Today is Day 9 of the Virgin a Day project, brought to us by Rebecca of Recuerda mi Corazon. Please visit her blog to see her beautiful images of the Virgin Mary, as well as those posted by other bloggers participating in the project.
Today's image: a Russian icon of the Blessed Mother.
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In her later years, my mother became a world traveler. A new trip was planned for each fall, the time of year when there weren't too many tourists, and the weather was still lovely. Mom feasted on the history and the marvels of architecture and the beauty of the arts in each country she visited. She was fortunate to have as her traveling companion her dearly beloved friend Don, who knew so much about the history of Europe through his extensive knowledge of music. I am certain that Mom's history lessons were so much more lively and fascinating than any I ever received in a classroom!
This little icon was another of the little treasures I inherited from Mom's collection. It is only a tiny print of a real icon, but I love how all the detail of the jewels in the original are so clear and seem so present. I ponder the iconographers: First, the painting. I see the artist contemplating Mother Mary and sensing her tranquil joy and love as she holds her little one. Then the jewels - they seem to me like the grains of colored sand that the buddhist monks form into precise images. The meditation in the making is perhaps more important than the image that results. I am not sure if that is the purpose that goes into making the icon, but I do know as a maker of things that this is how it would feel to me as I lined up tiny beads. I would be thinking of Mary and the holy baby Jesus. I would be thinking about the connection between Mary and all mothers - about the divine and all of life. As I would move each tiny bead into place, I would be thinking, "Isn't life - in all its mysteries and joys - wonderful!"![]()
Today's image: a Russian icon of the Blessed Mother.
In her later years, my mother became a world traveler. A new trip was planned for each fall, the time of year when there weren't too many tourists, and the weather was still lovely. Mom feasted on the history and the marvels of architecture and the beauty of the arts in each country she visited. She was fortunate to have as her traveling companion her dearly beloved friend Don, who knew so much about the history of Europe through his extensive knowledge of music. I am certain that Mom's history lessons were so much more lively and fascinating than any I ever received in a classroom!
This little icon was another of the little treasures I inherited from Mom's collection. It is only a tiny print of a real icon, but I love how all the detail of the jewels in the original are so clear and seem so present. I ponder the iconographers: First, the painting. I see the artist contemplating Mother Mary and sensing her tranquil joy and love as she holds her little one. Then the jewels - they seem to me like the grains of colored sand that the buddhist monks form into precise images. The meditation in the making is perhaps more important than the image that results. I am not sure if that is the purpose that goes into making the icon, but I do know as a maker of things that this is how it would feel to me as I lined up tiny beads. I would be thinking of Mary and the holy baby Jesus. I would be thinking about the connection between Mary and all mothers - about the divine and all of life. As I would move each tiny bead into place, I would be thinking, "Isn't life - in all its mysteries and joys - wonderful!"
