Flowers for the Immaculate Conception (streaked with blood, edition)

Proportional to our shock at shootings in El Paso and Dayton and… (List of mass shootings in the United States in 2019) – and remember that defensive shooters saved untold numbers of lives, some stats putting this into seven figures – anyway, proportional to our shock at the violence, not counting wars, violence in families, etc, proportional to that shock is just how much we have not had our eyes open to the violence Jesus’ good mom saw under the cross when her Divine Son was burdened with violence and sin of all of fallen humanity. There she stands, streaked with blood… praying for us. A flower for you, Mary.

I had planned to write a big post on Saint Mary Majors and Our Lady of the Snows, but this was the best I could muster in these last few days.