OUR LADY OF GRACE

Day 269: February 5

Our Lady of Grace, Este, Padua, Italy

The people of Este have always had a lively devotion to Our Lady of Grace; a tangible sign of this is the grandiose Church, a true Basilica, worthy of a great city. The main feast is celebrated on the day of the Nativity of Mary; today (5 February) we commemorate the solemn transfer of the venerated Icon from the ancient seat of St Martin to the current Sanctuary.

The painting of the icon, in the world of Byzantine sacred art, was not only an exercise of art, but it responded to precise canons that served the artist as indications to create an image of the mother of God or of the saints that could inspire the faithful who contemplated the painting to bring their soul closer to God and be guided in prayer.

The painter himself prepared a path that was not only technical but also spiritual, as he was aware that the icon, well painted, could be considered a work of God Himself, who expressed His perfection through the hands of the iconographer. The icon was usually painted on a wooden board, often made of linden, larch or fir. On the inner side of the panel, a groove called a casket was made, inside which the design began to be outlined.

An essential role is given by the colors, which refer to a very specific tradition. In fact, blue represents the color of transcendence, of the mystery of divine life. Red is instead a symbol of the human and of the blood shed by the martyrs, while green indicates nature, fertility and abundance. The terrestrial part is designated by brown. Finally, white is the color of harmony, of peace, the representation of divine light.

In the image of Our Lady, which belongs to the genre of the Hodegetria, that is, of the One who shows the way, with her gaze turned towards the faithful, to whom she points to the child Jesus who presents and offers for us a scroll containing the sacred texts of the Gospels, we then intuit the painted letters, a sign of the orthodoxy of the image.

In fact, after the heresy of Nestorius, the sacred painter used to paint next to the face of Christ the words "IC XC", the Greek abbreviation for Jesus Christ, and next to the face of the Virgin the characters "MP OY", or Mother of God.

The icon, attributed to Andrea Rizo da Candia, is of the Cretan school and dates back to the second half of the fifteenth century: it is therefore more than 500 years old; however, its colors and its conservation are excellent.

Even in this image Mary has nothing earthly: her body is covered with large robes, her head with the veil customary for oriental women who cover their hair as a sign of modesty. What immediately strikes us is the face which, as in all icons, is characterized by small lips, large eyes, elongated nose: all signs of spiritual depth, of collected contemplation, of goodness. The beauty that reaches us is that of maternal love, a reflection of God's eternal Love.

Three stars appear on the veil, respectively above her forehead and on her two shoulders, which say in symbolic language that she was a Virgin before, during and after childbirth. Faith in Mary's virginity is depicted by these stars: a Marian icon that did not have them would be considered heretical by the iconic canons.

The child in her arms does not have the face of an infant, but the serious and mature face of an adult person: He is the Eternal! In fact, He is depicted with a golden robe, a sign of His divinity, and with the priestly stole that shows Him as the absolute and unique pontiff for the human race: "in no other is there salvation". Even the upright position of the child shows Him as if He were on a throne: Christ is the king and His throne is the Mother.

Both the Mother and the Son are depicted with their necks and foreheads swollen: for Byzantine icons this is the sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Mary rejoiced in the Spirit after being overshadowed by Him: in her the Holy Spirit worked the wonders of the Creator. Christ is filled with the Spirit when He rejoices: in the Spirit He lives His bond with the Father.

At the upper corners of the icon, we see two adoring angels: they too have the small inscription that defines them. They are the Archangel Michael and the Archangel Gabriel: the two angels who preside over the great events of salvation history. They have their hands covered as a sign of veneration and are a further sign of the presence of heaven on earth.

St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"We salute you, O Full of Grace, because of your Holy Birth; we honor your Immaculate Infancy and we accompany you, O heavenly little girl, in your Presentation in the Temple."

(Justin Russolillo, Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, Newark, 1996, p. 156)