Nazareth Mosaic

Nazareth: Palestinian Graffiti

Nazareth: Basilica of the Annunciation

Mary's been a constant, if hidden, companion on this seven-week journey through Greece, Turkey, and now the Galilee.  In the great monasteries of Meteora, I found compelling iconography: Mary manifesting courage and compassion, a radiant and colorful sign of God's own grace.  In Istanbul, I was reminded of Mary's link to the great Sophia/Wisdom traditions of Judaism and Christianity.  And in Ephesus, I encountered traditions relating to her later years, setting in Anatolia and playing a role in the formation of the church there.  The ancient church's devotion to Mary seems to bear some meaningful resemblance to Anatolia's great goddesses (Artemis, Diana, Cybele): connecting the deep past to the lively present.  And I've enjoyed that history so very much this spring.

So today's meandering through Nazareth's Basilica of the Annunciation was especially sweet.  When the new Basilica was dedicated, the Roman Catholic Church invited artists around the world to contribute mosaics, mosaics capturing Mary in their own traditions and experiences.  The circle of mosaics is wide here, dozens and dozens of them; and I've included several below.  You have Mary through the eyes and experience of believers in the Philippines, believers in Korea and Greece, believers in South Africa and the Ukraine, believers in Ethiopia.  On each of my visits here, I've enjoyed so much the time wandering among all these images, this inspiring collection.

On the way out today, I passed an American delegation, gathered around their leader.  He was doing some sort of summary, which (in truth) sounded more like a lecture.  He was pointing, at that moment, to a statue of Mary above one of the Basilica's main doors.  I confess that I listened in.

"You see how they've got Mary sitting above everybody else," he said, "and you get that feeling from the basilica everywhere you go."  OK, I was intrigued.  Where was he going with this?  "What they don't get," he continued, "is that Mary was a sinner, a sinner like all the rest of us.  They set her up high like that.  They make her into something she's not.  And they talk about Mary's 'immaculate conception.'  You know what that means?"  There was no stopping him now.  "That means they believe she was born without sin: that she was a sinless woman.  But we know that's not true.  Scripture tells us that it's not true.  Mary was a sinner, just like you and me.  She needed a savior, just like you and me."

I admit it.  I was embarrassed.  How do you spend an hour in another's house of worship, with all that amazing art, and then proceed (with one foot out the door) to knock the other's deepest traditions and values?  Why make the trip?  It made no sense.  

It was rude, is what it was.  In the way that religion can be rude.  And, theologically, he was representing a narrow, thin, patriarchal brand of American Christianity.  It wasn't even thoughtful or the least bit enlightened or loving.  As I say, I was embarrassed.  And I slunk away.  Ugh.   

Nazareth: Nakba Reminder

Nakba Remembered

Apologetics on the Street

Interesting that just outside the gates of the Basilica, I found this rather pointed (and mean-spirited) poster (above).  My Sufi Muslim hosts tell me that it was posted six or seven years ago by Salafi adherents here in town.  This one's using its very privileged place to diminish not just Catholic piety, but most Christian belief -- across the board.  Muslims and Christians have worked hard over the years to heal and maintain strong ties.  The poster tears at that good work.  Clearly, it's aimed at the millions of Christians who visit Nazareth each year, to see the city of Jesus' youth, to imagine Mary and Joseph and the child raised here.  Do we have to waste our time knocking one another's beliefs, traditions, hopes?  Don't we have much, much, much better things to do? 

Mary Mosaic: Greece

Mary Mosaic: Philippines

Mary Mosaic: Ethiopia

Mary Mosaic: Ukraine

As I paused to take the picture, the sun was rising behind me, across the top of a large statue of Mary herself.  When I went back to look at the pictures, I noticed that Mary's shadow (God's lovingkindness) has fallen across the Ukraine's mosaic.  It seems like a prayer, really: that love and peace bring healing to the Ukraine and her many people.  God, grant us all peace!

Mary Mosaic: Korea

Mary Mosaic: South Africa