[The Prophet] Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:34-35, NRSV)
We step back this week from the New Testament narratives of Christ's Crucifixion to look at a sacred art motif that best captures for me all the pain and sorrow of Christ's Passion--the image of the Virgin Mary holding the body of Jesus known as Pieta ("pity" in Italian). None of the Gospel writers record the moment, but it is not hard to imagine Mary would have mourned for her son in this way, remembering the words of Simeon when he blessed the Baby Jesus in the Temple about "a sword piercing your own soul too." Khrystyna Yatsyniak from the circle of new icon-makers in Lviv offers us a serenely sad close-up of Pieta in gritty olive and gray. Mary reaches out to touch the face of Jesus, peaceful in death, in a gesture that brings to mind icons of the Virgin Mother and Christ Child whose cheeks touch in a loving embrace. The heart-rending image resonates in life as in art. As I write this mediation, one photograph among many from the war in Ukraine is imprinted on my mind of a Ukrainian mother veiled in black weeping uncontrollably over the open casket of her soldier son. Pray for the Peace of Ukraine! (John Kohan)