Virgin Mary

I came from China where most of people did not believe in religion. Growing up, I did not learn anything about religion. It was because that there was no single person around me who believes in religion either. Also, our school did not teach us anything about religion at all. For me, the knowledge of religion was very limited. After I came to America, I found out most of my American friends believes in God, and most of them were Catholics. Interestingly, after I learned some basic knowledge about religion from classes and my friends, I was drawn into the culture of religion. It was something that I have never experienced or seen before in my entire life.

Last week, I went to Brooklyn for Nets game with couple of my friends. Along the way, I found out there are lots of statues of Virgin Mary in front of people’s house. I was little bit surprised at first, wondering why there are so many of them. Then, one of my friend told me that Brooklyn has a really huge Catholic population. Interestingly, these statues are all located at the center of their yards. It is very easy for public to see. Learned from my class, I believe that people want to show their Catholic identity in their neighborhoods. It is because that Catholics are known for using material forms(Statues, Scriptures, etc) to express their religion. I believe that religion need to use material forms to show their identities. In “How Things Matters”, the author also writes, “some degree of materiality is indispensable for religion to present in the world”(Houtman & Meyer).

These statues of Virgin Mary look really pretty and fascinating. At first, I notice that there is a dome-like structure above the head of Virgin Mary. I think that the structure is meant to show the holiness and peacefulness of Virgin Mary. Next to that, I see that there are flowers around these statues as well. The color of these flowers are pretty simple, it gives people the feeling of joyousness. Last but not least, the way the Virgin Mary standing is also quite interesting. She puts her palms open in front of her. It looks like she embraces and accepts everyone in this world. It shows that she cares and loves each individuals equally. It reminds me of some kind of motherly feeling from these statues. 

The statue of Virgin Mary is the symbol of hope, love, and peace. In this world, we have all been through difficult times. During these difficult times, we must not lose our hope. We need to care and love each others. Once we get past through these difficult times, we would become even more stronger than before. The idea of Virgin Mary has impacted lots of people, including Dorothy Day. In  “The Long Loneliness”, she writes, “We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community”(Dorothy Day). Love is a powerful thing, and it can help us get through the most of our difficult times. 



                                                                          Works Cited
Day, Dorothy. The Loneliness: The Autobiography of Dorothy Day. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1952. Print.
Houtman, Dick, and Birgit Meyer. Things: Religion and the Question of Materiality. New York: Fordham UP, 2012.