Spiritual Quote of the Day (Barry Hannah, on Mary, ‘The Being Who Stands for Us All’)

“I was raised Baptist, among those whose interpretation of the Bible led them to decry the cult of Mary as intercessor to Christ, to decry those Roman Catholics who built their increasingly heavy, rich and gorgeous church around her. I now find myself drawn to Mary as the being who stands for us all.

“Mary provides bewilderment and also faithful attendance to her son through the crucifixion, an excruciation beyond belief for a mother. She remained on Golgotha after the faithless males fled. Hers is a journey through the Passion never to be forgotten.” — American novelist and short story writer Barry Hannah (1942-2010), “The Maddening Protagonist,” Paste Magazine, Issue 19 (December 2005-January 2006)

The image accompanying this post, The Assumption of the Virgin, comes from a large altarpiece panel painting in oils by the Italian Renaissance artist Titian (ca. 1488-1490-1576).

Quote of the Day (John Paul II, on Mary and the Assumption)

“Mary, glorified in her body, appears today as the star of hope for the Church and for humanity on its way towards the third Christian millennium. Her sublime exaltation does not distance her from her people or from the world’s problems, on the contrary, it enables her to watch effectively over human affairs with that attentive concern with which she obtained the first miracle from Jesus at the wedding in Cana.”--Pope John Paul II, “Homily Given on the Solemnity of the Assumption,” August 15, 1998

I took this photo of the statue of the Virgin Mary that stands outside my alma mater, St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, N.J. Years ago, I, like so many other elementary-school children before and since, would stop by this each May with my class.

Tomorrow night, I’m having a Mass said for my mother on this feast day. It has additional resonance for me, as my maternal grandmother died on the feast day 45 years ago.

Like the story of Mary’s son, Mary's passing represents a triumph over death, a sharing in the Resurrection. It’s the same promise of eternal life that my mother and grandmother hoped for, and that I do, too.