The Fourth Reflection on the Painting of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Collegiate Church of St George, Qormi

O greatness, O eternal Trinity, O fathomless sea, what more could You give me than Yourself? You are a fire ever burning, never consumed! Eternal Trinity, Godhead, mystery deep as the sea, you could give me no greater gift than the gift of yourself. For you are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being. Yes, you are a fire that takes away the coldness, illuminates the mind with its light and causes me to know your truth.

Saint Catherine of Siena, Dialogue on Divine Providence, Chapter 167

As the month dedicated to the prayer of the Rosary draws to a close, and we prepare to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints, we are invited to contemplate the figure of one of the saints depicted in this painting. While on the right we see the interaction between Our Lady and Saint Dominic, on the left, we find the gaze of the Christ Child meeting the eyes of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church, who lived from 1347 to 1380. This mystic is typically depicted wearing the black and white habit of the Dominicans, as she joined the Dominican Third Order (known as the “Mantellate”) at a very young age. Another common feature in her iconography is the lily and the cross she holds in her hands – symbols, respectively, of the purity she embraced throughout her life, and of her mystical union with the Cross of her Bridegroom.

Saint Catherine recounts that in one of her visions, while she was at prayer, Jesus said to her:

“Do you know, daughter, who you are and who I am? If you know these two things, you will be blessed.
You are she who is not; while I am He who is.”

In the presence of the Lord, recognise that He truly is He who is, and that you are nothing – not out of discouragement or false humility, but because only in this knowledge is true freedom found. It is only by the gaze of the Lord upon you that you can then become what, by His grace, He has called you to be.