Chapter10.Santissima Addolorata: Experiencing Blind Faith

Chapter 10. Santissima Addolorata: Experiencing Blind Faith

Santissima Addolorata

© 2004 Daniel Giordan

There is an evocative sculpture that stands in the corner of a small church in Montepulciano, just south of Siena. It commemorates a feast called Our Lady of Sorrows, which is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, whose heart was pierced with swords of sorrow. In Italy, the title of Our Lady of Sorrows is Maria Santissima Addolorata.

I didn't know any of this as I stood before this lifelike statue. All I knew was that this was a powerful and evocative statement made even more intense as I stood in this small quiet chapel, surrounded by centuries of dust and artifacts. I was in another place…experiencing the passion and pathos of an artisan whose work was a direct outworking of his faith. The belief and intensity of the long-dead sculptor who created this work still resonated in this tiny chapel. This was no Michelangelo, to be sure. In fact, the sculpture had to work to be considered second rate. And yet its charm and compelling allure was the intensity and blind faith imbued into it by its creator.

Is blind faith enough, or does faith need to be focused on the truth? You have to wonder whether the artist's passionate outpouring ultimately made a difference. It certainly made a difference when the artist was alive, enough so that he created this passionate statement. And now the artist is gone. The statue is blind…and what has become of the faith?