Ave Maria

Ive seen this thing before.
In my best friend and the boy next door

 

My mom has always had a thing about Mary, but for a long time I seemed to share my dad’s attitude, which was more protestant: we respected Mary and even liked her, but we thought that once men had stepped in, she should know her place.

Years later, I noticed that she was very beautiful. I thought that this was an interesting angle and tried to contemplate… well, even visualise her beauty. I believed that Mary, being a woman, could appreciate it, especially that my thoughts circulated most often around the teenage Mary and female teenagers tend to be susceptible to the kind of compliments I was paying her. This approach was the beginning of an infatuation of sorts and at some point I even had to restrain myself not to offend her and, what could be even a little more worrying, get in God’s way.

Only quite recently have I realised that in a way my early beliefs about Mary were spot on: she has known her place ever since she was taken up to Heaven and got that crown, the problem was I didn’t.