At the moment of 12 months reminiscence returns me to Kinesa al-Saa’ –
the Church of the Clock – priory church of our Iraqi Dominican brothers in
Mosul for greater than 200 years. My first encounter with this traditionally
complicated edifice was 24 years in the past. Over a sequence of visits, I used to be privileged to
spend many hours there, some in liturgy, some in quiet contemplation.
So this week, because the Christmas feast attracts close to and we
observe two Marian feasts – The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Dec.
8 and the feast of Our Woman of Guadalupe on Dec. 12 – I’m considering of Kinesa al-Saa’ and a statue of
Mary that when resided within the courtyard there.
Earlier than laying eyes on the statue, I’d heard a number of tales
from the Iraqi Dominicans about Muslim girls who have been granted the blessing of a
baby after praying earlier than this statue. It was a explanation for nice pleasure for them
that earlier than this Marian picture their neighbors in Outdated Mosul discovered such
achievement by way of their prayer.
My first go to to the church was in 2001, whereas the constructing
was present process main restoration. The muse wanted to be repaired and
then, after that, got here an entire renovation of the church. It was a yearslong
venture, nearing completion in 2001 however a lot was nonetheless to be finished that there
wasn’t a lot to see, together with that well-known Mary statue, stored in a crate
someplace till it might be restored to the church.
By the point I’d obtained a peek at it on my subsequent go to a 12 months
later, I had, with out realizing it, developed excessive expectations. Throughout my
travels round Iraq I’d encountered a lot stunning historical Mesopotamian,
Syriac and Chaldean artwork that what I noticed, after I lastly did see the well-known
Mary, required me to suppress somewhat chuckle, lest I offend.
By way of the slats of a picket crate I may see the statue,
which was, for all its renown and reported miraculous energy, effectively, let’s simply
say, underwhelming. You understand this statue. It’s possible you’ll worship in a church that has
one identical to it: Mary has blond hair and blue eyes; her blue robe falls to her
ankles, and across the globe on which she stands, there’s a snake beneath her
ft.
However that subsequent journey – for Christmas 2003 – this time, Mary
was a revelation! The statue, gleaming with new paint, nonetheless seemed too
European for the context. She was, nevertheless, standing in an impressive grotto
that appeared a lot too superb for such pedestrian artwork. Above her head and beneath
her ft have been cruciform mirrors. The one at her ft mirrored heaven to earth;
the one over her head, earth to heaven. I stood there lengthy sufficient that the
impact was disorienting: Mary’s picture, from completely different views, placidly
mirrored between earth and heaven bouncing forwards and backwards. One scarcely knew
the place to relaxation one’s gaze.
I imagine that was the purpose. That is what Mary was born to
do for us: carry heaven to earth and earth to heaven. Amongst her many titles are
Mediatrix and Theotokos. Latin and Greek. The primary, which means mediator, the
second, Mom of God. These mirrors within the grotto can inform us one thing about
every.
A mediatrix is a feminine mediator – one who stands-between
and advocates for, hoping, most of all, to carry two events collectively as one.
We see Mary fulfilling this goal on the wedding ceremony in Cana, when – apparently
with out the data or permission of her son – she says to the waiters who
have run out of wine, “Do no matter he tells you.” At his mom’s insistence
Jesus floods the marriage feast with an embarrassing quantity of wine, saying
the approaching of God to Earth, the long-promised achievement of the covenant made
after a really completely different sort of flood in Genesis. There, the world apparently
overwhelmed by human sinfulness, Earth is destroyed by flood, all save Noah and
firm. This time, Jesus brings a celebration. No vengeance, simply pleasure. And “wine to
gladden their hearts” because the psalmist says.
I really like that story. However maybe I really like this yet one more.
Theotokos. mom of God. It took the church 4 centuries to lastly assent
to this title for Mary, formally acknowledged on the Council of Ephesus in 431.
The title acknowledges that Mary didn’t simply give delivery to the human Jesus,
however to his divine self as effectively.
Fashionable Christians take this with no consideration. However understanding
Jesus as God-in-the-flesh, absolutely human and absolutely divine was not a foregone
conclusion within the early days of the church. The implications of this are
far-reaching, reverberating all through our theology and our understanding of
Jesus as phrase of God “born within the flesh” and dwelling amongst us. This nice
scandal of Incarnation is a stumbling block to many, however important to all we
say and imagine as Christians.
That is what we’re ready for throughout these previous few days
of Introduction: the time to have fun, we hope with an abundance of pleasure, and maybe
somewhat wine, the factor that Mary, mom of God, is supposed to assist us recall:
the in her son Jesus, God has come to earth, turning into what we’re that we would
grow to be what he’s. Could it’s so.
Sister Beth Murphy, OP, is the communication director for
the Dominican Sisters of Springfield.
