For 2000 years Christians have painted depictions of Our Lady. Starting from the second century A.D., these images have provided Christians with increased awareness and affection for our Holy Mother. The early Christians took the evangelist John’s writings very seriously when he recorded Jesus saying “Woman, behold your son! Son, behold your mother!” (Jn 19:26-27). One Marian image that particularly speaks to me is this image. Often called “Madonna of the Goldfinch,” this picture portrays the Virgin Mary as a loving tender mother watching her baby Jesus and His cousin St. John the Baptist have a fun time innocently playing in the grass. This highlights the simplicity and humility of Jesus during His childhood; who even though is divine chose to “[empty] Himself and [take] the form of a slave,” to be just like us (Philippians 2:7). There are many other images of Mary that are not of her with baby Jesus, such as her holding Jesus’s body after he is taken down from the cross. One such depiction is Michealangelo’s Pieta. Rather than encountering our Mother in her joy, we encounter her in a time of profound suffering and sadness when she deals with the aftermath of Our Lord’s suffering. By entering into her suffering, one has the opportunity to learn from Mary how to handle the suffering and pain of our own lives and take our consolation in her. She has the special title of “Our Lady of Sorrows,” because the tradition holds that only Jesus in his earthly life suffered more than she did throughout her life.
One can truly get to know a person by seeing directly into his or her heart. While we get to know Jesus through his Sacred heart, we also have the opportunity to get to know Mary through looking at her heart as well. Images of her heart like this one often have a crown of flowers around her heart that has been pierced by a sword. Mary’s heart is symbolically pierced by a sword, alluding to St. Simeon’s words to her in the temple (Lk 2:35) and the aforementioned pain she felt during and after Jesus’s passion. Her heart is crowned with flowers to symbolize her gentleness and her queenship where she intercedes for us in heaven. In the image, she is the one to show us her heart, revealing that she wants to take the initiative in having and sustaining a relationship with each one of us. It is especially fitting that the memorial for the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the Church calendar comes immediately after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, highlighting how close the twin hearts are to one another. There are so many more images of Mary that I have not discussed here, and that truly speaks to the myriad ways individual Christians relate with her. If there is an image that particularly speaks to you, the Church encourages you to look into the history of the image and the aspect of Mary that the image highlights. Then, once you pray with the image, you can be made open to having a relationship with the one best suited to take you to meet and know Jesus.
- MADONNA DEL PARTO E DUE DEVOTI - February 25, 2024
- Eucharistic Miracles - November 29, 2023
- What is Prayer? - November 3, 2023