Growing up Catholic, in church I always heard about Mary,
the “Mother of God.” Although she is not as venerated in many other Christian
religions, Catholics afford a great deal of respect to Jesus’ mother.
Interestingly, she is not just important to Christians -- Mary
is the only woman mentioned by name in the Koran, she even has a chapter named
after her. I was surprised to learn that there are more mentions of Mary in the
Koran than in the entire New Testament!
While in Israel, I visited the town of Nazareth (one of
those towns I had heard of from the age of 3 but never quite realized was real).
Nazareth is the town where Mary grew up, the town where she was told of the
immaculate conception, and the town where she and Joseph raised Jesus. Accordingly,
to those who venerate Mary, it’s a very important town. Nazareth is home to the
Basilica of the Annunciation – a church built to honor the place where an angel
first told Mary that she was pregnant with Jesus.
To honor this event (the annunciation), forty-three
different nations donated mosaics of Mary to the Basilica in Nazareth. Each one
portrays Mary with the characteristics of the artist's native country.
It was fascinating to walk through the church grounds and
look at the same woman through the eyes of so many different cultures.
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| South Africa and Guatemala |
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| Korea and Malta |
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| Vietnam |
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| Colombia |
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| The USA -- one of my least favorites, Mary looks like an astronaut! |
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| Indonesia |
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| Bolivia |
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| Canada -- beautiful wood carving! |
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| Egypt |
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| Singapore |
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| The Philippines |
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| Brazil |
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| Mexico |
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| Japan |
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| Cameroon -- by far the most original! |
It was fun to see how Mary’s skin color, hair style,
clothing, and surroundings change in each country’s portrayal. An interesting
example of how different people can look at the same thing but what they see is
totally unique.
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