Day 26 and Day 3 of Art Novena

Today is day 26 of Thirty Days with Mary and 

Day 3 of the Art Novena for Our Lady of Lourdes

Today we are reminded of the universality of Mary

and the mystery of who she is.

To some she is the literal figure in a Bible story;

to others she is a Western goddess;

some know her as Queen of Heaven and the Angels

and still others know as her Mama, Gaia,

Mother Earth and our nature.

'I realized that all the powers of the Mothers, of Tara, Durga, Kali are in Mary.

She has Tara's sublime tenderness;

Durga's inaccessible silent calm force;

the grandeur and terribilta of Kali.

But Mary is also a woman,

a poor woman

and a human mother. - Andrew Harvey

Visionary or apparitional culture is no static force, a cultural 'given' 
that people can join as members.
It is dynamic, responding to contemporary political, social and religious realities
and shaping those realities, and is also shaped
by the individuals who identify themselves as Marian devotees
and visionaries.
Visionary culture is a confluence of Catholic devotions, symbols,
and traditions of innovative responses to modern
contexts of negotiations among social, religious and interpersonal
forces of the interactions of apparitions believers
and apparition doubters and of the loving
and guiding influence of Our Lady, who for believers is imminently present.
Visionary culture is a worldview, a palette of practices, an understanding
of the cosmos, a palette on which individuals paint
the stories of their lives.
              Extract from Out Lady of Emmitsburg by Jill Krebs

In her the full path of the sacred feminine is lived.

In her we have a complete image of the Divine Mother,

an image at once transcendent and immanent,

other-worldly and this-wordly,

at once mystical and political and practical.

In Mary the Divine Mother comes to earth and lives on earth

and lives, the passionate, strong, serious,

simple and transforming life that shows us all how to live.

Who is she to you?

What are the whispers in your ear? 

What are the winds stirring up in your heart?

It takes great courage to answer that call

and to step out of the comfort and security

of the unexamined room in which we live.

Has she been calling  you?

Then today is the day to answer.

 Today is the day to accept the call to step out

into the unknown

To do that which you have been avoiding,

to see and hear that part of yourself that has

been tugging on the hem of your coat,

begging for attention

Prayer for today :

Magnificent Mary may I remain open

to the impossible

May I remember not to ignore the very subtle

messages of Spirit;

and may I undertake each task as the sacred task that it is

Ave Maria

Om jai mata Mary ma

jai jai ma

blessings

Hettienne