Maternity

Maternity, Edmund Blair Leighton, 1917. Given by the artist to H.M. Grayson, Lancaster Gate, London, U.K.

Questions

-What stands out to you in this painting?

-Why do you think it is called 'Maternity'?

-How is maternity shown in both women in this painting?

-What feelings come up when you gaze at this piece of art?

Reflection

This is a painting that I have recently discovered and is quickly becoming one of my favorite pieces. I first saw it on the cover of the book "Mother to Mother: Spiritual and Practical Wisdom from the Cloister to the Home" and I knew that I immediately had to find out the artist and name of the piece. It warmed my heart when I saw the title of the painting: Maternity.

My experience of maternity has been a journey. I am lucky enough to still have my own mother, two grandmothers, and one great-grandmother. I have been able to witness the maternity of these women for my entire life, in their strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures. It has taught me a lot about the dedication to the family and beautiful sensitivity of women. My grandmothers specifically have always welcomed me with sensitivity and love that is unlike any other. They continue to be receptive to my needs, desires, dreams, and aches.

It was in college that I started to understand the idea of spiritual motherhood and maternity. I was surrounded by Catholic women who even though they were the same age as me, they had been living the Catholic faith much longer than I had been. They loved me with a pure love that did not ignore my sin, but saw my potential as a saint and my identity as a daughter of God. There was a bringing in - a gathering of my scattered life to understand my identity and how to live truly as a Catholic. I fully believe that the reason I am still practicing and have the faith life that I do is because these women taught me how to be a Catholic woman. They taught me by their example and by receiving me even when I was not receiving and treating myself as good.

When I became pregnant there was a mix of emotions but above all a desire to mirror what I had experienced in the physical and spiritual mothers and maternal presences that I had in my life. I could see it so clearly - I was going to be the best mom. Boy, did that idea not last long. The first month of my daughter's life was difficult. There was a perfect storm of me battling postpartum preeclampsia, depression, and anxiety, her being small and needing supplemental nutrition, and breastfeeding not working. With all these things I was questioning if I was even made to be a mother when all I could do was try and survive. But what kept me going was knowing that the mothers that I had in my life were not without difficulties, scars, and stories. The same way that these women received me, they held me and prayed for me when I needed it the most. When I was sharing my fears and difficult experience, they met me with trust, love, patience and vulnerability of their own experience. I knew that I was not alone.

As my daughter is now over a year old, I am so thankful for the women that continue to walk alongside me in the gift of motherhood. I now feel more confident than ever in my maternity and I know that I am made to be a mom - my daughter's mom. God gave me my daughter to show me my weakness and my wounds but also to show me His great love. In her I see how I am in the eyes of Christ. I am needy. I am small. I need safety and protection. I need guidance. I need to be received. I need unconditional love. I want attention. I want to be delighted in. All my wants, needs and desires are present in my small daughter which show how universally we want, need and desire God. He is the one who will fulfill all that we need.

Within all women is a special maternity that is a God-given gift. Maternity has two sides of it - a reception of the human person and a total gift and letting go of that person to God. In physical and spiritual maternity there must be both - a receiving and letting go. We receive the human person by being a soft landing spot for their every need. Women's bodies are made to receive, we have a womb - physical space - for the human person. As a physical mother, we experience this as our child coming to us when they have any need. We are called to be attentive to them, setting aside the various tasks that we are called to in care for them. We listen to their cries and concerns, comfort them in their sorrow, cheer them on in their successes, and share in their joys. Women are called to do the same spiritually to the other people in their lives. If you know any religious sisters think of how they receive and listen to those around them. Their physically empty wombs make space for the hearts of all humanity. There is safety to be found in a woman that is maternal and that receives.

The key to maternity is to let go of all that we hold as women to God. It is incredibly easy to feel like we are the only ones that can handle all that is given to us. We get exhausted being the go-to parent or the go-to person for other's emotional baggage drop. And it can be exhausting and burdensome! But only if we keep it to ourselves. We have a God who says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light" (Matthew 11:29-30). Christ urges us to be meek and humble, knowing that we cannot hold the entire world on our shoulders and be the pinnacle of people's lives. We must turn everything over to God, whose yoke is easy and burden light. He desires to receive all from us! He delights even more when we give those that are entrusted to us back to Him, because He is the one who gifted them to us in the first place. We can confidently say "Jesus, I trust in you" and leave it at that.

