The Pieta remains a favorite subject of artists even to our own day. Here are two very different images, both of which convey the quiet suffering of our Mother.
Saint Alphonsus Liguori said, “Martyrs are represented with the instruments of their suffering… Mary is represented with her dead son in her arms; for Jesus Himself, and He alone, was the instrument of her martyrdom, by reason of the love she bore for Him.”
Actually scripture does not mention a moment when Mary held Jesus’ lifeless body in her lap. But because of theologians and artists, this imagined moment became the focus of prayer and reflection.
The Pietà’s name doubles as both “piety” and “pity” – in Latin and Italian, respectively. It evokes sorrow in its viewers, but the longer we gaze upon it, the more they are drawn to prayer. Mary is the picture of tranquility, accepting her Son’s sacrifice as He lays in her arms. In her Fiat, Mary accepted whatever came for her Son, even if His death was the sacrifice to redeem the world.
It is hard to contemplate how many mothers have mourned the loss of a son or daughter in the on-going war in the
Images: Top left- Krishen Khanna-
Bottom right –Liviu Dumitrescu -