I recently attended an exhibit featuring a replica of the Shroud of Turin, as well as other replicas of items that would have been used during the scourging of Christ, prior to his crucifixion. Included in the exhibit was an immersive visual experience in which the story of Christ’s life was told. From his birth to his ascension, the life of Jesus was presented in a new and compelling way.
The first room in the exhibit held about 25 people who all sat on chairs that rotated 360 degrees. As the program began, a video was projected all around the room — a sort of visual “surround sound.” Images moved across walls while the stars in the sky moved above. Looking below, one could almost feel the cobblestones on which the people of 2,000 years ago would have walked.
While Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of the exhibit, I went with the intention to look at everything through the eyes of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Theologians have stated that while Christ’s physical suffering was difficult to even imagine, Mary experienced an equally intense passion spiritually. Recall that at the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, Simeon foretold that Mary’s own soul would be pierced.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”
– Luke 2:34-35
As I walked through the exhibit I wondered, if I were Mary, would I have been able to endure the experience of watching Jesus being crucified. My conclusion: I would not.
Like most mothers, when our children are in pain, we are as well. We strive to find ways to ease their anguish, be it physical or mental. We take on what they are bearing. If it were my son, I would have died trying to stop the crucifixion. The executioners and guards would have carried me off and done away with me.
Not Mary.
Our lady is/was either the strongest woman ever, or she knew this had to happen. Between Simeon’s prophesy, and what I’m assuming was a private conversation that Jesus must have had with Mary that explained what would soon be happening, she accepted the will of God, and more importantly her role in it. Mary trusted.
My own mother’s Divine Mercy portrait of Jesus (with water and blood streaming from his side) hung in her dining room, along with two huge paintings by my brother–one of the Pieta and another of Moses. My mom, especially toward the end of her days, would often point to the Divine Mercy portrait and say, “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Both the Virgin Mary and my own mother set an example I continue to strive to live by: To trust in God completely.
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