"Perhaps today’s tragedy needs this gentleness more than ever: a gaze that embraces the entire situation, with all its complex history, without lingering lazily on easy simplifications."
Amid the delicate branches and pink petals of bougainvillea climbing the stone walls stands, in Deir Rafat, the sanctuary of Mary, Queen of Palestine. At the summit of the building, set atop a base inscribed with Reginae Palaestinae, the statue of Mary rises.
High in the blue sky, Mary’s head is surrounded by a crown of stars. Her right arm is gently raised, palm facing downward in a gesture of protection and welcome, while her left hand delicately secures the veil draped over her shoulders.
The Sanctuary of Mary, Queen of Palestine
We are in the Soreq Valley, west of Jerusalem. Enclosed between the sea and the Judean mountains, this valley derives its name from the river that runs through it. Some trace the etymology of "Soreq" to the meaning "useless, empty," connected to the unfortunate love of Samson and Delilah, which blossomed and withered here; others to the "special vine" that once thrived in the vineyards of the region. Amidst these biblical memories and radiant landscapes, Monsignor Barlassina, then Patriarch of Jerusalem, founded the sanctuary of the Queen of Palestine in 1927, a name which then represented all of the Holy Land.
Since then, the sanctuary has become the destination of an annual pilgrimage celebrated on October 25, the feast day of Mary, Queen of Palestine. Many pilgrims travel from nearby parishes and Jerusalem, but others come from further away, even from Galilee. Before the Intifada, many devotees also traveled from Palestinian territories to visit the Madonna crowned with stars.
Not Just Deir Rafat
In Rome, within the Palazzo della Rovere, a desire of Cardinal O’Brien brought about the installation of an icon depicting Mary, Queen of Palestine, symbolizing the bond between the Italian capital and the Holy Land. The gentle gaze of Mary, symbolizing hope for peace to end wars, reaches even Rome. Painted by the nuns of the Israeli monastery of Beit Jamal, the icon portrays Mary with the city of Jerusalem nestled in her arms, thus embracing symbolically all its inhabitants: Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike, all welcomed in her embrace—a powerful and revolutionary message of peace.
Pope Francis commented on the icon in the Palazzo della Rovere, saying: “Mary looks at us in such a way that one feels embraced by her.” Beyond the symbolism of the embrace, it is her gaze that embraces as well—the same gentle gaze cast by the statue of Mary at Deir Rafat over the entire land of Palestine.
Palestine, Holy Land
Today, the Holy Land is at war; Palestine is bleeding, and today’s remembrance of the feast of Mary, Queen of Palestine, takes on even deeper significance. When Barlassina bestowed this title upon her, “Palestine” encompassed the entire Holy Land, a land that “belongs to [Mary] more than any other,” as the Patriarch beseeched in his prayer for her “merciful gaze”:
We implore You to cast a merciful gaze upon Palestine,
which belongs to You more than any other region.
[...]
Remember that here You were appointed our tender Mother
and dispenser of grace;
therefore, watch with special protection over Your earthly homeland.
(from the prayer to Our Lady, Queen of Palestine, by Monsignor Barlassina)
Reading these words today evokes strong emotions, in light of the rubble, the pain, the ceaseless fire of missiles. The sweetness captured by the eyes and arms of the Queen of Palestine in Deir Rafat and in Rome contrasts painfully with the images that reach our eyes today from the Holy Land. Yet, perhaps, the current tragedy needs this sweetness more than ever—a gaze that encompasses the entire situation in its complex history, without resorting to simplistic explanations. Our gaze must be like that of the statue above the sanctuary: broad, sharp, and benevolent, attentive to finding those small sparks of hope glimmering amidst the smoke of bombs, giving organizations like ours a starting point to imagine new projects of reconstruction, protection, and integration.