The maternity of Our Lady is one to be replicated and sought after. She accepted God's will and became the Mother of God. She also accepted His will when Jesus died on the cross. She received and let go in ways that seems beyond us and they somewhat are. Mary is the only woman that can hold the whole world within her, because she conceived the Son of God, the Creator of the World. This should be a relief to all women, knowing that our maternity can be successful, fulfilling and bear fruit AND we do not have to carry and handle it all. Mary received what she had to and constantly gave it all back to God. She was humble and meek, knowing that being in the background did not mean she was unimportant or less than. Her worth was placed in God and her success was because of her love and trust in Him alone. The same way that she shows us how to be maternal, she desires to be Our Mother! She desires to receive us just as we are and in turn she will give us to God, perfectly and completely.

Information

Edmund Blair Leighton was born in 1852 in England during the Victorian era. He specializes in Regency era and medieval subjects. The Regency era is the time where Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Charles Dickens, and the Bronte sisters were active. The music of the time was dominated by Beethoven, Rossini, Liszt, and Mendelssohn. Shakespeare was also very popular in theater during the Regency era. It makes sense that although Leighton was born after this era ended, his work was still very influenced by these cultural giants of writers, musicians, and artists. Even though you may not recognize his name, you may recognize some of his other pieces. His style is very noticeable and often focuses on romanticized scenes of chivalry and women in medieval times. These were themes that were very much a part of the culture at the time and important to show. His name and study of his pieces have all but disappeared from history, but his art continues to be popular. I believe that this is due to the nostalgic feeling of many of his pieces, whether it be for a perceived simpler time or the chivalry that used to exist in society. Imagining the medieval time period and Arthurian legends you are probably seeing an image based on a Leighton painting.

Leighton's father was an artist but died while he was very young. Edmund inherited his artistic talent from his father, but his family was hesitant to let him follow this passion and talent. His first job was a tea merchant in London for the financial security. He had to save up for art classes before he would even think of pursuing it as a career. He went to night art classes gaining the confidence in his abilities that he decided to switch careers as an artist. He was a storyteller and this is seen in his focus on the stories that shaped society. The stars of the Regency era were the subject of his paintings and Leighton gave life to the literary characters that people learned to love. He was never an official member of the Royal Academy of Art in London but he showcased his work there yearly from 1878 until 1920. He would die in 1922 at the age of 69.

This specific art piece does not have much study or information on it because it was given to H.M. Grayson. After Leighton's death it was sold in auction in 1924 but after that the tracking of the painting ends. It is safe to say that whomever the painting was sold to has the painting in their estate collection or perhaps it was sold and the original auction house was not told. This is fairly normal in the art world for art pieces to change hands, especially after an artist dies. It is a gift that the painting even has been photographed and is circulating on the internet. I am so thankful that we live in a time where we can access a massive variety of art that would have otherwise been unknown unless you were at the right place in the right time, had access to museums, or were able to afford to commission artists for your own home.

The dichotomy between the religious mother and physical mother is so clear to see. Both are needed for the world to function well and for maternity to be fully present. Both need one another to remind themselves of their final end. The physical mother is reminded by the religious that all that she does is for the Lord and that the end of her life and her children's lives is God and unity with Him in heaven. She must be reminded that her prayer life, health and relationship with God is what is going to make her children holy and what will make her a better mother. The religious is an example that the physical mother can put God first and that everything will work out as He plans it. The physical mother must tend to her duties and that itself is a prayer, even if and especially if it is tending to a child in their great need. The religious mother needs the physical mother to remind them of their call to be fruitful and multiply. The physical mother does much in secret and much that will be unknown and forgotten, which strengthens the religious' dedication to her daily prayer and work for the Lord. The physical mother shows that work other than prayer is important and strengthens the human person. The religious is reminded that she must love and tend to her sisters well and that this pouring out of oneself into the other will only bring more love into the world. Maternity serves the human person by showing the heart of God in their actions and intercessions. True, good and beautiful maternity brings forth the best out of women and women need each other, especially when they have different vocational calls.

More Questions

-How do you experience spiritual and physical motherhood?

-If you are a woman, how do you practice spiritual and/or physical motherhood?

-If you are a man, how do you support the women in your life to practice spiritual and/or physical motherhood?

Let us pray -

Thank you for the gift of maternity. May I never take for granted the ability to receive and give it all back to you. When I feel inadequate or like the weight of the world is on my shoulders, help me to turn to you, whose yoke is easy and burden light. Mother Mary, show us how to be a physical and spiritual mother in the way that the Lord calls us to be. Help us to support the mothers in our lives and praise them for their work. May the maternal struggle and suffering not go unnoticed, but be secure in the fact that the Lord sees all even if it is in secret. May all women see, feel and know their maternal gift and call to receive and give forth all that the Lord gives.

Amen.