The image is of a statue “Maria mit dem Schutzmantel” (“Mary with the protective coat” or mantle) reportedly from the high altar of the Church of our Lady in Ravensburg, Upper Swabia, Germany c. 1480.

This week we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From a Vincentian point of view, one of the ways we think about Mary is as mother and protector of the poor and those who suffer. Take a few minutes to listen as Fr. Robert Stone, C.M. explains “Mary, the Intercessor of the Weak and Vulnerable”: