LEARN MORE: Hey, Mama!
In class, we learned about our Mary, the Mother of God and the Mother of Church – of us! We learned about her important role that she played in salvation history – by saying “Yes” to God’s plan for her — and through her example of following Jesus. We learned that the Catholic Church honors Mary in a very special way as the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church. We examined the Angel Gabriel’s announcement to her (and the possibilities it came with!), and how her trust in God’s Will for her despite the fear of the unknown brought upon the Savior of the World! We also talked about special devotions to Mary, including the Rosary!
But why do we Catholics honor Mary? What is important about Mary, other than she brought Jesus into the world? Watch this video from Fr. Mark-Mary and Brother Malachy, who share stories about how Mary has brought strength and courage from the saint's lives and their own!
→ MONTHLY LECTIO DIVINA: Luke 1:46-55 (The Magnificat)
And Mary said:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Questions to Consider:
- This passage is called the Magnificat, meaning “My soul magnifies the Lord” in Latin; it is also called the Song of Mary. Mary proclaims this after she visits her cousin Elizabeth, who proclaims to her, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! (Sounds familiar?) And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:42-45). If Mary came to you with this news, how would you respond?
- Describe a time when you thanked God for something. What was it about, what happened?
- How do you think God is calling you now, especially in this Advent/Christmas season?
→ MONTHLY VISIO DIVINA: The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa Tanner
About the piece
Tanner painted The Annunciation soon after returning to Paris from a trip to Egypt and Palestine in 1897. The son of a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Tanner specialized in religious subjects, and wanted to experience the people, culture, architecture, and light of the Holy Land. Influenced by what he saw, Tanner created an unconventional image of the moment when the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear the Son of God. Mary is shown as an adolescent dressed in rumpled Middle Eastern peasant clothing, without a halo or other holy attributes. Gabriel appears only as a shaft of light. Tanner entered this painting in the 1898 Paris Salon exhibition, after which it was bought for the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1899, making it his first work to enter an American museum.
(Source: https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/104384)
Questions to Consider:
- What catches your eye about this picture? Describe why it catches your eye. What do you think God is trying to tell you through this? How do you see yourself in this picture?
- We often see Mary with a halo and beautiful clothes. In this painting, we see Mary dressed as a normal peasant girl from the Middle East. Why do you think Tanner chose to paint Mary like this?
→ HOMEWORK:
- Write a reflection on Luke 1:46-55 and The Annunciation using the questions as guidance (3-5 sentences for each).
