Notice that the Mother of God holds the Infant close to her and under her folded hands. This modeling pre-dates the Hodgetria "style" where Mary points to Jesus. The cross inside Jesus' nimbus indicates his divinity. He is an animated figure - seeming almost to be already in motion along the roads of Galilee. Christ's tunic is a royal red. There are vertical stripes on his shoulders called a clavus, symbolizing imperial power - his teaching is from heaven.
Aware of all that vexes us, Jesus blesses us with his right hand, while in his left he carries the Book of the Gospels. But notice that the book is closed. Perhaps it is for us to open. Is he daring us? Surely our eyes will fall upon some line that will require a change, a transformation, a letting go, an inner death to some old way of thinking. Some Christians never take the challenge. There is too much at stake for. They remain fans of Jesus, but not his disciples.
The Holy Mother carries a mappula in her left hand - a ceremonial handkerchief carried by imperial women. Mary is Queen of Heaven, surely, but I prefer to think she'd share the handkerchief with us who are "mourning and weeping in this valley of tears."
There are an awful lot of broken hearts shedding an awful lot of tears shed on this planet, no? You're attentive to the news, yes? Years ago I had a colleague at school who told me she never reads a newspaper and doesn't have a TV. I asked her how she knew about what was going on beyond her own immediate concerns. She said, "If the world is going to end, someone will tell me." I think that's cavalier, and I wondered how she could pray from any felt place.
The Holy Mother carries a mappula in her left hand - a ceremonial handkerchief carried by imperial women. Mary is Queen of Heaven, surely, but I prefer to think she'd share the handkerchief with us who are "mourning and weeping in this valley of tears."
There are an awful lot of broken hearts shedding an awful lot of tears shed on this planet, no? You're attentive to the news, yes? Years ago I had a colleague at school who told me she never reads a newspaper and doesn't have a TV. I asked her how she knew about what was going on beyond her own immediate concerns. She said, "If the world is going to end, someone will tell me." I think that's cavalier, and I wondered how she could pray from any felt place.
