Spend some time meditating on this painting by Mary Cassat – Young mother nursing her child (1906, Art Institute of Chicago)
The following approach may help you to be open to what God might be saying to you through this art:
First spend some time just looking at the painting (imago). Take in the whole picture. What strikes you about the painting – the colours, the shapes, the mood… Ask God to speak to you through this art. Are there any elements of the painting that particularly grab your attention? It may be aspects that you like, or ones that you find uncomfortable or challenging. It may be a small portion of the painting, or it may be its entirety.
Stay with that aspect of the painting (meditato). Allow it to speak to you. What thoughts and emotions does it raise in you? Sit in silence with these feelings.
Now respond to God out of what you have encountered (oratio). You may want to draw or write in your journal in response; you may wish to respond through posture or movement; or simply to articulate out loud or in silence your response to God.
Finally, allow yourself to rest in the presence of your Holy, Loving Creator (contemplatio). Stay in silence with whatever you have experienced. Allow God’s love for you to hold you.
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