Fruit of her womb
A tremendously appealing statue from the Church of the Visitation at Ein Kerem. The many tablets around the wall show the opening words of the Magnifcat in different languages. Today, for those outside the liturgical tradition of the Church, marks the feast of the Visitation.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:09 pm
pretty statue… weird theology
May 31st, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Er .. what’s weird? Two women celebrating God working through their pregnancies?
May 31st, 2008 at 8:26 pm
What does Year of Mary 1954 (Annus Marianus) mean? From what event are Marian years dated?
-JAK
May 31st, 2008 at 8:58 pm
It was the centenary of the year the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception had been defined. I assume also it meant that Pius XII felt like it. Marian spirituality (partly, I think, because of Fatima, but also as a badge of RC identity) was strongly associated with anti-Communism and so a Marian year was in part a way of getting at the (especially Italian) Communists.
June 1st, 2008 at 3:16 am
I think they’re beautiful. I don’t see a weird theology. It
inspired me to read the story again - and it’s a beautiful story.
June 5th, 2008 at 5:55 am
Doug,
Thanks for your response, which I just read. Mary is endlessly fascinating to me. I’m reading Pelikan’s Mary Through the Centuries along with some essays on Our Lady. Fascinating.
-JAK