Mary, the Rosary and the stories of Marian devotion.
Every so often, a photograph turns up. An uneven fringe, shiny shoes, a very serious expression in front of a birthday cake. You look at it and struggle to remember that the little girl is you. People who know you now see the things you do: working, accompanying, deciding, organising. In that photograph, so much was still ahead of you.
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“Have you lost weight?” “When are you having a baby?” “You still look wonderful for your age!” Sometimes one family lunch is enough to make your body the centre of a conversation you never chose. Everyone has an observation. You only wanted to pass the bread. What if nobody asked you to explain yourself for a moment?
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They introduce you as somebody’s mum. Or their wife, sister, the woman at work who always sorts everything out. It is true, of course. Yet while smiling you find yourself thinking: what about my name? The thing I am learning? The rest of my story?
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You arrive a few minutes early to avoid attracting attention. Then discover that arriving early means choosing a seat while everyone greets each other by name. You sit halfway back: close enough to participate, far enough to feel safe. Someone opens a booklet. You check your phone is silent.
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Some keys stay with you even when you no longer open that door. In a box, a drawer, the bottom of a bag. Moving house is a happy project for some people. For others it means leaving somewhere without choosing to. In the Gospel, Jesus' family also experiences a departure driven by danger.
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You were looking for something completely different. A key, a photograph, a button to sew back on. At the bottom of the drawer you find a rosary, and for a moment you seem to remember its sound before you have even picked it up. Beads slipping through fingers, a quiet voice, words said together.
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You have something important to say. You rehearse it in your head, look for the moment, wait for someone to finish. Then another person starts speaking and you put it off. When you finally find an opening, you begin with an apology: it is probably silly, perhaps I am wrong, I do not want to bother anyone.
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Someone calls to ask how you are. You would like to say that today you do not know yourself. Instead, you say you are holding on, carrying on, trying to be strong. Then you hang up and realise that you have mostly reassured the person who called.
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You already know how the story begins. You have heard it so often: that workplace, the old family home, going out to make a phone call. Coat in hand, another appointment waiting, you almost finish the sentence for them.
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She comforts us when we are sad, embraces us in the darkness and shares our joy in the light. Mary’s strength comes from a love that reaches us everywhere. The Rosary gives us a prayer to accompany even our hardest struggles.
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There's news that gets you looking for someone right away. The visit of Mary to Elizabeth brings us into a house where joy finds a voice and a presence that welcomes it.
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The Madonna on the bedside table of the grandmother, that view on the road, the one that has accompanied you for years. The images of Mary also tell how we met the faith.
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The news has come. You would like to tell it and, at the same time, keep it close still a little bit. Mary that meditates in the heart accompanies us to respect this time.
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You can't solve what's going on. You can listen to her and, if she wishes, share a prayer. A presence that can cross the distance.
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You want that change. Yet, when it becomes possible, your legs shake. Mary accompanies us to distinguish trust from haste.
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In the Gospel, Mary asks an anguished question. The account says she and Joseph do not understand the answer: a passage to read without idealising families.
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She asks questions, travels, sings and searches for her son. In the Gospels, Mary is anything but a motionless holy picture.
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25 March celebrates the Annunciation of the Lord. Behind the famous paintings lies a conversation worth hearing.
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15 August is Mary’s feast. Understand two distinctions before looking up at the paintings.
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On 8 December we turn to Mary, loved by God from the beginning. Discover the meaning and beauty of the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
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