3 symbols associated with the Virgin Mary
1. The beef and the donkey of the crèche
“The Gospels do not talk about us, but only of our feeder where Marie coucha the child-Jesus. Forgetting? Nevermind. We like to think that we have done more than reheating the Holy Family. Surely, our presence reminded the mother of Jesus this verse from Isaiah: “The beef knows its owner, and the donkey, the crèche of its master. Israel does not know him, my people do not understand ”(1, 3). Because she knew the scriptures and “kept all these events in her heart”, according to the evangelist Luc (2, 51). We testify that Marie is the first of those humble to whom the father reveals his son. We come just after – before the wise and the scholars.
2. Roses
“Since the Middle Ages, we have the honor of being associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our Father and I greet you Marie then hold a great place in the life of Christians. These prayers invite to meditate on the mysteries of the life of Christ, just like the stained glass windows that flourish in churches. At that time, we also started to crown the statues of the Virgin with small flower hats – the rosaries -, like those whose young girls we hated on celebration days, or with garlands of roses – rosaries. Is not each Ave Maria like a rose offered to the Virgin Mary? Naturally, the month of May, when we are all fulfilled, has thus become “the month of Marie”. In Lourdes, we were very honored when the Immaculate presented itself to Bernadette dressed in a white dress, a blue belt, a yellow rose on each foot.
3. Stars
“Without boasting, we are very often mentioned in the Bible. Not without ambiguity: we are so fascinating by our brilliance, our movements, that the ancients have long raised us to the rank of deities. Stars, interviewed by astrologers! All this has gradually returned to normal. It is one of us who led the mages to the crèche, and we have formed, at twelve, a crown around the woman of chapter 12 of the apocalypse – she represents the people of Israel, but also the mother of the Messiah: we read this passage for the feast of the assumption of Mary, on August 15. It is this marine crown of twelve stars, by the way, which inspired the European flag. We finally like to recall that Notre-Dame appeared in Pontmain (Mayenne) in 1871 in a winter sky where we shone. She was dressed in a dark blue tunic dotted with stars, more numerous when the children prayed, and surrounded by three of us, larger. What to be proud.
