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Religious Themes: Young Mary
Artists from ancient time to the present seek to depict in
some way expressions of belief, spirituality, the spiritual journey or search, and images suggested by sacred texts.
For some time I've thought about the various stories from the Christian Scriptures that relate to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
We know very little, actually, but the scholarship of the last 50 years or so have exposed contemporary searchers to something
of the cultural context in which Scriptural figures lived their lives.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, we can assume, was a rather ordinary
young woman of her village who didn't particularly stand out. We know she was pious, and engaged to be married to a
local artisan, a good young man named Joseph. Apart from the fact that she found herself called to an unusual, perhaps
miraculous, motherhood, we know little else. We know that her child was born in a town of some modest renown, having
been the birthplace of an illustrious ancestor.
There are the stories about the star, the shepherds, angels, joyous
choirs, peculiar visitors, enigmatic gifts, prophetic words by holy people in the Temple, and within the first year or two,
a horrific threat to the child's life that drove the young couple into the desert by night in the direction of Egypt.
When it was safe to return, the family settled into a small town in which it is possible that they both had lived before the
birth of their child.
So, it's possible to fill in the blanks imaginatively, as artists
have done since very near the beginning. Thus we have the Young Mary Series. In the future, there will be more
to add. But for now we begin with young Mary, sitting in her kitchen (YM 1.) with one of those wee, small voices burrowing
into her consciousness. What must that have been like? Maybe it was the same notion that had been coming to her
for weeks, and finally, she was really listening. We see her here at the moment of her awareness...
| YM 1. It Was Announced |
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| The original acrylic painting on canvas is available for purchase. (20" x 24") |
YM 2. How else might Mary have experienced the Holy moving in her
life, inviting her? Perhaps it came at the end of a long day, when, in the quiet of the evening, she sat in her doorway,
lost in reverie. Her little village at rest, she peered into the night, a tiny speck in a vast universe. Was it
then, lighted by the moon and stars, that she was touched by the Holy? Was it then, as this painting suggests, that
the wee small voice spoke to her heart?
| YM2. Annunciation at Night |
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| This acrylic on canvas is available to purchase. |
YM3. The Visit The story is well-known of the young woman
Mary visiting her pregnant cousin, both having news to share with one another. The joy of seeing one another, the prospect
of sharing one's deepest thoughts and concerns, the mystery that was shaping both women's lives: these are precious
moments cherished by all soul-friends. Zachary, Elizabeth's priestly husband, hovers in the distance, his hand resting
on the Tree of Life, the perch of the Spirit. He wonders at all that he is yet to understand. The women rejoice
to be taken up in the Dance of Life!
YM 4. The Birth Imagine the birth of Jesus in the perhaps not
so silent night. Imagine the wonderment of everyone, including the young couple sheltering in an animal's shed, surrounded
by sweet hay, unusual light, and an assortment of visitors at such an intimate time. Here's a good gift for new parents
and small children.
| YM5. The Birth |
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| The original acrylic on canvas is available for purchase. |
YM 5. At Home So much is unknown about those years between
the birth of Jesus and his public life. But what mother doesn't delight in the wonder of gazing at her growing child?
A lovely gift for a young mother or a woman who knows well the precious intimacy of these moments.
| YM4. At Home |
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| The original acrylic on canvas is available for purchase. |
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