Mary's Star Spangled Mantle

Why is Mary often covered in stars or why does Mary’s mantle often have stars on it?

First of all, we must clarify what is a mantle? It was a large, rectangular outer wrap draped over an ankle-length tunic to provide warmth and modesty in public. It was commonly worn by 1st century women in ancient Israel.

Many artistic representations of Mary feature her blue mantle covered with white stars. But arguably the most important starry image (which was not man-made but rather divine in origin) is on her mantle portrayed on the miraculous Tilma of Juan Diego. God wants us to know that Mary is cosmic in importance since his plan of salvation was left to her free will. The New Eve undid the knot of sin that the first Eve tied.

The Stars Speak to Mary's Cosmic Importance

Mary’s star-spangled mantle is not merely decorative, it is cosmic. Mary, the meek and humble Virgin of Nazareth, is cosmic in importance. By first expressing her consent to the angel, she became the Mother of the Messiah, the mother of the Church, and the Queen-Mother of heaven. 

She is the “woman” of Genesis 3:15, John 2:4, and 19:26-27 and she is the cosmic, heavenly “woman clothed with the sun” in Revelation 12:1. “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” 

The Stars on Mary’s Mantle Resemble the Temple Veil

Though the biblical description of the temple veil described in Exodus 25 omits any mention of the stars, 1st-century historians do mention them..

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote that the temple veil was embroidered with a depiction of "all that was mystical in the heavens" ( a panorama of the night sky and stars). Philo of Alexandria explained that the temple veil was meant to represent the material universe. The four fabric colors symbolized the four earthly elements (blue for air, purple for water, scarlet for fire, and white linen for earth), while the starry imagery framed the veil as the cosmos separating earth from the unapproachable realm of God behind it.

The 2nd-century apocryphal text The Protoevangelium of James tells a beautiful story about the Virgin Mary weaving the temple fabrics by hand. Mary was one of seven consecrated virgins chosen to spin thread for the sacred Temple veil. She was assigned the royal "true purple" and "scarlet" yarns. According to the story, she was at the loom spinning this night-sky thread when the Angel Gabriel appeared for the Annunciation.

Theologians such as St. Ephrem the Syrian and Cyril of Alexandria connected Mary with the veil in the temple. They wrote that just as Mary spun the thread for the sanctuary curtain, her womb served as a spiritual loom where she "wove" the fleshly veil of Christ’s humanity from her own blood and body. Just as the Temple veil shielded the unapproachable divine presence, Mary's holy womb, which contained the creator of the cosmos, was veiled by her starry mantle.

The Stars on Mary’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Mantle 

There are 46 visible stars on the Our Lady of Guadalupe mantle. Astronomers tell us that they reproduced the constellations visible over Mexico in December 1531, viewed from God’s point of view as though looking toward Earth from beyond the heavens. 

In this way the stars are not reflecting not the Jerusalem temple veil but the Cosmic Temple veil that covers heaven itself.

Examples of Sacred Art portraying Mary covered in Stars…

Margaritone d’Arezzo, Madonna and Child Enthroned with Four Saints, c. 1240–1260

Jacopo di Cione, Madonna and Child with God the Father Blessing and Angels, c. 1370–1375

The Byzantine icon known as the Theotokos of Vladimir, 12th century

The icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, probably 14th–15th century