The Virgin Mary, Seen on the Streets of Rome by von.otter
?In Rome?s failures, people turned from Caesar preaching war to Christ preaching peace, from incredible brutality to unprecedented charity, from life without hope or dignity to a faith that consoled their poverty and honored their humanity.?? from ?The Story of Civilization: Caesar and Christ? by Will Durant (1889-1981) American historian and author
Throughout Rome, images of the Blessed Virgin Mary, often cradling the Christ Child, can be found on the sides of, and at the corners of buildings. Sometimes these images are painted, other times they are in sculpted form, and then there is that rare instance of a mosaic image (see photo #3). Sometimes a small, electrical votive light stands before the image, or a lamp lights it from above.
The Byzantine-styled version beside me (see photo #1) was seen in the far reaches of Giardini Vaticani (see my VT Travelogue: ?The Vatican Gardens? for more information and photos on the Vatican Gardens.)
Each day we had the pleasure of looking from our hotel window at the Albergo del Senato (see my VT Rome hotel travel tip) across Piazza della Rotonda to see a charming fresco of Mary trampling a snake (see photo #2).
The widespread occurrence of these images of Christ?s Mother shows how strong devotion to Her is.