Mary, Queen of Peace

I took the pilgrimage to West Jefferson and Glendale Springs yesterday to visit St. Mary's Episcopal Church and Holy Communion Episcopal Church. Both churches have frescoes painted by Ben Long. Long is a North Carolina native who after serving in Vietnam travelled to Italy to become an apprentice (in oil painting) to Pietro Annigoni. But Annigoni was no longer painting in oil but in the medium of fresco. Long decided to apprentice with him anyway. Long completed several frescoes in Italy. He came home to NC and in 1972 he met the Rev. Faulton Hodge. Hodge wanted Long to paint a fresco for a church in the mountains. In 1976 Long began painting a series of frescoes in the two churches in Ashe County (St. Mary's and Holy Communion).

These two churches have always been favorite destinations for me; usually visited after hiking some nearby trail in the summer. It was wonderful to go again and visit them yesterday. This fresco of Mary is probably my favorite although the one of John the Baptist below is so "gritty and real" that it looks like he will step down and start preaching!

Every time I see them I find something new in them. In this one of John the Baptist, I don't think I remember the dove at the top - representing the Holy Spirit. The one below which is at Holy Communion Church is of the last supper and I love the fact that Long put a dog into the picture (at the lower left). As you can probably tell the fresco is on the wall behind the simple wooden altar. You can see the pumpkins and straw for fall at the bottom of the picture which is actually on the floor in front of the altar. The fresco is so vivid it looks like you could step into the scene and sit down on the stool at the table with Jesus and the disciples.

But of all the frescoes my favorite remains Mary. It is such a different picture of her and she is pictured in red instead of blue. This is not Mary gentle and mild to lull us to sleep, but this is Mary who wants us to wake up to the reality of what is about to happen in our lives as we encounter her Son. We are going to get shaken up, stirred up in soul and heart. Mary (in this picture) does not bear comfort but rather she bears the one who will "discomfort" us with a challenge to live in peace with one another. She bears a message for our time for sure.