Mural of the Weeping Martyr

“The martyrs shook the powers of darkness with the irresistible power of weakness.”

- John Milton

She weeps for the injustices of the world. She cries for all mankind. Her apparition is appearing in the sacred tradition of miracles known to her native land. Her tears run a steady stream day and night falling in to the flowing acequia of the desert dust carrying the stillness of the past with the pain of now.       

Living here in New Mexico there are many murals painted on the ancient adobes. They are of saints, martyrs, religious, historical and contemporary figures.  These murals can be powerful imagery arousing one’s emotions.

“Have I not seen secret malignance strike down the helpless under the cover of hypocritical might? 

Have I not heard the silenced voice of justice weeping in solitude at might’s defiant outrages?” 

- Tagore

As I made this image the horrifying war in Ukraine was heavy upon my being and my heart has ached to watch the madness of unleashed evil in our world. Each day brings more dreadful news of man’s inhumanity toward his fellow brothers and sisters and with this comes the reminder of the fragileness of life and the gift of freedom.

Looking back through the thousands of years of history, darkness has always been there taking the lives of great prophets, thinkers, seers, visionaries and the innocents of all ages.  The Weeping Martyr sheds her tears for all the suffering in this world.

E.McD  April  25th, 2022