The Fifth Glorious Mystery ~ Mary is Queen

This photograph is of the mosaic apse of Mary's Coronation in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) in Rome. The mosaic series was completed in 1296. Saints and angels abound. In the center there is a great aureole, an orb of stars representing the cosmos. On left and right there are the coiling branches of acanthus trees offering shelter to all kinds of birds. 

Our Father...

It is said that Pope Liberius received news in a dream that the Virgin Mary would pick the site in Rome for a basilica to be dedicated to her. Then on August 5th, the Roman Esquiline hill was covered with snow. Liberius traced the perimeter of the basilica in the snow. August! Did it actually happen that way? Doesn't matter. What matters is that I be prepared and walk the path God opens before me - even in its surprise. Surprises - like snow in summer.

Hail Mary...

The Basilica of St. Mary Major has the tallest belfry in Rome, housing five bells. One is named "La Sperduta" - the lost one. This bell rings every night at 9. Might we share this title with Mary and pray: Crowned Mother of the Lost Ones, of those who are lost in inner chaos or darkness, who have disappeared, who are lost in power abuse, lost in addictions, lost in life's troubles, pray for us.

Hail Mary...

In the Litany of Loreto, Mary is given the title, "Queen of Peace." We prepare for war and spend incomprehensible amounts of money to ready for war. We celebrate war heroes and treat history as a series of wars. Some cathedrals feature the disintegrating banners and flags of war throughout. Would that we studied peace as eagerly, how to create it, sustain it, advance it. "If you want peace, create justice," Pope Paul VI said. Do we even now what that means?

Hail Mary...

The First World War began July 28, 1914. "The thrill of war" we say - excited then to use the newest war technology: tanks, airplanes, submarines, machine guns, flame throwers, poison gas. More than 9 million soldiers, sailors and airmen were killed before it was all over, November 11, 1918. The most deadly war in history. Queen of Peace, have we learned anything?

Hail Mary...

In 1995 Pope John Paul II added, Queen of Families to Mary's Litany of Loreto. We pray for dysfunctional families, addicted families, families of divorce and separation, migrant and displaced families, unbelieving families, families living in poverty and financial insecurity, families ruled by domestic violence...

Hail Mary...

Some people say that the only legitimate families are those comprised of married mother and father with children. But that definition leaves much of the world outside of Mary's care. 40% of babies born in the United States are born to unwed mothers. In our country, 27% of children under 18 live in single parent homes. And what are we to do with phrases that speak of parish family, human family, family of nations. Mary's mother-embrace is wide, wider, widest, don't you think?

Hail Mary...

There is a shrine-church in Orlando, Florida called, "Queen of the Universe." The universe is the new frontier. But for why? So we have a place to which we can escape when we have succeeded in rendering this planet uninhabitable - a ball of extinction, ash and trash? Is the universe the safe vantage we establish the better to bomb our enemies? Or is universe the dazzling, wondrous evidence of God's limitless imagination?  

Hail Mary...

Might we add our own title, honoring Mary's Queenship? Perhaps, Queen of the World's Children.  Pray that every child would be welcomed and loved. Pray for the girls around the world who are kept out of school, the young boys who are pressed into being soldiers, the children of arranged marriages, the children who are enslaved in work or sex trade.

Hail Mary...

The entire mosaic is suffused with acanthus leaves and flowers. Its roots have curative powers (may our nation be healed of all this hatred). It symbolizes immortality (may we see Jesus face-to-face in heaven). Solicitude for lowly things (may we learn the heart of the Gospel - love for the littlest and the poorest). 

Hail Mary...

On the far bottom left there are three saints, left to right: a young St. Francis of Assisi, St. Paul and St. Peter. And just in front of St. Peter, but before the entourage of angels, is a little pope in a red chasuble. That is Pope Nicholas IV - the pope responsible for the creation of this golden mosaic-window into heaven. May we pray for the Pope of Rome who navigates the Church through dangers - like a great ship finding its way through an ice field.

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

The Fourth Glorious Mystery ~ the Assumption of Mary

The East calls Mary's Assumption by a different name: The Dormition. Dormition means, Falling Asleep. Some theologians debate whether Mary actually died, as death is a result of original sin. But Pope John Paul II kind of settled that when he taught us that Mary is not higher than her Son, and Jesus died. 

Here, Mary has fallen asleep in death. Her body is resting on a bier or catafalque. The apostles, taking up a lot of room have gathered from near and far to pay their respects. Peter is at the  head of the bier with a thurible; Paul is prayerful by Mary's feet.The three men on the right wearing white vestments with crosses are early first century bishops. On the far left are halo-ed angels. We can see their upright traveling staves. Mary's "girl friends"  have gathered to mourn and pray - three on the far right and one, talking with an angel, on the far right. Jesus is in the heavenly place holding Mary's "all-luminous soul" depicted as a child in swaddling clothes. The holy city of Jerusalem is spread out behind the scene.

Our Father...

Before the Gospel is proclaimed at the Assumption Day Mass we sing: Assumpta est Maria...Mary is taken up into heaven, the Angels rejoice, and bless God with songs of praise. The ancient Gregorian chant, still sung in some monasteries around the world, is tender and glad.

Hail Mary...

The Eastern Church sings this day: "The grave and death could not retain the Mother of Life, for Her Son has transported her into the life of the future age." The final end of humankind is already realized in Mary - a human being made God. It's called Deification.

Hail Mary...

An extra-biblical text tells us that Mary, wanting to see the apostles before her death, prayed at the Mount of Olives and angels mystically transported the apostles from near and far to her deathbed. Christians live near and far, around the world. Not a few suffer terribly. The countries where the persecution of Christians is most grievous: North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, Eritrea, Libya, Iraq, Yemen, China and Iran.

Hail Mary...

So much loss in our world. And this week, homemade bombs were sent through the mail to high profile people in our nation and then on Saturday, the murdering of Jewish worshippers in a Pittsburg synagogue: the loss of decency, civility, respect, unity and community. The nation is dis-spirited and dismayed. But God is no loser. Mary is taken up out of the world of decay to the promised place of glory and fullness of life. 

Hail Mary...

When we were young and little and we knew the grown-ups were going somewhere, we'd sing out, "I want to go too. We dreaded the thought of being left out; left behind. Jesus and Mary have gone to heaven even in their bodies! I want to go too!

Hail Mary...

St. John Damascene addresses the Virgin Mary in a homily for her feast day: "You have penetrated even to the royal throne of your Son himself...a blessing for the world, a sanctification of the universe, refreshment for those who are tired, comfort for the sorrowing, healing for the sick, a port for those in danger, pardon for sinners, soothing balm for the oppressed, quick help for all who pray to you..."

Hail Mary...

But what does Mary do now in her Assumption? She lives her Son's commandment, "Love one another." She patterns the new lifestyle that says we don't have to hate people. We don't have to kill people with weapons - even weapons of words and thoughts. All around the world, people claim to receive messages from Mary. But there's really one message: If you're going to follow my Son, it isn't okay to hate people. 

Hail Mary...

Most pictures of the Assumption show Mary zooming off into heavenly space. Lovely, but not especially helpful. Mary's life has ended here and now she enters into God's inner life, which is a life of family. "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  We are baptized for community. And in heaven we will be assumed into that life of relatedness we call Trinity. No more isolation, marginalization - no more being turned away.

Hail Mary...

Notice at the center of the icon, the body of the Mother of God forms a horizontal line while Christ in the body-halo (called a mandala) forms a vertical line pointing upward. And St. Paul writes: But earnestly desire the higher gifts, and I will show you a still more excellent way. Our life of desires often keeps us earthbound. St. Paul has in mind that we would embrace a higher lifestyle of love - actively wishing the good of the other.

Hail Mary...

Some people might say, "I can't pray to Mary." Then we might consider praying with Mary. She prayed in the upper room with the apostles; wouldn't she pray still? And what might that prayer consist of? Praising God, who continually brings life out of seemingly impossible places. Thanking God, whose mercies are eternal despite our awful mistakes, our folly. And that we would be God-Bearers too - keeping Jesus at the center!

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

The Third Glorious Mystery ~ The Descent of the Spirit

Our Father...

El Greco painted this Pentecost image to be placed over the altar for a seminary chapel in Madrid. The young seminarians would have felt themselves to be in the lower level (on the bottom step) with Peter and John, who we see from behind. Their eyes would then have moved up towards the Mother of God, and the Spirit, whose rays of new energy cascaded down on them. Powerful stuff!

Hail Mary...

"And there appeared to them tongues as of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them." These are not tidy, birthday cake flames come down, easily extinguished, but alive. Kind of blowtorch flames. The Holy Spirit is an ignite-r. Do I feel that in my own life?

Hail Mary...

"The tongues of fire came to rest on the head of each of  them." Who is them? Acts 1:14 tells us: "With one heart all these joined constantly in prayer, together with some women, including Mary the mother of  Jesus, and with his brothers." El Greco includes them. We see Mary Magdalen at Mary's left shoulder and Martha, second over from Mary's right shoulder. A lot of young women want a voice in the life of the Church. Does that threaten me?

Hail Mary...

Paintings of the Spirit's Descent always show the event taking place within a geographical space, allowing the artist to show off his architectural drawing skills. But not here. El Greco paints nothing more than a couple of steps and something resembling an arch fragment above left. Holy Spirit descends into a world of dark fabrications and fears, suspicions, maneuverings and exploitations.

Hail Mary...

Look how elongated El Greco's figures are. Holy Spirit stretches us. A rural parish of two hundred families raised enough money to buy a truck for an African nun who took in Nigerian AIDS orphans. Shortly after that project they raised the money to buy and install a well for an African village. They gave their weekly BINGO proceeds to help organizations like the one which funds the corrective cleft palette surgeries of young children. That's Holy Spirit!

Hail Mary...

A boy told his father that he was being bullied in school. The father tracked down the offending boy and discovered that he was being bullied himself because of his dirty shoes and torn pants. Rather than coming down hard on the boy, he took the two shopping and  bought new shoes and pants for both. The two became friends; solving a serious problem with love. That's Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary... 

El Greco's painting doesn't look like a camera's static group shot. Instead, he shows us an animated, informal mix of people, whose body language and facial expressions are reacting individually and collectively, with awe and excitement to a miraculous event! Holy Spirit blows divine energies into us; it sparks something new.

Hail Mary...

El Greco's work was anti-naturalistic. That means he didn't try to do what a camera would have done. Rather, in his painting he attempted to discover and present new, even inexhaustible possibilities. It's said of him that he believed grace to be the supreme search or purpose of art. That doesn't mean he only painted religious themes - but the quest of art is to discover the close, energizing, everywhere presence of God. Wow!

Hail Mary...

In doing so, El Greco's style broke all the rules and didn't fit into any of the conventional and acceptable art schools of his day. His critics used words like these to describe his work: "contemptible, ridiculous, worthy of scorn, strange, queer, eccentric, odd, sunk in eccentricity, madness." But these are the kinds of words that should be used to describe Christians. Instead, lots of Christian's are nothing but conventional. 

Hail Mary...

In the Pentecost account the signs of the Spirit's presence are fire and wind. We often see a dove present as well, recalling the Spirit's presence at Jesus' Jordan Baptism (Mk 1:9-11). Here, all the figures are looking upwards at that dove - symbol of God's hovering, creative energies. All the figures but one. Top row, second from the right is a figure who is looking out at us! El Greco has painted himself into the scene. He's even placed the Pentecost flame on his own head. I must never content myself with being a spiritual bystander or admire-r; I want to be a participant.

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

The Second Glorious Mystery ~ The Ascension

I have left this photograph of Giotto's Ascension (1305) large because it is so beautiful and deserves an up-close look. The Ascension is one of 39 fresco images Giotto painted for the Scrovegni Chapel near Padua, Italy. Fresco is painting on damp plaster.

The images, scenes from the Life of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, are arranged in three bands around the side walls of the rather small space. To experience them (visitors get a precious 15 minutes in the chapel before the air has to be exchanged) is to feel wrapped in brilliant color. Giotto gives us alive scenes, new colors and faces expressive of deep emotion. In starting something new, he is sometimes called, Father of the Renaissance.

Our Father...

Giotto has filled his upper space with a crowd of saints and angels. Kneeling below, the apostles are gathered with Mary. Earth-angels, like teachers at the head of the class, raise fingers to make a point: We're all in this together and headed for tragedy when we forget it and treat each other badly.

Hail Mary...

We're familiar with the scriptural text in the Acts of the Apostles, of Jesus' ascending into Heaven. But Giotto shows Jesus in a unique profile, as if he is climbing. We think of Moses climbing Mount Sinai. Now Jesus is the new Moses who sums up the Sinai Law: Love God and love other people.

Hail Mary...

The Mother of God is up front with five or six apostles on either side. Judas (who hanged himself) has not  yet been replaced. They look heavenward. Some shield their eyes with raised hands. Each face is distinct. God sees and treasures each of us as individuated and unique persons. We are not mass-produced.

Hail Mary...

In the ancient world many gods carried weapons, albeit some to combat evil. But Jesus carries nothing in his hands. Here, his empty hands are open, imploring, receptive. Hands matter, but as extensions of the heart.

Hail Mary...

Jesus' hands break beyond the border of the scene. Did Giotto miscalculate the space, or is there more? Key word: beyond. "Look beyond the bread you eat, see your Savior and your Lord..." the late 1960's hymn instructed us. Can I look beyond the outer appearances of people - to  understand others in their struggles, hopes and sorrows? My brother; my sister.

Hail Mary...

Giotto is called The Father of the Renaissance. Renaissance means: new birth. Have I ever experienced a personal renaissance? A new way of praying, a new way of being with God, a new politic (Gospel-infused), a new way of imagination, a new creativity, a new way of taking care of myself, a new way of...

Hail Mary...

In many places the Church is dressed in the rags of humiliation and shame. Pray the Church to be dressed anew in the bright colors of grace: a fresh Christ-center, clothed in justice, accountability, hospitable welcome, humility, simplicity.

Hail Mary...

A terrible toxicity of hate, name calling, division and otherism was unleashed some years ago in our country. Everyday reveals some new embittered insult. Even threats of violence and menace are manifesting. May the unity of Giotto's Ascension calm the savage breast. 

Hail Mary...

It is said that in the chapel atop the mountain of Christ's Ascension, we can see the footprints of Jesus in the stone. For real? It doesn't matter, only that in our considering them we ponder the God who has walked with us, so to change us from indifference to awareness and willingness. St. Ignatius saw these "footprints" and was changed from randy soldier to founder of the Society of Jesus.

Hail Mary...

Usually the angels of the Ascension are up in the sky with Jesus - even holding him, seated in a body halo. But Giotto has them hovering just above the ground with the Apostles. Heaven and earth are not separate geographic places, like rooms in a great house. Earth is full of heaven already. These angels seem to say, "Snap out of it; there's work to be done." 

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

Praying with the Pope in the Month of October ~ The First Glorious Mystery ~ Christ's Resurrection

Our Father...

This is Matthias Grunewald's Resurrection of Christ painted between 1512-1516. It was created for the hospital chapel of St. Anthony's Monastery in Isenheim, Germany, where it offered a window into brightness for the sick and dying. We might look not just at it but into it, and ask for our Church and Nation, the restoration of hope and joy.

Hail Mary...

We need to call upon the mystery of Christ's rising, and the brilliant life of this image, which was meant for plague victims and those suffering from skin disorders, infections and hallucinations. Hate and anger are our "infecting plague" today - often accompanied by hallucinations about other people. 

Hail Mary...

Grunewald isn't trying to do what a camera would have done had photography been available in the 16th century. This master artist wanted to convey a vision beyond a newspaper report. Look closely! What vision of God does it share with me personally?

Hail Mary...

Here, a weightless Christ hovers over the stone tomb and the guards. These men are not sleeping, but reptile-like are slithering away, as if in pain, before Christ's Resurrection brilliance. They are dazzled and overwhelmed. Am I ever dazzled and overwhelmed by God? Or is that just God's technique to win over enemies?

Hail Mary...

Christ rises, held in a  yellow, red and orange body-halo. He streaks like a fireball against the black background. The darkness and the soldiers are in crisis! St. Oscar Romero said, "A Church that does not provoke crisis, a gospel that does not disturb, a word of God that does not touch the concrete sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed - what kind of gospel is that?"

Hail Mary...

But these soldiers are resistant to that crisis and disturbance. They are heavily armoured and padded. The soldier in the foreground has his head and upper body wrapped in impenetrable chain mail. Two hold onto their swords. What sadness - the Christian who does not surrender gracefully to Christ, but remains protective of old ideologies, prejudices, and resentments. 

Hail Mary...

I do not come to Christ to admire him, however brilliant and exultant, but to be transformed as his wounds are transformed. Here we see Christ's painful Good Friday wounds now radiant and jewel-like. Even my personal wounds can be transformed!

Hail Mary...

The long shroud, which had swaddled Christ in the tomb, is now swirling and rippling; full of color and light. The cloth, painted 500 years ago, seems to anticipate the photographs that super telescopes are sending back from outer space beyond our galaxy. A risen Christ whose message and meaning transcends everything we know!

Hail Mary...

There is a huge bolder behind the risen Jesus. It seems to be floating with him - an impossible heaviness lifted! Can I name that? An addiction? An illness or personal problem that seemed to be crushing me? Some loss or sorrow I survived and out of which I have even flourished?

Hail Mary...

The Risen-One stands in the midst of deep darkness. During the seven long decades of Soviet rule, a Romanian Christian who had witnessed the destruction of churches and every religious institution, and the exiling and death of countless priests, said about that encroaching darkness: "So long as one person stands before an icon, the presence of God endures." Let's hold onto that thought and this image, in our own time of menacing darkness.

