Diptych of the Virgin who loves Mankind and a Quotation from Saint Therese of the Child Jesus

Description Diptych of the Virgin who loves Mankind and a Quotation from Saint Therese of the Child Jesus

For this religious diptych we have chosen as image of the left panel an icon of the Holy Virgin "Mary who loves men" written by Pimen Maximovitch Sofronov. This famous iconographer of Russian origin was born September 4, 1898 in the village Tikhotka Prichudskoko, currently in Estonia and died on May 13, 1973 in the USA. It belonged to the Church of Old Believers whose origin dates back to a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century. The origin of this schism is the rejection of six changes imposed in the liturgy by Patriarch Nikon, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

This icon of Mary who loves men belongs to the group of icons of the Mother of God of Mercy because of the gesture of tenderness between the Mother and the Son: cheek against cheek. These icons of the Virgin highlight maternal love and tenderness. These icons of the Virgin of tenderness express the human character of divine motherhood of Mary as well as the human affection of her divine Son. It was through Mary that Jesus received human nature. In this way he is our brother and Mary is the Mother of men; as she is all love, this title of Mary who loves men suits her perfectly. She loves, not humanity in general, but each of us in particular.

For the right panel, a quotation was chosen which comes from a letter from Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, The Little Flower, written to her sister Céline who was, then, still in secular life taking care of their sick and infirm father. This letter is dated July 1891. On the description of the religious triptych TRT37B you will find the context of this quotation with an extract from the letter.

By associating this quote from Saint Teresa of Lisieux on prayer with an icon of the Mother of God, this diptych reminds us of the importance of devotion to Mary and of the power of intercession of the Holy Virgin to whom Christ cannot refuse whatever she asks. If our unworthiness, our misery retains us to pray to the Mother of God, this title of "Virgin who loves men" can only encourage us to approach Mary with great confidence and the certainty that she will listen to our prayer. On this occasion remember that the rosary is a very powerful prayer, many times recommended by the Popes. At Fatima, the Blessed Virgin asked, each time she appeared to the three children, to recite the rosary every day.

Quotation :

Ne nous lassons pas de prier. La confiance fait des miracles.

Sainte Thérèse de l'Enfant Jésus et de la sainte Face