Lorenzo Ghiberti created this tender Madonna and Child sculpture of poly-chromed clay in the early years of the Renaissance somewhere between 1425-1450. It was intended not for a church but someone's home — perhaps even a child's bedroom. Mary is depicted as the ideal mother. Her love is close and tender. Her expression is even wistful. She holds the Christ securely by his left leg while rubbing his chubby thigh with her thumb. The Infant holds onto Mary's collar with his left hand; his right arm rests on her shoulder. He is wrapped in a striped blanket or perhaps it is the lining of Mary's mantle.
But notice this, Ghiberti's sculpture is 3D — the baby's right leg extends out of the image into our space. We see the sole of Jesus' foot just as we see it in the Byzantine icon titled Glykophilousa (Sweet Kissing). The artist intended that we be able to touch the Child's foot. I have younger siblings and remember playing with their toes and making them laugh as infants. But this Child has withdrawn a bit. We sense his vulnerability and need to be consoled. The red tunic reveals this is a divine-human person.
Sitting before Lorenzo Ghiberti's Madonna and Child, at the start of the New Year and this Feast of Mary's Divine Maternity, perhaps we can pray this decade of the Rosary together with these short meditations between each prayer.
Our Father...
O Lady, your Divine Child holds onto your collar. Strengthen me as I hold on tight during these difficult days. I ask for the charism of joy.
Hail Mary...
This image is nearly 600 years old. I become heart-aware of the countless persons gone before me who have prayed before your image, O Mother of God.
Hail Mary...
What trauma and struggle the world has known over these 600 years. Watch over this new year, Holy Child, and help us to keep mercy, justice and peace alive.
Hail Mary...
O Jesus, your foot extends out of the image and into our space. It is the foot that will walk throughout Galilee and then to Jerusalem, the Calvary Hill and from the Easter tomb. May I walk with you.
Hail Mary...
As Mother, Sister and Friend, hold me up too, Mother of God, especially (name the challenge that is most on your mind).
Hail Mary...
The colors of red and blue suggest the presence of divinity — God so close, I may miss it. May I be aware as the new year begins.
Hail Mary...
Perhaps the Holy Mother's gaze suggests she senses the Child's future of rejection. I pray for those who suffer alienation around the world. Those who in their human struggle are minimized and ignored.
Hail Mary...
Something has caused the Holy Child to recoil a bit, looking for his mother's consolation and security. I pray for those who suffer only insecurity and dis-ease. May we have sensitive and aware hearts.
Hail Mary...
May the beauty of your image, O Mother of God, serve as an antidote to the ugliness that can invade our lives — the accounts of fighting, insult, lies, violence and death.
Hail Mary...
I ask the Holy Child of Bethlehem to change hearts — that every child would be welcomed and loved. That every Christian would do something to bless the lives of children.
Hail Mary...
Glory be to the Father...