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

The Fifth Glorious Mystery ~ Mary is Queen

Window-like, an icon is an encounter with the heavenly side. Here the Virgin Mary has stepped up to the window, holding her divine son. She is very beautiful and wears a crown, as she is Queen - Queen Mother. Her son is the Lord and so looks like a little man. He blesses us and holds a disc or orb that symbolizes the cosmic dimensions of his rule. What's the cosmic dimension? Perhaps it's the pictures of space captured by the Hubble telescope? Maybe it's the new world of now ever changing tele-communication? Maybe it's the realms of our complex minds and the even more complex realms of our hearts?

The initials MP ~ OY on either side of Mary stand for Theotokos - which means Mother of God, while the initials IC ~ XC on either side of her son stand for Jesus Christ. It's been said  before, that Mary creates an atmosphere around Jesus. Here she has placed her son on a pillow and holds him securely. There are angels in the upper corners. Their wings seem to have flame in them.

Both The Mother of God and Jesus look at us squarely. There is no offering of profile that would break our communion with them.  In some cultures it is a sign of disrespect to look someone in the eye, but not here. Here we are invited to look deeply and to allow ourselves to be looked upon deeply. Some people find it very difficult to maintain eye contact because they are not honest.

This icon encourages us to just look. We don't need to think religious thoughts. We don't need to fathom there are hidden messages to be heard or intuited. We don't need to do anything really. Just to sit and gaze.

Enhanced lips and whiter than white teeth seem to be all the rage these days. But in icons the mouths of Jesus, Mary and the saints are de-emphasized. That's because in heaven they are not needed for eating and so much talking. Our culture is obsessed with both.  The icon invites us to a prolonged and deep silence, which is a wonderful way to pray.

Our Father, Who art in heaven...

There are options galore, and we all make our choices about how we will go, which path we will follow. Here is a way that will delight and ground us: Jesus is King! Mary is Queen!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Some people say that to call Mary  queen is outdated and irrelevant. Maybe. Then offer her the most over-the-top title you can come up with, as her response to God was over-the-top. Let the title express honor, gratitude and love.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

She is queen, but Queen-Mother - Mother of the King. She is the most sensitive one, the most wise and solicitous one. She is Queen-Mother: of the disenfranchised, the forgotten, the ignored, the weakest, the invisible ones.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Regina Rosarium! Queen of the Rosary! The rosary is the chain that binds up Satan. In The Passion of the Christ, it is really Mary who is most hated by Satan. Why? Because she is the first to believe - to say yes to Jesus. The rosary is hers!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Regina Mundi! Queen of the World! What a title! Our weary, wounded, anguished world of tears needs a mother's consolation, comfort and nurturing. And she tells the world, as she did at Cana. Do what he tells you.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Regina Pacis! Queen of Peace! There are great queens in the world's history who made peace happen. And there are queens who urged their king-husbands or sons to make peace. War kills children. War is expensive. War steals from the poor. War is ruining our earth-paradise. We need heavenly help to make peace happen today.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Regina Apostolorum! Queen of Apostles! The Creed says we believe in an apostolic faith. The word apostle means one who is sent out. Sent out for what?  To share the good news of Christ's being with us, to change us, to grow-us-up, to make us new.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Virgo praedicanda! Virgin most renowned! Her face has appeared on the cover of TIME magazine more than any other woman. Though slandered, attacked, mocked, ignored; Mary is here to stay. Love her!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Queen of the Universe! Surely this title is too much. On the other hand, why not? We talk of space wars and a new telescope that will go back to the origins of light. Space is the new frontier. So why not, Mary, Queen of the Universe?

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Saint Bernadette said about the visions of Mary she experienced at Lourdes, It isn't my job to convince  you of these things but only to tell you about them. Share with someone else that Mary and the Christ she holds in her arms are the source of your joy!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...

Baby's Breath ~ Our Lady's Veil

The Fourth Glorious Mystery ~ The Assumption

"I believe in the Resurrection of the Body and the life of the world to come," we pray in the Nicene Creed. And Mary in her Assumption is the first to enjoy this promise. In this icon the apostles have gathered to visit the tomb of the Virgin Mary, but upon their arrival they found it empty. Another tradition says it was filled with flowers. We see Thomas (poor fellow, once again confounded) who asked for a sign from heaven that indeed She, like her Son, had ascended. Mary kindly dropped her cincture or sash as "token of her affection." This icon is rather primitive - the landscape looks as if it had been done by a child. No matter ~ we are all and always her children.

