Setup
The design process
The text comes from the Nican Mopohua, the first documentation of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego. It was written in Nahuatl, an Indian language, but the quote I used was translated to English. You can find it in Guadalupe Mysteries: Deciphering the Code by Grzegorz Gorny and Janusz Rosikon. The link is at the bottom of the page.
I had a hard time fitting "Juan, Dearest Juan Diego" into the center because I knew I wanted to give it a special flourish.
I came to the solution of combining the two 'J's and 'D's.
The top and bottom two lines are styled from the custom script I created by combining the handwriting from the Nican Mopohua with italic script. "Could no longer be heard" and "his heart was not disturbed" are written in Roman miniscule. The rest is simple italic with flourishes from the custom script woven in for a harmonious finish. This piece is a celebration of the universality of the Church under Mary's protection.
The Finished Piece
