Most have studied, read and prayed stories of Mary’s journey. They preach, write and pray the sufferings she faced in her life, the greatest of all being the brutal loss of her son. Every person takes their own unique direction on their spiritual journey with her by their side.
In 2001 on my first pilgrimage to Lourdes to minister in the baths and sanctuary during the summer months, did I come to truly understand Mary’s suffering in the deepest and most spiritual of ways.
It was a rare occurrence that a showing of Robert Hupka’s photography of the ‘Pieta’ was on display, where he was allowed to photograph this remarkable piece of art; a true gift to the people honoring Mary and Jesus’ intimate story. The show was travelling through Europe at the time and honestly, I was simply passing by the exhibit on my way to work in the baths one afternoon when I came across it.
As I walked into the museum, I remember my breath being taken away immediately as the sounds of Gregorian Chant echoed throughout the darkened room covered in black drapery. There was no light, but for what shone onto each photograph, a maze of photos in every angle imagined that you prayed through the darkened passageways. The way the light captured so many different unspoken emotions of Mary was breathtaking in each slight of frame presented.
I carried my wooden rosary clenched tightly in my hand and without even realizing, I began to pray Mary’s prayer in French as the music soothed my soul and my eyes began to wander over each and every precious detail. It was a blessing I later acknowledged due to the time of day, I was the only one in the room at the time. It was the ultimate prayer.
This wasn’t the first time I had seen the Pieta, in fact, I had the opportunity in my early youth right out of high school on a trip to Italy to see it in person. At that time my faith was fleeting, while I couldn’t appreciate it as I did on this late afternoon in May, Mary’s Month.
This day as I cautiously took each step, my eyes capturing Mary’s, I paused in her anguish never before truly understanding her pain until that moment. My eyes began to fill with uninhibited tears I was afraid to explain, tears that held so many different emotions for my personal spiritual journey, but rather the connection I was making in that moment to her journey. The story, the pain, the love was coming to life for me in ways I had never experienced before that afternoon alone in a foreign country facing myself, my own suffering.
Each photo photograph of this mother holding her son’s lifeless body, as her love poured out over him while she tried to say goodbye captured the essence of suffering and faith. I could imagine her suffering in that moment and years later as a mother losing a child I would know a pain as great…I wondered if she was questioning why this was her destiny for saying ‘yes!’
I prayed her pain that moment looking into her selfless eyes of love for her child remembering this was all for the greater good of us, for our spiritual lives and destiny. Not that it has ever been spoken, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she could possibly be angry? Did she share unspoken regret? Did her pain ever become so desolate, she wondered, ‘why her?’
As I walked praying each photo intimately, I wondered if I was honoring her pain by living my life by the same example of courage, faith and prayer? Was I honoring His selfless act of love in that moment I stood before this gallery of suffering? At that time in my life, I grasped my suffering as security blanket to understand my illness. It was easier to hold resentment, regret and anger in suffering than to be as courageous as Mary and embrace healing…embrace a love so unconditional that I could never imagine I was as deserving.
There are simply not enough words to share the depth of this experience; this is a hint of what its meaning held for me. You have to walk your own journey of suffering, acceptance, and prayer with Mary to come to your own understanding of your personal life’s path in their example of the ultimate love given to us freely.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16
It is in your hands to embrace the courage on your own personal journey; to look at this Pieta with the deeper, truer meaning in the face of your own suffering. Ask yourself if your suffering has taken the lead in your life? Does your suffering ultimately consume every decision you make for your spiritual journey, for your life’s journey? Is your suffering holding you in a box not allowing you to breathe in the beauty that God is calling you towards on a daily basis?
Can you take your suffering to Mary today and ask her if she will hold it for you while you choose healing, choose love, choose life?
In 2001 on my first pilgrimage to Lourdes to minister in the baths and sanctuary during the summer months, did I come to truly understand Mary’s suffering in the deepest and most spiritual of ways.
It was a rare occurrence that a showing of Robert Hupka’s photography of the ‘Pieta’ was on display, where he was allowed to photograph this remarkable piece of art; a true gift to the people honoring Mary and Jesus’ intimate story. The show was travelling through Europe at the time and honestly, I was simply passing by the exhibit on my way to work in the baths one afternoon when I came across it.
As I walked into the museum, I remember my breath being taken away immediately as the sounds of Gregorian Chant echoed throughout the darkened room covered in black drapery. There was no light, but for what shone onto each photograph, a maze of photos in every angle imagined that you prayed through the darkened passageways. The way the light captured so many different unspoken emotions of Mary was breathtaking in each slight of frame presented.
I carried my wooden rosary clenched tightly in my hand and without even realizing, I began to pray Mary’s prayer in French as the music soothed my soul and my eyes began to wander over each and every precious detail. It was a blessing I later acknowledged due to the time of day, I was the only one in the room at the time. It was the ultimate prayer.
This wasn’t the first time I had seen the Pieta, in fact, I had the opportunity in my early youth right out of high school on a trip to Italy to see it in person. At that time my faith was fleeting, while I couldn’t appreciate it as I did on this late afternoon in May, Mary’s Month.
This day as I cautiously took each step, my eyes capturing Mary’s, I paused in her anguish never before truly understanding her pain until that moment. My eyes began to fill with uninhibited tears I was afraid to explain, tears that held so many different emotions for my personal spiritual journey, but rather the connection I was making in that moment to her journey. The story, the pain, the love was coming to life for me in ways I had never experienced before that afternoon alone in a foreign country facing myself, my own suffering.
Each photo photograph of this mother holding her son’s lifeless body, as her love poured out over him while she tried to say goodbye captured the essence of suffering and faith. I could imagine her suffering in that moment and years later as a mother losing a child I would know a pain as great…I wondered if she was questioning why this was her destiny for saying ‘yes!’
I prayed her pain that moment looking into her selfless eyes of love for her child remembering this was all for the greater good of us, for our spiritual lives and destiny. Not that it has ever been spoken, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she could possibly be angry? Did she share unspoken regret? Did her pain ever become so desolate, she wondered, ‘why her?’
As I walked praying each photo intimately, I wondered if I was honoring her pain by living my life by the same example of courage, faith and prayer? Was I honoring His selfless act of love in that moment I stood before this gallery of suffering? At that time in my life, I grasped my suffering as security blanket to understand my illness. It was easier to hold resentment, regret and anger in suffering than to be as courageous as Mary and embrace healing…embrace a love so unconditional that I could never imagine I was as deserving.
There are simply not enough words to share the depth of this experience; this is a hint of what its meaning held for me. You have to walk your own journey of suffering, acceptance, and prayer with Mary to come to your own understanding of your personal life’s path in their example of the ultimate love given to us freely.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16
It is in your hands to embrace the courage on your own personal journey; to look at this Pieta with the deeper, truer meaning in the face of your own suffering. Ask yourself if your suffering has taken the lead in your life? Does your suffering ultimately consume every decision you make for your spiritual journey, for your life’s journey? Is your suffering holding you in a box not allowing you to breathe in the beauty that God is calling you towards on a daily basis?
Can you take your suffering to Mary today and ask her if she will hold it for you while you choose healing, choose love, choose life?