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| Photo: R. Massaro (c)2019 Spirit Singing Sorrowful Mother Shrine Bellevue, Ohio |
The Pieta speaks the universal language of human anguish; it possesses a universal meaning as it silently utters the deepest human grief...
In this painful scene, Mary appears once again as a woman of great courage and a sign of hope. Courageously Mary hold the lifeless body of her only child after he was taken down from the cross. Jesus endured the scandal of a criminal's execution and Mary, probably recognized by some as his mother, endured the ridicule, reproach and insults of the crowd. Perhaps she also received the pity of neighbors who knew that this widowed mother had only one son--and he seemed a failure. Mary bore in her arms the weight of her son, and in her tender heart the weight of her grief.
Mary's right arm supports Christ's body while she extends her left hand as in an embrace, an offering, a gesture of immeasurable pain. She is every mother holding her dead child, every person who grieves for someone dear and departed, every man and woman grieving over lost dreams or shattered hopes. Mary feels the heartbreak of all humanity; she feels all the sadness of life.
Excerpt from Mary First Disciple by Bishop Thomas J. Grady
Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
