Isabelle Camilleri, an art major at Notre Dame, reflects on Mary’s tenderness in embracing sorrow in Madonna and Child by an Italian artist.

Soikat Kulentuno, C.S.C., a Holy Cross seminarian from Bangladesh, reflects on the joy and hope of Laetare Sunday in Spring by Natalia Goncharova.

Rev. John DeRiso, C.S.C., Director of the Office of Holy Cross Vocations, reflects on God’s hidden plans in Saint Joan by Paul Jacques Aimé Baudry.

Shea Nowicki, a Master of Divinity student, reflects on the hope in Mary’s faithful yes in Annunciation by Giorgio Vasari.

Maureen Schweninger, a Master of Divinity student, reflects on a gospel writer’s unwavering faith in the portrait Saint John the Evangelist by Artus Wolfaerts.

Caroline Mezzalingua, an art major from the class of 2028, reflects on faithful stewardship in Harvesting, Late Afternoon by Leon-Augustin Lhermitte.

Mary, born of Saints Ann and Joachim, we pray today for all who turn to you in troubling times. Help us to accept the Holy Spirit in our lives, as you did, to be examples of faith to all, especially those entrusted to our care. Amen.

Mary of the Annunciation, we pray today for our mothers and for all women who wish to become mothers. Bless those couples struggling with infertility, those hoping for a child, and each one of us with the consoling joy of the Spirit you found in surrendering to the will of God.

Mary of the Visitation, we pray today for the support of all mothers raising children. May they receive the warm welcome and material assistance of family members and their communities in the sacred task that has been entrusted to them.

Mary of the Nativity of your child Jesus, we pray today for all pregnant women preparing for child birth and those who have welcomed a newborn child, particularly for those experiencing complications or difficulties. Inspire those who suffer and those who rejoice to trust in God’s loving plan for our lives.

Mary of the Flight into Egypt, we pray today for all those who are displaced from their homes especially mothers and children. By the example of the protection you and your spouse, Joseph, provided for our Lord, strengthen them and be their hope in their time of need.

Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, we pray today for our mothers and for all those who are grieving the loss of a family member, particularly mothers and fathers who grieve their children, just as you did when your son was crucified. Welcome all of our loved ones with open arms into the joy of your Son’s kingdom.

Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes, we pray today for our mothers and for all families who are in the midst of trials: medical difficulties, brokenness, discord or pain. Bring into their lives the healing that has been offered to so many through your apparition at Lourdes. Bless all of us with your peace and your trust in God, even in the midst of infirmity and pain.

Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, we pray today for mothers across borders. Inspire us to look beyond our own communities to love and support mothers in all places, especially the poor and marginalized, as you cared for the vulnerable indigenous people at the time of your apparition in Tepeyac.

Mary, Mother of God, we pray today that your motherhood of Jesus, truly God and truly human, might inspire us to imitate God’s care for all of creation, just as you so perfectly modeled for us in you care for God’s only Son. We pray today in thanksgiving for our mothers, our grandmothers, for religious women, and for our female mentors who have cared for us with your tender love. Through your intercession, may God bless our mothers on earth with abundant life and those mothers who have departed from this life with the eternal joys of life in heaven.

Brother Jacob Gorman, C.S.C., religious brother and Master of Divinity student reflects on St. Joseph’s quiet strength in Holy Family by Simon Vouet.

Katy Orenchuk, Regional Director for University Relations, reflects on the grandeur of heaven in Kneeling Angels by Bernardino Lanino.

Adeboye Ifaturoti, a Master of Theological Studies major reflects on the virtue of honest self-examination in The Head of Cain by Fernand Cormon.

Cozette Brown, liberal studies major from the class of 2027, reflects on that which anchors us in love through this portrait of Saint Catherine of Alexandria by Bernardino Luini.

William Farrell, an Economics and Theology student, reflects on freedom from the bondage of sin in The Compassion of Pharaoh’s Daughter for the Infant Moses by Benjamin West.

Rosa Ramos, Master of Divinity student in the class of 2027, reflects on Dimitri Hadzi’s exceptional processional cross scultpure entitled Crucifix.

Dr. Joseph Becherer, Executive Director and Curator of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, reflects on Sebastiano Conca’s Death of the Magdalen and our steadfast hope in Christ for Ash Wednesday.

The University of Notre Dame is a Catholic academic community of higher learning, animated from its origins by the Congregation of Holy Cross. As such, it is committed to scholarship and service that benefits the Church and society. As University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., ’76, ’78 M.A. has said, Notre Dame seeks to …

AUDIO MEDITATION: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), The Incredulity of St. Thomas. Public domain. FULL TEXT: Thomas refused to believe his friends had seen the risen Lord until he felt Jesus’ wounds. When Jesus appeared to him, he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put …