Pray For Us Sinners

The garage wall is cracked and unpainted, the wooden window is peeling, the flowers have faded and the grass grows long, but the Blessed Virgin is fresh and new. I know this older woman who tends her garden and yard in her walker, and she would tell you that keeping the statue clean and new-looking was more important than anything else.

Remembering my days in Catholic school, I remembered the Blessed Virgin as a much friendlier holy person, kind of like the universal Mom. Is that why so many have her statue lovingly placed in their gardens?