This liturgical painting titled “Mother of Light” (Emme d-Nuhro or Emme d’nuhro in Syriac) presents Mother Mary as a serene, luminous figure. From within her radiates the eternal flame of Christ, depicted here as a diya or deepak, the traditional oil lamp of Indian culture.

The flame within her is not merely a source of illumination but also becomes the source of her own radiance. It reflects the profound theological truth that the holiness of the saints (symbolized by the halo) is not separate from Christ but born of Him.

Mother Mary’s light is Christ’s light, dwelling within her, transforming and glorifying her. As St Jacob of Serugh writes:O Mary, you are the house of beauties and the storehouse of treasures,the Mother of the Sun, who generates unlimited light.

In this image, the light of the deepak rises and extends outward, forming a glow that encircles her, a visual testament to the intimate mystery of the Incarnation, where the uncreated Light takes flesh within her, and in doing so, makes her the Mother of Light.

Fr. Rijo Geevarghese

Diocese of Ahmedabad