Smiling Mary: Lessons on Mary X

Gothic-style Mary in Cathedral of Toledo...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titles_of_Mary

I am a big fan of this image of Mary ever since seeing it in the Catholicism episode on Mary. It is...pure joy. Jesus playing with Mary, Mary delighting in Jesus. Most often, Mary looks contemplative and prayerful in images, so this is a treat. I remember reading in Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich's visions of Mary's life that she was so modest that she never laughed out loud, but that she smiled gracefully. Whether or not you believe that, we know that Mary had the purest of joy, knowing that her Savior had come. What I did not know, in looking up about smiling Mary, is that there is a small devotion to "Our Lady of the Smile." So there you go!