The Radiance of Her Face (Angelico Press)

Dom Xavier Perrin is the current Abbot of Quarr Abbey, a Benedictine Abbey on the Isle of Wight. He has a great devotion to the Virgin Mary and recently wrote a book about her entitled The Radiance of Her Face: A Triptych in Honor of Mary Immaculate. The first chapter asks us to focus on a triptych consisting of three panels of images of Mary. The first panel contains an image of Mary and an angel in the scene of the Annunciation. This is a picture of the angel seeing a resemblance of the face of God in the face of Mary. It is also a picture of humility in the face of Mary. The second panel is a picture at the Vatican with the pope and Mary. This pope is proclaiming the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. The center panel is Mary Immaculate in Heaven with God. She is the Mother of God and the Mother of all Humanity.

The second chapter focuses on Mary's origin story. Nowhere in the Bible is there any mention of Mary's birth, so pagans looked to discredit her birth, lineage, and virginity. To combat this, people wrote apocryphal texts to explain her life before Jesus. It is here that we learn about her parents Saints Anne and Joachim, that Mary's birth was miraculous in nature, and we also learn about the Feast Days that celebrate her conception and presentation. Other chapters in this book compare and contrast the Virgin Mary with Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene, show us small portraits dedicated to Mary of the Immaculate Conception, and explain to us the mystery and beauty of Mary's Immaculate Heart with Jesus' Sacred Heart.

The Radiance of Her Face is a small book that is not even 100 pages long. Within it, however, are words of beauty and wisdom that look to not only explain the mystery of Mary's Immaculate Conception, but help us reflect and meditate on it as well. This would be a perfect read during the month of December, but I recommend picking up a copy and reading it immediately, because it is in Mary's face that we see the face of God.

This book was provided to me for free by Angelico Press in exchange for an honest review.