's not just that the only existing Life of St. Thecla/Tecla/Tekla/Teckla (which the Catholic Encyclopedia tactfully refers to as "purely legendary") would run up an immoderately high score on the dubious saint scale. Contemplating her Life, and especially the part where she baptizes herself, makes me realize that I left an important criterion out of the scale:

-9.5 Saint's Life includes an episode which is theologically difficult or impossible to justify.

The worst one can say of the other St. Thecla, Virgin and Martyr of Chepstow, is that she's associated with a Welsh well where some very colorful healing practices were carried on into the 19th Century. If you follow the link for her, you'll also find a lively discussion of the first St. Thecla.

There are lots of saints I'd happily have on my shoes, though I'd feel a little funny if they belonged to one of the discalced orders. (A ridiculous scruple, I know.) It would be fun to do one with the Francisco de Zurbaran painting of St. Margaret of Antioch on the toe, then cover the rest of the shoe with different images of her dragon.

Heresiarch: I noticed that. It's another one of the reasons I like that version.

I did notice that they had a couple of pairs of really swell St. George keds, with dragons. But he's been demoted too, hasn't he? It's tough work being a Saint.

Oh, yes there are. Of course there are.

* I wish I could say that this has nothing to do with me having just sat through the baptism of my daughter's infant cousin at the Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Modesto, CA.

On the plus side, the saints their church was wallpapered in decorated with around all the internal walls, were pretty. Their clothing ranged from 'vague draperies down the body and wrapped around the head' to some clearly medievally or Renaissancy tunic-and-stockings outfits. Hagia Sofia and her three daughters (faith, hope, and love, each bearing a handheld crucifix) were depicted, so clearly they're not afraid of 'legendary'.

It does seem vaguely troubling. I mean, if you were wearing the shoes with a skirt and the Blessed Virgin were to open her eyes, well that might be a view that even she couldn't unsee.

My favorite has always been the pick-up trucks that have the Virgin of Guadalupe depicted on the tailgate--where she can both bless the truck and its cargo and passengers, as well as subtly warning would-be tailgaters to back off, lest they nail the Mother of God should they rear-end the truck.