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

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

On the altar of one of the side chapels of the Collegiate Church of St George, Qormi, we find an oil painting on canvas, by an unknown artist, representing Our Lady of the Rosary. Except for the movement of the angels, the painting is rather tranquil and almost motionless, reflecting an atmosphere of prayer and contemplation.

At the centre of this painting, we see Mary seated on the clouds, holding the Child Jesus in her arms. Mary’s serene and radiant gaze is turned toward St Dominic, on the left. The Child Jesus is looking in the opposite direction, toward St Catherine of Siena.

Our Lady is handing the rosary crown to St Dominic, referencing the tradition that it was the Virgin herself who, during an apparition, gave him the Rosary prayer, so that through it he might combat the Albigensian (or Cathar) heresy. This was a dualist heresy that opposed matter and spirit, and therefore also denied that Jesus truly had a body like ours.

With each Hail, Mary we recite in the Rosary, as we greet her and ask her to pray for us sinners, we are also proclaiming the Incarnation of the Son of God, which took place in her pure womb. The profession of the Incarnation also implies an affirmation of the original goodness of creation and of the dignity acquired by our bodies when God became “like us in every respect except sin” (Heb 4:15).

In the radiance of Mary’s figure, recognise that you have been created good, and contemplate the new creation into which you have been transformed in Baptism. Pray to the Lord for the grace to show you where you are allowing evil to rob you of this beauty.