Mary’s Rites of Passage 101

Italian artists wore down paintbrushes and chisels to express the divine human nature of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM). In their masterpieces, they created scenes from this heroine’s journey to show experiences that could mirror our life experiences. Some scenes are familiar, others may be less so:

Presentation in The Temple: She accepts her fate. Three-year-old Mary, brought to the temple by her parents, dances up the steps.

Annunciation: She receives the announcement that the Divine is within her. Angel Gabriel swoops in to tell the virgin she’s pregnant with the Son of God.

Visitation: She shares the miraculous news. Pregnant Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who was way beyond childbearing years, but pregnant with John the Baptist.

Nativity: She becomes the loving mother.

Assumption: She triumphs. Mary dies and rises body and soul to be crowned queen of heaven.