Everyday Mary, Our Mother

Hey, look at me!  I tore myself away from Instagram long enough to write a blog post!

Speaking of blog posts, I used to read Camp Patton all the time, back when Grace spent more time there than she does on IG.  Yesterday I decided to visit her blog and see if I'd missed anything, and I noticed that she's not posting at the Camp more than about once or twice a month these days, so I'm in good company.  ("Laura, are you ACTUALLY putting yourself in the same company as Grace Patton?!?!"  You're right--the nerve!)

Grace had this to say in her Jan. 30 post: "I remember long ago when someone predicted Instagram would kill blogs I feigned a horrified-hand-to-chest move because I didn't think it would ever be possible but welcome to 2019, Grace No Foresight Patton."  [A quick aside: that right there is an example of the sharp and witty writing style that made Grace one of the superstars of the blogging world.  It's no wonder her followers are legion.]

Anyway, if you're still here (if you haven't jumped ship to check out the offerings of all the Grace Patton-quality blogs that are still up and running, or to scroll through the easier-to-digest mini-posts that make Instagram so enticing!), I thought I'd use this Sunday post to talk a little bit about one of my favorite subjects: Our Blessed Mother.

For ages now, I've wanted to get a Kitchen Madonna statue to have on the counter in the room where I spend about 75% of my life.  We've always had plenty of images (both statues and pictures) of Mary around the house--Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Grace, the Immaculate Heart, etc.  But no Kitchen Madonna.  That is, until one day last week when I decided to do a little eBay browsing...and look what came in the mail yesterday.

Isn't She just the sweetest?  [Insert heart-eyed emoji here.]  This is a used resin statue, but in mint condition (and it was a good bit cheaper than a new one would have been, not to mention the seller's offer of free shipping!).  I love that Mary is shown wearing an apron.  Aprons are my favorite--just ask my boys!  (Actually, don't, because they'll just make fun of their mommy.)

Today while I made my husband's Sunday brunch, I wore my "fancy" one--my "Little Black [Dress] Apron" with pearls on it--over the Sunday best frock-and-jacket combo I chose for Mass.

I am the worst at posing for fashion shots; and my husband is a really, really good sport.

Okay, I guess as long as I'm posing here in all my fashion-forward glory, you could call this a "My Sunday Best" post (although I'll have to check to see if Rosie is hosting this link-up today; she is, after all, about to give birth to baby #7!).  I have given this same adorable black apron to each of my four daughters-in-law, usually at their wedding showers.  If that seems like a sexist sort of gift to give a girl--"Here, you're going to be cooking a lot for my son, so you're going to need this!"--I didn't mean it to be.  And I do realize that most gals don't don an apron every time they approach the kitchen, like I do.  But this one had pearls on it...and they were about to become Pearls...so it seemed like a good idea at the time.

(BTW: This is by no means a sponsored post, but if you like this apron and just HAVE to get one for yourself, you'll find it here at Bed, Bath, & Beyond.)

(Also BTW: HOURS after our eggs and bacon had been consumed, I was still wearing my apron while I sat in my recliner watching HGTV with my husband....so I guess I deserve all the teasing my sons want to give me.)

But back to my new little Kitchen Madonna: another thing I like about Her is that She's holding a broom.  (My husband teases me about my love of vacuuming--but if I'd been a housewife in Mary's time I would have been the "mad sweeper" rather than the "mad vacker," as he likes to call me.)

Aside from the apron and the broom, I love that Jesus is reaching his arms up to be picked up by His mom.  What a sweet reminder that Mary was a mother to Jesus, that He was Her little boy, and that She spent Her days doing the kinds of repetitive, self-sacrificing, seemingly mundane tasks that all women do in the home, for Him and for St. Joseph.  I recently came across a 2013 Our Sunday Visitor article by Marge Fenelon that reflected on this theme, and here is an excerpt:

"We tend to forget that Mary is a real woman, a real wife and mother who walked on this earth, doing all of the things we do, or will do, as moms.  She cooked meals, mended clothing, did laundry, washed dishes, changed diapers, sang lullabies, worried about the choices her child was making, kibitzed with other women, served her husband and child, and went to bed exhausted after a long day of hard work.  Mary isn't a statue and she isn't an untouchable goddess.  She was and is a mother--Jesus' mother in an actual way, and our mother in a divine way."

I think that is such a lovely way to think about Our Blessed Mother: to imagine Her as "everyday Mary," doing ordinary things like sweeping Her kitchen floor or hanging wet clothes on the line, always with Her Son close by.  That's why I'm so fond of a painting known as "The Polish Madonna" or "Mary's Wash Day."  I have a framed copy of it hanging in the hallway right across from the little laundry room in our VA home.

This lovely image is one more reminder to me that there is no task (no matter how menial!) performed with love for my family that is beneath me, because even the most exalted of women spent Her life on earth working day-in and day-out as a housewife and stay-at-home mom.  If it was good enough for Her, how could it not be good enough for me?

I hope it's not too vain of me to perform my household tasks while sporting a fancy, lace-trimmed apron adorned with pearls.  If you know of a more humble-looking, Mary-themed apron out there that I could wear instead, leave me a comment.  (But to be honest, I'm probably heading to Etsy right after I push the "publish" button for this post, now that I've got the idea in my head!)

Bye for now!  (And if you haven't done so already today, call your Mother--or maybe I should say OUR Mother.)