“Highly Favored”: Contemporary Images of the Virgin Mary

Tuesday March 6 through Sunday March 25 2007 The story of the birth of Christ has a protagonist that makes all stories of mother-hood pale by comparison- the faithful and seemingly fearless servant of God, Mary, Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox traditions all have images of this young Jewish woman who was declared by the archangel Gabriel to be “highly favored” in God’s sight. Who exactly was Mary? How can we recover a larger sense of her meaning through the works of contemporary artists and the reflections of contemporary thinkers from the Christian traditions? The “highly favored” pieces on exhibit were among those chosen by juror Fr. Terrance E. Dempsey, S.J., a Jesuit priest and Founding Director of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Mo. Read More