Painting of The Virgin Of Guadalupe.
Circa 1700.
Featuring a Crown on the Virgin’s head,
which was later removed.
Artist: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)
This Article, dated 12 December 2024, is taken from, and can be read in full at, FR. Z’s BLOG
The Church, as God’s Subcreator, has given to the World two great gifts which reflect God’s love, truth and beauty:
Art and Saints.
In Art, truth, beauty, and love, are manifested in the arrangement of matter or physical sound waves.
In Saints, truth, beauty, and love, are manifested in the actions of one of God’s images, a person.
Studying the lives of Saints and gazing at an image crafted by a true Master, hearing a composition of a devout Composer who intended to open us up into mystery, can, over time, produce great fruits.
For example, consider the famous 6th-Century A.D. Byzantine icon of Christ Pantocrator (see, below).
Studying the lives of Saints and gazing at an image crafted by a true Master, hearing a composition of a devout Composer who intended to open us up into mystery, can, over time, produce great fruits.
For example, consider the famous 6th-Century A.D. Byzantine icon of Christ Pantocrator (see, below).
Christ’s face is odd.
One might be inclined to say that the artist botched it.
On deeper inspection, we see that His face reveals two attitudes in the two halves of His face.
On the Right side, He holds perhaps the Gospels – perhaps the Book in which all things are written – and His attitude is that of the severe Judge, Whom nothing shall escape.
On the Left side, His hand Blesses and His face is gentle.
This artistic treasury yielding spiritual dividends is made by a man.
How much more might it be true of an image made by God ?
First and foremost, we contemplate Christ Himself, The Eternal Word Made Flesh.
“Christ Pantocrator” (Christ The Almighty).
This artistic treasury yielding spiritual dividends is made by a man.
How much more might it be true of an image made by God ?
First and foremost, we contemplate Christ Himself, The Eternal Word Made Flesh.
The Son is the perfect invisible image of the invisible Father, begotten but not made.
In His Incarnation and Birth, the Son takes His Body, made with the Virgin Mother, and becomes the perfect visible image of the invisible Father.
In contemplating Him we find infinite Mysteries, awesome and alluring.
Next, each one of us are images of God.
Next, each one of us are images of God.
Each person reflects Mystery, as do especially the Saints who beautifully reflect God in living flesh.
However, “Our Fallen Nature’s Solitary Boast” (William Wordsworth), Mary the Mother of God, presents Mystery to us in her own way.
Let’s see the the Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose Feast it is [Editor: This Article is dated 12 December 2024].
Let’s see the the Tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose Feast it is [Editor: This Article is dated 12 December 2024].
The Tilma has revealed many Mysteries.
As science advances, more and more fascinating – and hitherto unknown elements – are discovered in it, much as what is happening with the image of Mary’s Crucified Son, the Shroud of Turin (which I happen to accept as being authentic).
That said, there are things to be discovered not through Tech, but through Attention.
The writer, Pete Baklinski, gazed at the image of Mary in the Tilma. It eventually occurred to him that one side of her face looked happy, pleased, while the other side looked said.
He explored Mary’s message at Guadalupe and found themes of both joy and sadness. He suspects that her image means to reflect both.
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William Wordsworth called Mary, the Mother of Jesus, “our tainted nature’s solitary boast.”
That said, there are things to be discovered not through Tech, but through Attention.
The writer, Pete Baklinski, gazed at the image of Mary in the Tilma. It eventually occurred to him that one side of her face looked happy, pleased, while the other side looked said.
The Left Side.
The Right Side.
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William Wordsworth called Mary, the Mother of Jesus, “our tainted nature’s solitary boast.”
