According to catholic doctrine Maria wasn’t deflowered before she conceived. In her case the Church speaks of the Virgin Birth of Christ and so Maria remained a virgin even while being a mother. Virgin and mother at the same time, that’s what makes her special. Maria is often depicted as a beautiful, virtuous young woman, with or without baby, like here in the church of Bom Jesus in Goa. What contrast with the image that keeps her son’s memory alive: Jesus dying or deceased, nailed onto the cross!
In another corner of the same Basilica of Bom Jesus we are confronted with an unusually bloody version of this scene. Probably it was made with the same urge for hyper-realistic reproduction of Christ’s torture and untimely death as moved Mel Gibson in his film The Passion of the Christ. I can hardly stand this; it repulses me rather than evoking compassion.
Around images of Maria, Jesus, Apostles, Saints, ….. the inevitable offering box is never far away. Faith is – also – business. Perhaps that’s why we are warned that “the greatest danger is to lose confidence in God”?
Photos of the week: Basilica of Bom Jesus and Se Cathedral, Old Goa, India 2014
καιρός remembered 
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