Mariastories

Passionate about writing

A moment of Awe

While visiting the church de La Plante in Namur, a wooden statue of mother (Mary) and child (Jesus) stopped me for a moment and struck me in awe.

With slightly bowed head and tender face the mother looks down on the child who sits comfortably on her hands folded like a throne. But it was the distance between the head and the child that subtly expressed the sovereignty of both figures.

(click on thumbnail to enlarge pictures)

A quote from The Custodians came to mind:

What binds a mother to her child, is a “Secret Marriage” that goes beyond gender. It enables the new soul without sin to become “sovereign” in every aspect of its being. No ego is needed, just a true sense of “self,” call it “individual sovereignty.” At the same time, as the self grows, there is guided learning to respect “the individual sovereignty of the others…”

(Of a Personal Scent, Sumhuram in Oman, page 205)

When I read in the booklet Albert Houart L’univers d’un sculpteur written by his daughter Marie-Monique that in his family and I quote:

« Le silence n’est pas blasé, chez Houart. Il est sagesse » (free translated « Silence is not jaded at Houart. It is wisdom)  I understood the wisdom of the statue.

(Albert Houart L’univers d’un Sculpteur, Marie-Monique Houart page 35)

 

10 thoughts on “A moment of Awe

  1. Maria, I wait impatiently to read each and every one of your posts..so beautifully expressed

  2. bonjour, Albert houart était mon grand-père, très heureuse de lire votre article, et de savoir que son art vous a touché..
    cordialement,
    Catherine Lacroix

  3. Merci pour cette mise en valeur d’une oeuvre installée dans notre église à la fin des années 60.
    Votre présentation et vos commentaires la valorisent magnifiquement.

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