Our Father, Who art in heaven...

God is no loser. Here Mary takes her place in the inner life of God ~ her place within the Holy Trinity. And there is a place for me too!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

That she stood beneath the cross of her son, Jesus, reveals that Mary had only one desire: to be united with him. And Jesus does not disappoint. I must remember this as I go through my day.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The word Assumption signifies being taken up: Mary is taken up to be with her Son. Mary is taken up to higher things: from a world of darkness to light and the enjoyment of God's own life.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Eastern Christians call this feast The Dormition of Our Lady ~ Mary's Falling Asleep. But then to wake up fully in God's presence and love. I can begin that heaven now, today, waking up to what God is doing in my life, even in this moment.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

So much talk about division, alienation, separation and loss. And here's this marvelous scene: that when Mary went to heaven, angels welcomed her with songs and conducted her to Jesus, who came to meet her!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

What will heaven be? Surely joy! I have come that you may have joy and have it fully, Jesus said. But this is joy born of relationships healed and whole. Mary and her Son. Me with Jesus! Me with Mary! Us with each other.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The Sunday Creed says, I believe in the Resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come. And Mary goes first, ahead of us, where body and soul are re-united. Re-union! The healing of all divisions!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

In the Assumption, Mary wears a crown of stars. Heaven will be about light, which is knowing, understanding, seeing rightly, finding the way, being assured, having the mind of Jesus, who calls himself light.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

When we were young and little and we knew the grown-ups were going somewhere, we'd sing out, I want to go too. We dreaded the thought of being left out, left behind. Mary and Jesus have gone to heaven, even in their bodies! I want to go too!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Mary's story ends with flowers and stars, angel song and seeing Jesus. Her tomb was empty when the apostles gathered. The story doesn't end in decay. Let's be encouraged and gladdened.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...



Foxglove ~ Our Lady's Glove





The Third Glorious Mystery ~ The Pentecost

Here is an icon of the Pentecost ~ the Descent of the Holy Spirit. Jerusalem is in the background. The perspective in the buildings is not what we are used to, reflecting that God's perspective: how to be human, how life can go, what we might think really matters ~ is very different from our own. And that this is not just a camera-ready historical moment, but one which transcends our snapshot, frozen-in-time thinking. This is why among the apostles, Saint Paul, who never met Jesus, is shown sitting across from Saint Peter in the front of the line on the right. I suppose we could put our own image in that place just as easily. Imagine, sitting in the circle of apostles on the day of Pentecost!

We notice that there is an empty chair in the middle of the scene between Peter and Paul. This is Jesus' chair. But Jesus has now returned to the Father in glory. The Father has sent the Holy Spirit as the Vicar of Christ. A vicar is a person who is authorized to represent someone else with that person's full authority.

There is this strange figure in the bottom center of the icon. This is the Ruler of the World - who lives in shadow and who seeks to have control of minds and lives. Maybe this ruler isn't a particular person but organizations and movements - maybe it's the media which wants to keep us shopping and spending, comfortable, protected and entertained. It seems we will have to wait for the brightness radiating from heaven to permeate this dark, underworld place.

As the heavens open up there are twelve rays emerging from above. These are the tongues of fire which will settle on each of the apostles. Fire is catalytic and purifying. Notice that in the icon there is no dove representing the Holy Spirit's descent. That's because there is no mention of a dove in the scriptural account of Pentecost - at the Baptism of Jesus, yes, but not at Pentecost. Divided flame which settles on the apostles is the Pentecost image.

And so long as there's the question about the dove. One thoughtful priest has suggested that it is perhaps the wrong bird to represent  God's Spirit because it is too soft, too pretty, too tame, too quiet. It might be better to have a wild goose represent the Holy Spirit. A goose is untamed, unpredictable, noisy. You can't easily catch or control a goose. The Spirit is much more like that, though many Christians will be uncomfortable with that iconography. So if the Holy Spirit is more like a goose than a dove, we'd best be really ready when we pray, "Come, Holy Spirit..."

Holy Spirit as Wild Goose Chase

Our Father, Who art in heaven...

