Proud Mary keep on burning

Four icons of the theotokos, as we prepare for Christmas

Gentle reader,

In this second week of this year’s exceptionally short Advent season, I hope you are finding strength in the Spirit to prepare for the coming Christ. I’ve been experimenting with digital collage as a form of prayer, and today, I’m sharing four collage icons of Mary, each of which I hope might be a window into grace.

The faces in these icons were prompted and generated using Canva’s AI for images. AI imagery is good enough to (often, almost) avoid the “uncanny valley,” that phenomenon wherein a human-like robot or image provokes unease (think of the film Polar Express). It can even generate faces that are beautiful. At the same time, it still produces oddities. For example, the teeth are never quite right, which fact is true and not true in the same way of real human faces.

I have a lot of feelings about AI, but I do love the nature of these images for icons. Traditionally, a Christian icon is intentionally unrealistic, reminding us not to let our gaze stop there but to allow the image to open a window into divine reality. My AI figures are more realistic than figures in usual Orthodox icons, but their nature as AI also makes them less so. No real humans sat for these portraits, but the portraits are drawn from little bits of all of us, assembled from the millions of human images used to “train” the AI, and each image is unique and won’t be generated again. Theologically, I love that these images are none of us and all of us, inviting us to connect to them but to cast our eyes beyond them, in prayer, to contemplate heavenly reality.

“Our lady of unfettered joy”

These images invite us to consider aspects of Mary’s humanity—and so of our own humanity—often ignored in Christian art and piety. Here, Mary and the baby Jesus consider each other with joy and mutual adoration. Mary finds joy in motherhood, in the person of her child, and in the mission she’s accepted from God. The background of blue and red roses, the flower which most often symbolizes Mary, speaks of beauty and attractive power. Here, Mother and Son cannot take their eyes from each other, each drawn as a bee to a rose. Blue and red are frequent colors in icons; the red signifying the blood of Christ as well as passion and devotion. The resonances of blue include royalty, the heavens, and the waters of baptism. Where Jesus touches Mary, her heart burns, as she “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).

“Our lady of great price”

Here, Mary stands before the pearl of great price, for which she gave all. The 12 stars above her evoke Israel (the 12 tribes) and the church (12 apostles). Her expression is enigmatic, counting the cost but also serene. The three white stars crown her in the name of the Triune God, and the one white star near her chin references the incarnation. The starry background repeats the motif. Stars are important to many ideas about Mary, including as “Stella maris,” the star of the sea, whose Son calmed the storms, and, more recently, as “Star of the new evangelization,” leading us in the mission and the fruit of the Christian life. The blue flowers in her halo signify the union of heaven and earth and the sweet fragance of the missional life.

The cracks and gold lines on Mary’s face in this image and the next two images refer to the Japanese art of kintsugi in which broken things are repaired in gold, making them stronger and more beautiful than before. I find this an especially beautiful and true symbol of the resurrection.

“Mary, our priest”

This icon assigns, to Mary, the stole as the traditional symbol of priestly vocation and authority. The eucharistic elements are before her, making it clear that her priesthood is in representing Christ to us. The purple and stars are heavenly and royal, while the wood table locates us on earth. The dove represents the person and presence of the Spirit, who is the power of every priestly work. The pelican is a traditional Christian symbol for the sacrifice of Christ, because the bird was once believed to pierce itself with its beak to feed its young with its own blood. The pelican reminds us that all priestly power is through and in the once for all atoning work of Jesus.

“Proud Mary”

“Pride” is a tricky word for Christians, as we rightly understand a certain kind of pride as integral to what it means to be a sinner, but “proud” can also be reclaimed in a positive sense, as a celebration of what is good and true and beautiful. What better pride is there than a parent’s pride in their child, in which sense Mary is surely proud of her boy and we may also feel God’s pride in us, as beloved children, joint heirs with Jesus. “Pride” is also a heavy word for women, as patriarchal presumptions have so often forbidden us pride. Mary is, of course, humble, but the icon also invites us to consider her righteous pride as Beloved of the Father and her pride in us as her adopted sons and daughters.

The symbolism in this image is of heavenly victory. Mary rests under the shade and justice of God, imaged in the palm tree, and she wears an unabashedly abundant crown of marigolds, symbol of her heavenly victory. Her crown repeats the theme of 12 stars, used also above, and the rich abundance of the fruit of the Spirit is referenced in the pomegranate, seeds overflowing.

Mary’s pride is that of her song in the Magnificat. And, yes, it also references the song by Creedence Clearwater Revival, which seems, to me, to echo the Magnificat:

“But I never saw the good side of the city
'Til I hitched a ride on a river boat queen”

I’m praying, for you: may you know God’s blessings of unmitigated joy, the good life bought at great price, unity with the priesthood of all believers, and pride befitting the children of the King.

Come, Lord Jesus, and

Grace & peace,

BFJ

You’re welcome to copy and share the images above. If you’re interested in hi-res prints, without the watermarks, hop over to my Redbubble store.

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