A woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Jesus, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’

Luke 11.27, 28 (from Morning Prayer)

Today is the festival of The Blessed Virgin Mary, or Mary, the Mother of Our Lord, or the Assumption of Our Lady. I feel like sometimes Mary is misrepresented in popular devotion but I cannot deny that she has a special place in God’s plan of salvation. I have no theological problem with the rosary (and the like) but they are just not for me.

Early English anchorite writers often speak of the womb of Mary as the first enclosure of Jesus. The second, of course, is the tomb. So I am offering this icon for today’s festival: