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  • Mary and the Incarnation: An Illustrated Anthology by Christine Granger
  • Fiona May Kay Li
Christine Granger. Mary and the Incarnation: An Illustrated Anthology. Toronto: Novalis, 2018. Pp. 80. Paper, cad $17.95. isbn 978-2-89688-459-9.

Jaroslav Pelikan once wrote that when one artistically depicts Mary, the Annunciation is the theme for the Christian imagination (Mary through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture [New Haven, ct: Yale University Press, 1996], 81). And Christine Granger's book precisely demonstrates Pelikan's argument.

Mary and the Incarnation is a creatively formatted book. It is split into three parts: a look at the biblical story of Jesus's birth (Annunciation up to Jesus's birth, inclusive), Mary's maternal relationship with all, and (humanity) being reborn in the Spirit. Within each section, Granger provides the reader with different key phrases that she believes will help the reader delve deeper into the mystery of the Incarnation and Mary's relationship with and role in this mystery. Each key phrase is accompanied by one of Granger's paintings and a page of text. While this book is ultimately rooted in the Bible, some of the text Granger has chosen are spiritual writings of various Christian authors, such as Jean Vanier (35, 69, 73) and Dorothy Day (49). Due to the particular formatting and brevity of the book, I would argue that Mary and the Incarnation is primarily a devotional book. That being said, it can also be a source for those who are academically interested in popular piety.

While the book's brevity can be seen positively as allowing creative space for the reader to explore themes in the writings and the art pieces, it may also turn away those who are seeking greater detail about "Mary and the Incarnation," as they may feel unsatisfied. For example, Granger provides the reader with characteristics and descriptive titles of Mary in the second portion of her book. However, all the traits explored are related to Mary's maternal image. As such, a more diverse selection of Mary's traits would have been greatly appreciated and would present a fuller understanding of Mary. Furthermore, as the title of the book is Mary and the Incarnation, an interestingly (and expected) trajectory would be on Mary and how she reveals to us what it means to be human. Unfortunately, this trajectory is not thoroughly explored.

Last, since the final section of Granger's book is on the topic of being reborn in the Spirit, one may expect ethics and morality to be part of this section. And while Granger does rightly focus on the concepts and virtue of love, she unfortunately stops there. The majority of the texts she includes advocate for a superficial understanding of love: selflessness (which can be very dangerous for certain groups of people) and to be [End Page 221] neighbourly to one another. Granger comes close to speaking about justice as a form of love when she quotes Jean Vanier, who speaks about Jesus giving life to people, and how that calls for us to "stay close to people, especially to those who are lonely, weak and in need; become their friend, their brother, their sister" (73). When one takes Mary and Jesus as the examples of what it means to love, other dimensions of love can be seen. Jesus's acts of healing are not only a demonstration of love but also serve as an example of justice for the marginalized and forgotten. As such, a more diverse selection of texts about love would help foster more fruitful reflections on Mary, Jesus, the mystery of the Incarnation, and what it means to be human (incarnated, reborn in the Spirit).

Fiona May Kay Li
Regis College, University of Toronto
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