Mother of Silence

This image shows us Mary, who “kept all these words, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). The Mother of the Lord encourages us to listen carefully to the Word of God and accompanies us on the path of our continual conversion.

With Her finger placed on Her lips, the Blessed Virgin calls for silence and recollection to hear the voice of God. Dressed in an azure mantle of humility, Our Lady wears a sky blue cloak with white lining decorated with three stars. The cloak is a symbol of the virginal, merciful love of Mary, Queen of Heaven. Her inner garment is red, symbolizing Her royalty and suffering.

The letters MP OY are an abbreviation of the Greek words: “MHTHP OEOY (Meter Theou)”: Mother of God. The meaning of the Latin inscription, “Maria autem conservabat omnia verba haec conferens in corde suo,” is “But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.”

Maria, Mater Silentii, ora pro me

Mary, Mother of Silence, pray for me

O Mary, Mother of Silence,
You who kept every word and pondered it in your heart,
teach me
to listen before I speak,
to adore before I act,
to love before I judge.
When noise surrounds me
and words wound my soul,
cover me with your mantle of quiet light,
still my restless thoughts,
soften my anxious heart,
Hollow me to be a dwelling place for the Word made flesh.
You, who gazed upon the mystery of your Son
with the eyes of faith,
and the silence of awe,
help me to find God
in the gentle whisper,
in the pauses between my words,
in the humble obedience of everyday love.
Mother of the Incarnate Word,
guard my lips from harshness and haste.
Grant me the courage to be silent
when silence is charity,
and to speak only when truth demands it.
Our Lady of Silence,
sanctuary of the listening heart,
form me in your image —
so that in the stillness of prayer
I may hear the voice of God
and echo His peace to the world.
Maria, Mater Silentii, ora pro me.
Amen.

Fr. Norbert Siwinski, OFMConv.

The story of my meeting with the Mother of Silence

I met Mary, the Mother of Silence, for the first time on September 19, 2023. That day, I received a written request from Father Norbert Siwinski, OFMConv. to write an icon for him — the icon of the Mother of Silence.

It was an extraordinary and deeply moving request, as at that time, Father Siwinski had suffered a sudden and severe throat hemorrhage, which completely took away his voice. From that moment, he entered a time of great trial — a time of silence, of healing, of learning to live without the word that had always been his instrument of prayer and preaching.

It was precisely then, in that silence born of suffering, that his request for the icon of the Mother of Silence came to me. I still remember the questions that arose in my heart: “What does She look like? How am I to write Her image?” I asked my father, seeking guidance, and he, as always, answered simply and with trust: “Listen and write Her icon as She tells you.”

I began to draw the first sketches. In my imagination, the Mother of Silence was wrapped in blue and white —in the tenderness of light that soothes rather than blinds. The silence had the color of the sky, and the transparency of air. I saw Her eyes — large, calm, filled with compassion. Eyes that did not merely look, but listened to the soul.

I sent Father Siwinski the first sketches of Mary, uncertain whether She should look that way. He replied almost immediately, saying that She had appeared to him in a dream exactly like that. It was a profound confirmation for me that I was walking the right path, that She herself was guiding my hand. At that time, I deeply needed Her presence.

Together with my husband — who prepares the wooden panels for my icons and applies the gold leaf — I began to write the icon of the Mother of Silence. At Father’s request, I inscribed upon it the words from the Gospel of St. Luke (2:19): “Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Now, two years later, I can clearly see how much She has brought into my life — how silently, yet powerfully, She has transformed it. The Mother of Silence started to bring gifts of peace into my heart. With Her, more and more icons were born, and soon many requests began to arrive for Her image. Then I understood how deeply the modern world longs for Her presence —how much people yearn for silence in a world filled with noise, haste, and endless words.

It is She who comes to touch the human heart. Among all the icons I have written, it is Her image — the Mother of Silence —that has traveled farthest into the world. She flows like the blue of Her garments, gently touching those who gaze upon Her, enfolding them in tenderness, calming them with Her eyes, and leading them to the place where they can truly hear.

It is She — Mary, the Mother of Silence — who leads me into silence, into that one sacred space where everything grows still, and the heart begins to hear the voice of God.