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Marian painting at Holy Rosary

From Church of the Holy Rosary Facebook page

What is Solace? Solace is defined as comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness. We all experience distress in our lives and seek comfort through prayer. Isaiah 66:13 says, “As a son comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you”. Mary is our mother and she comforts us every time we pray the rosary, she holds us in her arms and soothes us in ways only a mother can. We seek her solace because of her warm and ethereal, maternal nature that shines through our distresses and gives us hope.

Hope is defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen, archaically it is a feeling of trust. When it comes to hope, we all share a common ground, hope for our new generation that we may be better and make impactful changes in the world.

Mary gives us hope when she said ‘yes’ to God to bear His Son. She gave us hope that we would be saved and that a new light would always be here to bring us out of darkness. She gave us new hope when she appeared to the three children in Fatima and told them to pray the rosary every day to bring peace to the world.

This piece, by Kaitlyn Harris, is a mixed media mainly done in acrylic paint. The background is a unique play on the stained glass that the Holy Rosary RC church is known for.

The image of Mary has a modern take to it as her hood doesn’t cover her head, her eyes are mesmerising because it is painted in a subtle blue colour that draws you to them and they follow you anywhere you look giving it a feel that she is always watching you.

Her crown has a local twist to it as it was inspired by carnival headpieces. It is gold and adorned with white roses which represent purity and innocence, and gems are stuck on to give it dimension. Her garments are painted in various shades of blue, white, and gold, and a rosary made with blue and clear iridescent gems is wrapped around her neck.

The roses are painted in red and pink which represent love, devotion and gratitude. The petals scattered on the piece are real rose petals that were taken from the procession of the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary in October 2022 at Holy Rosary RC church and preserved in resin.