It is the Jewish feast of Pentecost. It is the day of celebrating God's goodness and care through the harvest. Now with the visit of Jesus' Holy Spirit, it is a spiritual harvest: the Spirit of Jesus makes us abundantly fruitful in goodness and belief.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The Spirit comes down like fire. And this fire separated over each of them. It separated! This means that the source must be one and the same over each. God! And that each of us is  uniquely filled with God's gifts. We must accept this about ourselves and each human person.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Flame gives light. I ask the Spirit of Jesus to enlighten my mind, to take it out of the darkness where evil thoughts, guilt and protected memories breed. The flame comes to enlighten my mind to the teachings of Jesus ~ his purposes for me, his plans.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

And a great wind accompanied this Spirit-gift. It must have been noisy enough to draw the attention of the people in the city. Be wary of Christianity that is private and too quiet. In a world where deadly, bloody, violent sin happens, Christians have to make some noise, quite literally, for Christ's sake.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Flame gives heat. I ask the Spirit of Jesus to warm my heart with love for Jesus, who loves me endlessly. I ask Jesus to give me a love for myself where I am degraded. I ask for the gift of loving other people, especially the people who are different, or as the world goes, who are unlovable.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The apostles are gathered in a room when the strength of Jesus comes down on them. And they go out from that room with a new role or mission to accomplish for Jesus. I must discover and learn mine. Jesus waits!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

On the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came down, Peter preached boldly and everyone understood him in his or her own language. On that day it seems there was a great unity that drew thousands. Today, unity is very hard to achieve. But Pope Benedict XVI has said: Even if there cannot be a unity of belief, there can be a unity of love.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

And there is the gift of tongues. This is not so much about sounds coming out of mouths, but the spirit-ability to pass on Christ's truth to people of different situations and circumstances: the people who hear me!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

In hearing the spirit-filled apostles, three thousand people converted and were baptized that day. But day-by-day, am I being converted? Am I turning to a friendship with Jesus that changes my own heart and gives me joy?

Hail Mary, full of grace...

In Baptism I was drenched, soaked, saturated and flooded with the very life of Christ. I became a new creation, a new kind of human person: living my own unique life as truthfully and as beautifully as Jesus lived his!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...

Rosemary ~ Saint Mary's Tree

The Second Glorious Mystery ~ The Ascension of Jesus

It's important to illustrate this mystery of the Ascension with an Eastern icon because Western depictions, whatever their artistic merits, only do what a camera would have done if cameras had existed 2000 years ago. But the icon tells us much more.

Jesus is taken up and sits in an aureole. He sits, which is the posture of authority and to remind us of the line from the Sunday Creed, "He is seated at the right hand of the Father..." An aureole is a circular or almond shaped radiance of light surrounding a sacred person. The sparks or rays of light which cover the clothing of Jesus are called assiste (ah-seest). Jesus has entered the place of perpetual light, as we say in the prayer. Divinity shines out of him.

As we read in  The Acts of the Apostles (1:9-11) Jesus was taken from their sight and two men (were they angels?) appeared telling the apostles to stop staring off into the sky; that they will see Jesus again. And while Jesus has departed from us physically, the Spirit has been sent, and so the mountains, the ground and even the air or atmosphere of the icon are sparkling and golden. "Earth is crammed with heaven..." Emily Dickinson writes.

The Mother of God stands centrally, as first disciple. Elizabeth said of her: "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord," (Luke 1:45). Mary stands in the position of a priest  at the altar. She is the image of the Church at prayer - in  the posture of gathering, lifting up and receptivity grounded in faith.

Our Father, Who art in heaven...

Jesus goes up! And I remember Saint Paul writing, But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. And that higher, excellent way is the way of love: patient, hopeful, enduring, generous and glad.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The physical body of Jesus has left us; he has gone to glory. But he has also promised to be with us, until the end of time. What a tremendous claim! The red light burns in my church by the tabernacle, where the presence of Jesus is real, unique and always.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Nick Vujicic, who has no arms or legs from birth says, If you find your joy in temporary things, your joy will be - temporary. But Jesus says, I am with you always, until the end of time.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

I consider the great, hospitable kindness of Jesus, who says, I go to prepare a place for you , so that where I am, you also may be. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. What a joyful promise: room for me!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

I join the apostles as they receive the Lord's departing blessing. This is Jesus giving me strength for the journey through this life, full of tempting solicitations. I must keep my eyes fixed on Jesus only.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Jesus stayed with us for forty days after his resurrection from the dead. Forty days means a long time. Jesus understands the long time of struggle, the long time of fear, the long time of loneliness, the long time of hoping. But there is also the long time of his friendship.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

I hear the words of Jesus, I go to the Father...I will be with you until the end. This is the greatest gift a friend can give - I will be with you. I thank Jesus through tears of gratitude.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

I climb Mount Olivet too, to meet God, to go with God - up to the higher things of forgiveness, new direction, restored hope, reconciliation and joy.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The apostles look long to the sky. Angels appear to tell them that Jesus will return. Until then, I am not to look, gazing at the clouds, but to people left and right, in friendship and love.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Jesus was taken from the sight of the apostles, but only from their ocular sight. Faith and love have their own way of seeing. Jesus, help me to see rightly, how to trust, how to love.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...



