Seeing Mary Everywhere I Look

These days, I'm seeing Mary everywhere I look.  Not just in churches, although Her presence there is surely evident.  In the Catholic churches here in Germany, it is patently obvious that Our Blessed Mother is loved and revered.

But She's not just in church.  No, She sometimes pops up in fresco form on the stucco exterior of a random building, when you're strolling through town and least expecting to see Her.

(Sorry about the poor quality of that image, taken with my Stone Age-era iPhone 4.  This painting is so much prettier in person.)

Mary stands in alcoves on the corners of commercial buildings in downtown areas.  I thought this image of Our Lady and the Child Jesus was especially beautiful.

In Munich (where my husband, my youngest son, and I went yesterday to do a little sightseeing), She sits atop a pedestal, high in the sky, holding Her Beloved Son.  This Mary made of gold reminds me of another golden statue of Our Lady that is near and dear to my heart: the iconic beauty that stands atop the Golden Dome at Notre Dame, the university named for Her.

But my favorite image of the Blessed Mother, out of all the images I've seen during this recent sojourn in Deutschland, is one that can be viewed from my son's apartment window.  I like to think that She and Her holy spouse St. Joseph, along with the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are there to keep watch over him while he's living so far away from home.

One of the things I've loved most about being here in Germany is seeing the spectacular architecture that has withstood the centuries and gives evidence of Europe's long, rich history; and I love even more that all the religious artwork on display shows how intricately woven Catholicism is with that history.  Indeed, when I walk around the streets of this 500-year-old German city, I am constantly reminded that Europe was once known as "Christendom."  It makes me wish that back at home, there were as many beautiful tributes to Our Blessed Mother, Our Dear Lord, and all the saints in Heaven to be found outside the walls of our Catholic churches--which themselves have been stripped of much of their ornate beauty in the past four decades.  I'll just have to soak up all this glorious artwork as long as I can, and enjoy the way it makes my soul soar...

Hail Holy Queen enthroned above, O Maria!

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now, and at the hour of our death.

Have a great week, dear readers!