Grace in the Face of Suffering

In this fresco by Giacomo Borlone de Buschis in the Oratorio dei Disciplini in Clusone, we witness a profound and poignant presentation of the Biblical narrative of King Herod and the Massacre of Innocents. This is an archetypal image of infanticide (in the sense that the King or father figure, is killing his own infant subjects), in which innocent babes are mercilessly put to death by their sovereign. In this scene, the mothers are helpless and unable to escape. They are surrounded by armored troops, besieged even, within the literal enclosure of the pictorial frame. Their only recourse is to beg for the mercy of their indifferent King, and then to resign themselves to the tragedy. The central figure supplicates and presents her babe to Herod in hope. Others offer their babes up to the sword, holding and soothing them as they are murdered.

Meanwhile, Herod dispassionately instructs his minister who seems to feel the weight of the decree. The killers themselves seem rueful as thrust their swords in gently opening up lesions allowing the blood of the innocents to flow out. Laid on the floor, are the bodies of the dead children, some naked, some swaddled, and, as attested to by their varying hues, in different stages of mortification. This is a poignant image of finding grace in suffering. It is surely an anagogical or theophanic image rather than a literal or allegorical one, wherein the horror and helplessness of slaughter are sublimated into a symbol of submission to the Divine will. It is, after all, one of a cycle of images presenting the stort of Jesus Christ. To date, the number of Palestinian children slaughtered in Gaza stands at 8,663 (this figure is an estimate as of December 19). I offer prayers for Palestinian mothers who, at this very moment, are being challenged to find the grace to bear the murder of their innocent children.

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