Our Lady's Pincushion



The First Glorious Mystery ~ The Resurrection of Jesus

This image of the Resurrection ~ Ascension of Jesus was painted by Matthias Grunewald in 1512 as part of a much larger altarpiece for the Monastery of Saint Anthony at Isenheim. This monastery operated a hospital which cared for victims of the plague and other life threatening skin ailments.

In the center of the altarpiece the crucified Jesus is depicted covered with sores, lesions and thorns. His body is racked with pain and appears to be in the early stages of decay. Grunewald knew his painting would be viewed by people who were dying terrible deaths. His image conveyed to them that in Jesus Christ, God understands our human suffering, having shared in it fully. A friend visited the altarpiece, which remains in a chapel setting, and said, "The crucifix stunned me and took my breath away when I first saw it. I felt compelled to stay and look at it for hours and returned to it over the course of several days." 

The image of the Resurrection is painted on one of the side doors or wings. Grunewald has indeed combined the moments of Jesus Resurrection and Ascension. The enormous stone has been rolled back and Jesus is raised up above the ground in a great circle of variously colored light. He seems to dance above death, darkness and decay. Perhaps we're familiar with the song I Danced in the Morning.

 I danced in the morning

when the world was begun

and I danced in the moon

and the stars and the sun,

and I came down from heaven

and I danced on the earth,

at Bethlehem

I had my birth.

I danced on a Friday

when the sky turned black;

it's hard to dance

with the devil on your back.

They buried my body

and they thought I'd gone,

but I am the Dance,

and I still go on.

They cut me down

and I leapt up high

I am the life

that'll never, never die;

I'll live in you

if you 'll live in me -

I am the Lord

of the Dance, said he.

As the gospel relates, the soldiers of the Roman Empire who were guarding the tomb of Jesus, were knocked to the ground on Easter Morning. Here they appear to be reptilian. We don't see their faces but are taken with their armor and weapons, all of which seem to be rather stupid, useless and ugly. We might think of  military displays all around the world: choreographed soldiers on parade in long processions of  expensive state of the art  fighting machines, guarantors of victory in these days of perpetual war.

Our Father, Who art in heaven...

Some people are quick to raise questions that oppose religion: "Did Jesus really rise from the dead?" without thought of the bigger, more pressing questions surrounding the death of our own passions and the increase of lived-goodness within ourselves.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

After the Second World War a submarine pilot reflected on the 14,000 women, children and injured enemy soldiers who died when he targeted a civilian ship: "This is war. It was your turn, now it's ours." We become insane in war. The Resurrection of Jesus says: We can change!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The stone is rolled away to show that Jesus is not there. The angel sat on the stone as if to say, The contest is over and death is the loser. I should want to jump up and cheer!

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The soldiers outside the tomb fell down. Our defenses are useless before Christ. Even imperial powers and arsenals fall. It's all down for the count in the light of Christ's Resurrection. Now we wait in joyful hope for the full and final realization of this victory.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Jesus is not gone from us, here for awhile and then history. Jesus isn't just a good memory and a nice example. But Christ is risen and wants to be alive in the hearts of all Christians.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Can a woman forget her nursing child, the Prophet Isaiah asks. Saint Juliana of Norwich calls Jesus, our Mother. This Mother doesn't forget us, not for a moment. But Christ has come back even from death to take us to a new kind of life and new joy.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The first people to whom the angel announced the birth of Jesus, were shepherds in Bethlehem. And the first to be told by the angel of Jesus' Resurrection were the spice-bearing women of Easter morning. The Lord loves the humble heart.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

The disciples on the road to Emmaus on Easter evening were full of disillusionment. And Jesus started to walk with them. He walks with me too in my own despair  and sad projecting and shares the new life that is within him. Oh Jesus, open my eyes too (Luke 24: 13-35).

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Do not be amazed, the Easter angel said to the women. Do not be amazed that the Resurrected Jesus has overcome sorrow, anguish and every power we call darkness. Look for traces of this victory everyday and wait, with a happy heart, for the day when God's Kingdom in fully revealed and experienced.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

In his Easter rising Jesus has gone through death to fullness of life. Even his body is included. This religion of mine is all about life. I ask Jesus to grow-me-up to the full life God has envisioned for me.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

Glory be to the Father...



Clematis ~ Mary's Bower