Face Masks, the War, and the Virgin Mary of Prato

 

This image can be found in the Church of St. Joseph in the city of Prato, near Florence, Italy. It was made in 1909 by an unknown author. Clearly inspired by Byzantine images, it doesn't attain the hieratic beauty of the ancient icons of the Virgin Mary, but it has a certain power that can't be missed. Amazingly, it has a cult of followers who write their thoughts on a notepad provided by the church. 

I was discussing with a friend a few days ago about face masks. We were commenting on the stunt of an Italian journalist who had himself photographed while swimming in the sea, fully masked. My friend said something like, "what's the point of even mentioning the subject? There is no evidence in the scientific literature that face masks have any effect in stopping virus transmission. That clinches it." I wasn't convinced. It is because, even in this scorching summer in Florence, some people still insist on wearing face masks in public. Mainly, they are children and old people. Just a few, but they do not disappear -- stubbornly sticking to their idea of safety. 

There came to my mind an anecdote about Niels Bohr, the famous scientist. Someone asked him, "how come that a serious scientist as you are keeps a horseshoe nailed above the entrance door of your home? Don't you think you should reject these old superstitions?" Bohr is said to have answered, "They say that it brings good luck even to those who don't believe in it."

I think that people who wear masks while walking in the open reason very much in similar terms: "you never know, it might help." It is the same philosophy of the people who say a prayer while being shelled in war. Unlikely to help but, you know, it might. 

So, about things you never know whether they could work, let me tell you a little story about myself. This Summer, I was walking in a former industrial area of the city of Prato, now mainly residential. Prato is not part of the standard tourist tours of Tuscany, but it is a city full of surprises, with its traditions, its monuments, its political history of workers' rebellions. 

I walked past a church. It didn't impress me with its "rationalist" style architecture, it looked like an industrial building.  But something made me retrace my steps and go inside. There, I found the image of the Virgin Mary that you see at the beginning of this post. Maybe not a masterpiece (and you won't find reproduced in the Web, anywhere), but touching in many senses. The Byzantines had found a way to depict the Virgin Mary in a way that no one who is not blind can miss. 

So, there was this remarkable image, but even more remarkable was the presence of a notebook where people were writing their supplications to the Virgin Mary. Sometimes written in uncertain calligraphy, normally very simple in their requests for health and happiness. Here is an example:

Not easy to decipher, but the first note asks for happiness for someone named (maybe) "Aurora." The third one is a single line saying, "please, holy Mary, make all of us be well." How could you criticize that?

Now, there is an obvious theological problem, here. Let's assume that the Madonna has the ear of the Almighty (her son, although just one third of it, or something like that). Then, why should she do or not do something depending on whether someone marks something on a notepad in a Church? If she is a good lady, as she is supposed to be, why does she need to be prodded in this way to bring health and happiness to people?

These are theological mysteries beyond my capability of answering. I can just tell you that, today, I took a decision. I went back to that church, opened up that notebook, and I wrote down my own supplication. It went like this, "please, holy Mary, could you stop the war in Ukraine? I understand that it is not easy, but maybe you could do something about that. And, by the way, if you have some spare time, you could keep the members of my family healthy. But stopping the war is more important. Thank you!"

Do I think it could work? Of course not. But you never know: the Holy Mary, mother of God, the Παναγία Θεοτόκος, may do things we can't even imagine. Could that depend on something that someone writes on a notepad? Who knows? The ways of the universe are mysterious, and the powers above us, the 𒀭𒀀𒉣𒈾, annunaki, are even more mysterious. So be it. 

And that's why we shouldn't criticize too much those who wear a face mask while swimming in the sea in August. Faith moves so many things. With just one problem. Whereas praying the Holy Mary has no negative effects on the person who prays, a face mask worn for too long may give you plenty of health problems. And I don't think you need any special theological savvy to understand that you shouldn't ask the Virgin Mary to save you from the damage you do to yourself. 

But so are human beings. Always full of contradictions. Look at this face mask -- up to not long ago on sale on Amazon. Do you notice the contradiction?