Knights of Columbus, Maryland State CouncilPeter Davio, State Deputy
"Maria, fac nos semper scire"
Knights of Columbus, Maryland State Council
From the time that Our Lord, as he was dying on the Cross, said to His Mother, "Woman, behold your son," and then to His disciple, "Behold, your Mother," Mary became the heavenly Mother of mankind. This is reflected in the many titles she has assumed in the last two millennia, many of which are connected with her many appearances throughout the world at times extending from the earliest days of the Church until the present.
In the two years of the Davio Administration, some of these titles will be highlighted to show that Mary is a universal Mother and to encourage devotion to her. Each month a different title of the Mother of God will be emphasized and made known to all members in the State through a brief description of that title printed in a State newsletter and highlighted on the State website.
Marian Title of September Our Lady of Mercy
Our Lady of Mercy is a subject in Christian art, showing a group of people
sheltering for protection under the Virgin Mary’s outspread cloak.
This image was especially popular in Italy from the 13th to the 16th centuries,
often as a specialized form of votive portrait. It is also found in other
countries and later art, especially Catalonia and Latin America.
Usually the Virgin is standing alone, though if angels hold up the cloak she
then is shown holding the infant Christ.
The people sheltered normally kneel, and are of necessity shown usually at a
much smaller scale. These may represent all members of Christian society, the
local population, or a particular religious order.
The immediate inspiration of the iconography comes from a vision reported in the
Dialogus Miraculorum of the Cistercian Caesar of Heisterbach which circulated
widely after 1230.
The Virgin of Mercy is patron saint of Barcelona, celebrated in a week-long
La Mercè
festival each year.