Our Lady of the Sign-Ark of Mercy

The iconic monstrance, Our Lady of the Sign – Ark of Mercy, was unveiled and blessed by Cardinal Francis George, May 31, 2008, on the Feast of the Visitation. The idea of the iconic monstrance was conceived nine years prior to its unveiling. At that time a call was heard which resulted in the entrustment and consecration of the parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka to the Blessed Virgin Mary. A discernment led by Fr. Anthony Bus C.R. inspired a parish wide response to establish in the heart of Chicago, a Sanctuary to The Divine Mercy. The doors of the parish were opened and eyes were turned to Mary, Holy Queen and Mother of Mercy, that the “cacophony of the world not shout into silence the voice of the living God.” It was accepted that the Blessed Virgin Mary had asked for and created space for sacred silence that the voice of her Son would be heard anew and that He would be adored in the Blessed Sacrament. At the request of Fr. Anthony, Stefan Niedorezo was commissioned to sculpt the image of the iconic monstrance according to the design conveyed in the Book of Revelation. Malgorzata Sawczuk was commissioned to apply the paint and gold gilding to the iconic monstrance.

Our Lady of the Sign

Then God’s temple in heaven opened and in the temple could be seen the Ark of His Covenant. There were flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm! A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Because she was with child, she wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. (Rev. 11:19;12:1-2)

The iconic monstrance, Our Lady of the Sign – Ark of Mercy, also calls to mind the promise God made to Ahaz from the book of the prophet Isaiah. In speaking to Ahaz, the Lord said:
 

Ask for a sign from the Lord our God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord! Then the Lord said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary God? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you this sign: the Virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and shall call Him Emmanuel. (Isaiah 7:11-14)
 

The iconic monstrance, Our Lady of the Sign – Ark of Mercy, also recalls the words of Blessed John Paul II in his encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, chapter 6, “Woman of the Eucharist”:
 

Mary anticipated, in the mystery of the Incarnation, the Church’s Eucharistic faith. When, at the Visitation, she bore in her womb the Word made Flesh, she became in some way a ‘tabernacle’ – the first ‘tabernacle’ in history – in which the Son of God, still invisible to our human gaze, allowed Himself to be adored by Elizabeth, radiating His light as it were through the eyes and voice of Mary.
 

The composition of the iconic monstrance is based on the ancient tradition of Christian iconography. In the earliest tradition of the Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary is shown wearing a red outer garment to symbolize her humanity. Her blue inner garment, seen at the wrists and neckline of the iconic image, symbolizes her sanctity. In the earliest tradition of the Church, Jesus is clothed in the opposite, a blue outer garment as a symbol of His divinity and a red inner garment as a symbol of His humanity. The woman’s crown of twelve stars, represent the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. The twelve tribes are a foreshadowing of the twelve apostles upon whom Jesus would build the Church – Peter being the rock and Jesus, the capstone. The Blessed Virgin Mary is both, Mother Israel and Mother Church. She is the bridge linking the Old and the New Covenants. What began as one nation was destined to envelop all nations.
 

The iconic monstrance, Our Lady of the Sign – Ark of Mercy, has inscribed in Greek calligraphy two passages from Sacred Scripture. The hem of Our Lady’s dress reads from Isaiah 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness”. The neckline of Our Lady’s garment reads from the opening passage of her prayer in Luke’s gospel, the Magnificat; “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

Mary, Ark of the Covenant

 In ancient Israel, the Ark of the Covenant, gilded in gold, was the visible sign that God dwelt among His people. It was also the promise of His mercy. The Israelites were instructed to carve two images of angels. Their wings were to hover over the ark to form a canopy, signifying the shekinah glory, God’s presence among His people. Safeguarded within the ark were the tablet of the Ten Commandments, the bread from heaven that sustained the Israelites in their journey through the desert, and the rod of the high priest Aaron. The top of the ark was called the kapporeth or mercy seat. It was upon the kapporeth that the blood of the Lamb was sprinkled in expiation for the sins of the people. The two carrying posts alongside the ark were a reminder that as the ark was carried through the desert, the people of the covenant remained a pilgrim people, in journey through this life into the next.
 

The Ark of the Covenant disappeared with the destruction of the temple in 587 B.C. This was a major blow to the people of the covenant. For 70 times 7 years a faithful remnant kept vigil awaiting the return of the Ark of the Covenant. Its promised return is fulfilled in the annunciation when the angel Gabriel announces to the Virgin of Nazareth that she would be the mother of the long awaited Messiah. When she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, she bore within her womb, the Giver of the Law, the Bread from heaven, and the Supreme High Priest – in a word, the Incarnate God. She gave birth to Emmanuel which means, “God with us”. She nursed Him and nurtured Him. At the wedding feast of Cana in Galilee she bid Him forward on the journey that would take Him to the long awaited hour of our redemption. She is there at the foot of the cross, the Mother of Mercy.
 

 We are the Messianic people, born and washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb. The Blessed Virgin Mary participated in a unique and distinct way in the work of our redemption. At the foot of the cross, suffering in the pain of labor, she gave birth to her children, children born from the blood of her Son. The Blessed Virgin Mary literally received the blood that was shed in expiation for our sins. She is the kapporeth, the Seat of Mercy. Jesus is the Messiah.

Adoration

 The iconic monstrance, Our Lady of the Sign – Ark of Mercy, is an invitation and a reminder. In Luke’s gospel, when Jesus was speaking to a crowd, a woman cried out, “Blessed the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you.” Jesus replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” Adoring the Eucharistic Jesus in the iconic monstrance, Our Lady of the Sign – Ark of Mercy, is our response to the Blessed Virgin Mary’s words at the wedding feast of Cana, to listen to Him and “Do whatever He tells you.” Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament enveloped by the iconic image of Our Lady, is to listen like Mary, to hear Jesus speak, and do His will. Our presence before the iconic monstrance is an invitation and reminder to be icons, showing forth to a world enveloped in darkness, that no matter how dark the dark may be, the Light is still more powerful. In a word, the iconic monstrance, Our Lady of the Sign – Ark of Mercy, is a call to be sacrament – to make visible what is invisible – Emmanuel, God with us.

 To be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and to adore Him from the heart is to place trust in Him that He can bring healing to your soul and transformation to your life. In her diary, St. Maria Faustina, the “apostle of The Divine Mercy” wrote, “I saw the same rays (of the Divine Mercy) issuing from the monstrance and spreading throughout the church. Beneath these rays a heart will grow warm even if it were like a block of ice.” Jesus had told St. Maria Faustina, “Let the rays of grace enter your soul. They bring with them light, warmth, and life.”