As a cloistered Dominican nun, Sr. Mary of the Compassion, OP, rarely left her convent in Union City, New Jersey, but through her artwork she impacted the world. The Gospel message was communicated so well through her many forms of artwork: painting, lithograph, jewelry, and liturgical vestments. A life well lived she exhibits for us. Sr. Compassion’s death took everyone by surprise as she was not sick and had recently gone to her doctor for a physical and was given a clean bill of health. On the morning of December 6, 1977, Sr. Compassion suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 71. The Sisters, the Church, and the art world lost a talented, trailblazing woman of inspiration and faith. Her life and message would live on in her artwork moving forward.
Sr. Compassion reflects on the role of the artist and the artist’s mind when she writes, “The artist is here to make a good work, to faithfully fulfill according to reason the task given to him. A faithful servant to humanity, it is in the arts that man receives his intellectual training.” Intellectually, humanly, and spiritually, Sr. Compassion’s art has communicated the love of God and the presence of God in our midst. She personally experienced the suffering, death and resurrection in her life and artwork. She experienced in many ways the Cup Christ offers, a share in his passion and death.
We have chosen three pieces from Sr. Compassion’s series on the Stations of the Cross: Jesus before Pontius Pilate, Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus, and the Crucifixion. All three pieces are displayed in the administration wing of Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology here at Seton Hall University. These pieces represent so well the events we experience in the liturgical actions of Holy Week, from Holy Thursday to Good Friday and Holy Saturday, that gear us up to celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection at Easter. May these images speak to us of the meaning of Holy Week, the central aspects of our faith as Christians, and a reminder to us of why we too are asked to Drink of the Cup Christ gives us.
As we remember Jesus’ great love for us, may we humble ourselves this week and open ourselves to receive the fullness of his love. Like him, let us not cling selfishly to what we have and who we are; rather, let us share selflessly what we have and who we are with others.
