THE BLACK MADONNA & CHILD
“Our Lady of Light “
a compilation of comtemporary black madonna pieces
when i first moved to vermont september 2020, my mother gave me a black madonna prayer and encouraged me to place it on the front dashboard of my car. i had a 2006 Saturn VUE. i didn’t think anything of it until the black madonna mural was installed at the fletcher free library. i remember pulling out the prayer card in shock after the installation, june 15th, 2022.
i was always guided to bring the black madonna to life. and it all started with my mother. i am forever grateful for her. thank you marie suzie laroche brice.
below is the prayer my mother gave me:
i originally began creating black madonna pieces because i was mad at my mom. i grew up devout catholic and i used to find it such a nuisance how attached my parents, especially my mom, was into the church. we were going through a rough patch and instead of talking things through, i created a version of the black madonna that seemed emotionally fit to me. now it’s a mural and loved by people i’ve encountered in passing. the universe has a mysterious, yet funny way to bringing some of our darkest moments to light. thank you for being a witness.
O Mary, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life. Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love to the people of our time. Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives, and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, together with all people of good will, a civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.
— Blessed Pope John Paul II
In commemoration of the visit of the Icon of “Our Lady of Czestochowa” to North America
Prayer for Life
what is so intriguing about the black madonna is that she is a mystagogue, which is known as one who is an educator of the sacred mysteries. in other words, a high priestess. she is a great mystery, a powerful archetype of transformation — the true Queen of Nature.
the black madonna is the sacred feminine rooted in a body living on the earth. she is both a living reality and an archetypal embodiment of human behavior. she is both paradox and ambiguity. she can be viewed quite literally and symbolically. through her loving acceptance of all of us, and valuing the interrelatedness of all life, the black madonna brings us to wholeness. at this time of world upheavals, she is coming to remind us of the sacredness of life, for the need to care for and nourish the earth, and ourselves, and all sentient beings.
“Black Madonna.” IONA MILLER, https://ionamiller2017.weebly.com/black-madonna.html.
