What is it about this depiction of Mary that captures our hearts? What draws us to her? Why have generations of children and alumnae of the Sacred Heart been comforted by this simple image? What is so striking about Mater?
I invite each of us to consider Mary’s expression. No one can spend any time before the image of Mater without sensing that Mary knew something entirely wonderful, something entirely extraordinary—God loved her unconditionally, without reserve, without limit, freely, and gratuitously. In the face of such love, Mary came to understand herself as beloved of God, God’s favored one, one filled with the Spirit. Mary’s clarity of her own self-understanding as the handmaiden of God flows from her absolute conviction that with God all things are possible. Luke explains that Mary was greeted by the angel with the words … Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you … I think evidence of this grace can be seen in Mater’s face.
Mater captures our imagination and holds our hearts because, as we contemplate Mary in this pose, we know her full story, her joys and her sorrows. Looking at Mater, we can see the fruit of God’s grace. The quality of Mater’s listening to God gave her an intimate knowledge of God. With this knowledge came the ability to see herself in God’s image. Mary allows the experience of being God’s beloved to inform her own self-understanding. We hear her exclaim “Yes … I am the handmaiden of the Lord. I am one who hears the spirit of God, who listens to God. I have found peace because I acknowledge my need to respond to this deep attraction to Mystery, to the spirit of God dwelling within. I can act in God’s name because I am fully confident that God will honor the promise made to me.” However we first came to know Mater, over the years, we have developed an intimacy with her. As we grow older and life brings us our own joys and sorrows, we know in her we have a friend, a model, a mother. Her experiences translate more and more into our own lives.
As we end this month of Mater, let us pray that each of us is graced with the wisdom of Mater. May we continue to grow in grace and know the joy of deepening our prayer. May we benefit from the wisdom of Mater who knew her own heart well. May we continue to allow Mater’s countenance to remind us that a life firmly rooted in prayer, focused on the essential, which is God’s love, enables one to act in love no matter what the circumstances. Without the discipline and habit of prayer, such love is not possible. May we grow in our own interior life so that the personal love of God, as shown through the person of Jesus Christ, remains at the center of all that we do.
~ Suzanne Cooke, RSCJ
