Monthly Masterpiece - April
Sacred art can help us to contemplate the mysteries of our faith.
Every month we will look at a different image and the mystery it represents.
Every month we will look at a different image and the mystery it represents.
Lamentation over the Dead Christ
By Fra Angelico
(1436-41)
By Fra Angelico
(1436-41)
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Here Fra Angelico shows us the body of Jesus taken down from the Cross. He shows us Mary the mother of Jesus, John the beloved disciple and Mary Magdalen, each one beholding the body of the Saviour with their own gesture of tenderness. Today it is in San Marco, Florence. It was originally destined for the church of Croce al Tempio, where those condemned to death passed their last hours before being executed outside the city walls. Surely, the tenderness of Mary the Mother of Jesus, and John the beloved disciple spoke to them as they waited. Surely, Mary Magdalen lovingly kissing the feet of the Saviour brought them special consolation. |
Mary Magdalen's experience is that of all Christians. We meet Christ and discover that we are loved by Him. We come to know and acknowledge our sin, are pardoned and invited to new life in Him. At baptism we are buried with Christ! We too enter into the paschal mystery, descending into the tomb with him, in order to live a new life (CCC 628).
Very few of those Jesus loved were standing at the foot of the Cross. Mary Magdalen was there representing all of us: repentant sinners throughout the ages who come to Jesus and ‘find in the sacrifice of Christ the source from which the forgiveness of our sin pours forth inexhaustibly’ (CCC 1848). As the light of the resurrection breaks through the darkness of the world, Mary Magdalen is setting out. Her love for Christ urges her to go in search of Him. It leads her to the empty tomb. When the disciples go back to their homes, it is her love for Je sus that urges her to stay. So she remains there, alone, weeping It is here that the Author of Life, risen from the dead, reveals himself, to Mary (cf. John 20:11-18).
From the Cross Jesus said to John: “Behold your mother” and to Mary: “Behold your Son”. However, he spoke no word to Mary Magdalen. It is when he has conquered death and risen that he speaks to her: “Woman why do you cry? Whom are you seeking? ...Mary! ...Do not hold me...” This is the first time in the Gospel that Jesus speaks directly to Mary Magda len. He calls her by her name. He commissions her to go “and tell the brothers”. He sends her as the witness to his resurrection, to tell of his ascension and that he “goes before them to Galilee.”
The victory of Life over death is revealed to Mary Magdalen and she is to tell the others of the work of redemption until then hidden from their eyes. And so, according to his word, she returns urged by her love of “Him whom her heart loves” and has found. She “breathes forth the perfume of the Word of God more profusely than others could.” She who kissed the feet of the Saviour becomes the apostle of the apostles directing their feet to Galilee.