Father William Hart McNichols, hailed by Time magazine as “among the most famous creators of Christian iconic images in the world,” is joined here by writer, translator and retreat director Mirabai Starr in offering a powerful and inspiring blend of images reflecting the feminine face of the divine.
McNichols’ 50 images of Mary, each accompanied by meditative prayers, include a variety of depictions—from Greek and Italian, to Latina, Black and Native. He explains in the book’s Preface that he invited his friend Mirabai Starr “to come to these images as a person without familiarity, as a kind of ‘every woman’ meeting them for the first time.” Imbued with a poet’s sensibility, Starr writes of Mary in the book’s Introduction: “Mary melts the boundaries of religion and manifests in a thousand forms,” sometimes exuding mercy and compassion, other times burning “with the ferocity of protection and transformation.” The reader meets in these pages, and meditates upon, Our Lady of the Snows, Star of the Sea, Our Lady of Kazan, Black Madonna, Consoler of Women, Seeker After the Lost and Mother of God Given Eagle Wings, among others.
Mother of God, Similar to Fire is an exquisite book, rich in imagery and food for contemplation. Father McNichols sums it up best: “You gaze on the icon, but it gazes on you too…. We need to gaze on truly conversational, truly loving images, images that will return our love.”
Purchase Mother of God, Similar to Fire
This article appears in January 3 2011.
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts