Brother John’s photo essay of a February snow at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament gives the Pietà in the garden a remarkable quality and light. The humble acceptance of Our Lady now draped in fresh snow is accentuated. She seems ever more earnestly to be saying, Thy will be done. In our difficult times we must never lose this perspective.
The Dickens’ era poet and Catholic convert, Adelaide Anne Procter, captures this in “The Church in 1848”, a poem written to strip back the revolutionary tumult of her day into its true essence — a battle in the heavens, a battle within each soul.
Is not this the battle that faces us still today?
OH, mighty Mother, hearken! for thy foes
Gather around thee, and exulting cry
That thine old strength is gone and thou must die,
Pointing with fierce rejoicing to thy woes.
And is it so? The raging whirlwind blows
No stronger now than it has done of yore:
Rebellion, strife, and sin have been before;
The same companions whom thy Master chose.
We too rejoice: we know thy might is more
When to the world thy glory seemeth dim;
Nor can Hell’s gates prevail to conquer Thee,
Who hearest over all the voice of Him
Who chose thy first and greatest Prince should be
A fisher on the Lake of Galilee.
The Pietà and Faithful Surrender
A Pietà presents Mary holding the body of Jesus after the Crucifixion. The image does not minimize grief; it shows a mother remaining present when she cannot remove the suffering before her. The snow in this photograph deepens the silence and draws attention to that steadfast love.
Christian surrender is not emotional numbness. It is the decision to remain faithful to God while sorrow is still real and answers are incomplete. Mary’s example can help those who are grieving, caring for someone who is ill, or facing a situation they cannot control.
Praying with Our Lady in Sorrow
Spend a few quiet minutes with the image and place a specific grief before God. Ask for the grace to stay close to Christ and to serve the people entrusted to you. Our reflection on Our Lady of Sorrows offers another way to meditate on Mary’s faithful presence at the Cross.