| In Your Midst | IMAGE OF THE DIVINE: A Meditation on Cathedral Art |
November 2004 |
The beloved image of
Our Lady of Seattle, if she spoke, could tell the history of the Cathedral parish, and of the Catholic faith in Seattle, in ways no memories or old photos possibly could. Our Lady of Seattle, purchased by Seattle pioneer Father F. X. Prefontaine to adorn the church he built with his own hands, came “around the Horn” in 1870. She has listened to the sighs and prayers of countless people, old and young—Father Prefontaine, Mother Cabrini, Bishop O’Dea among them! Some come in great faith; others come seeking faith. To all she opens her arms wide.There are many images of the Blessed Mother in the Cathedral; Our Lady of Seattle is especially warm and approachable. Her richly decorated golden garment speaks of Heaven, while her dark blue outer garment suggests the starry night sky. At her feet is a globe spangled with stars and the faces of cherubim; beneath her heel she crushes the serpent with the apple of Eden in its mouth.
The poet Wordsworth seems to have been describing her in his sonnet The Virgin:
MOTHER! whose virgin bosom was uncrost
With the least shade of thought to sin
allied;
Woman! above all women glorified,
Our tainted nature’s solitary
boast;
Purer than foam on central ocean tost;
Brighter than eastern skies at
daybreak strewn
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon
Before her wane begins on heaven’s blue coast.
May the Virgin’s prayer be ours as we celebrate one hundred years of St. James Cathedral parish and look forward to a future full of grace and hope: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. The almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.”
- M.L.
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