My final type of Marian image this month is known among Western Christians as The Virgin of Mercy and among Eastern Christians as The Protection of the Mother of God, where Mary spreads a cloak or veil to offer a place of safety to the needy. I have three variations from the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection to present, beginning at the top (clockwise) with a whimsical ceramic clay figure grouping of the Virgin of Mercy motif from the workshop of Mexican Potter Gerardo Ortega and his family. The Mother of Christ with the wings of a guardian angel spreads an all-encompassing yellow cloak to cover children at play, a bespectacled nun, a vender carrying chickens on her head, and three bare-back bull riders! American Icon-maker Jodie Simmons gives us a minimalist Eastern Orthodox version of The Protection of the Mother of God theme, where Mary offers a symbolic veil as refuge to those seeking help. In an icon made in time of war, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Artist Kateryna Shadrina combines Western and Eastern imagery of the merciful Virgin, enfolding a grieving couple, a disabled man on crutches, and a youth tending a wounded dove. (John Kohan)