By Rev. Charlie Archer
In holding the corpse of her Son with acceptance and love, Mary wordlessly proclaims the greatest expression of faithful discipleship, “Let it be done unto me according to your will.”
This painting, “The First Mourning” by William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1888, beautifully draws out a scene implied in Genesis which I have never considered before. After the Fall, we merely hear of the children that Adam and Eve beget, and of Eve naming each of them. Genesis relates, “Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, for she said, ‘God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, for Cain slew him’” (Gen 4: 25 RSVCE). Yet the killing of Abel must have been the greatest human grief Adam and Eve yet experienced. In the original sin, Adam and Eve chose to seek their own glory apart from God, their Creator. Their self-seeking was not the result of either individual alone, but through their cooperative actions. Both Adam and Eve contributed to the Fall. Now, together they experience the full effect of the Fall; the fruit of their union, Abel, has died as a consequence of their sin, killed by his own brother.
Bouguereau’s depiction reveals the fallen nature of Adam and Eve through the introspective movement between the couple. Eve covers her face and refuses to look at either Adam or Abel’s body. Adam looks only to comfort Eve, also averting his eyes from Abel. The consequence of their sin is too painful to confront directly. The couple’s self-focus reflects the distortion that occurred with the original sin in which they focused on glorifying themselves rather than obeying God. Now, rather than seeking their own glory, they seek consolation, yet they cannot now turn to God. Bouguereau depicts Eve pressing her head into Adam’s side, the place of her birth, where she first experienced God’s action. After the Fall, she no longer finds God there, but Adam’s ineffectual efforts to console his wife. Adam presses his left hand against his side, as if recalling the miracle that God had once drawn forth from his flesh. This scene conveys both the human desire for God, and the stark reality that humans are powerless to overcome death without God.
Another significant detail is that the posture of Abel’s body mirrors the much more famous image of Michelangelo’s Pieta. In the Pieta, Mary turns her eyes on the body of her Son and her God, at once viewing the cause of her grief and turning to her only source of consolation in the crucified body.
The sacrifice of Christ “speaks more graciously than … Abel” (Heb 12: 24). Bouguereau’s painting naturally recalls the Pieta, and contributes to one’s appreciation of Mary. Adam and Eve have no source of consolation for their son’s death, yet Mary’s grief is a source of consolation for us.
This image draws out the twofold movement of Mary’s heart in grieving and offering consolation through her Son. Eve seeks consolation in Adam while turning away from the death of her son: Mary finds consolation as she looks upon the body of her son and God. Eve sought to rival God’s wisdom in eating the fruit: Mary receives the wisdom of the Cross, which is beyond human understanding.
Christ is at once the New Adam and the dead Son of Mary. While the Old Adam turns his face away from the consequence of his sin, looking only for comfort in his spouse, Christ fully embraced the consequence of Adam’s sin, himself becoming the dead son to assuage the grief of man and gaining power over death. Adam only wraps his arms around Eve, allowing Abel’s arms and head to hang over his knees, yet Mary holds Christ near to her heart. Adam and Eve’s features demonstrate confused grief and anguish, yet Mary’s heart pierced with sorrow shines through her expression of sorrowful acceptance of her Son’s death. In holding the corpse of her Son with acceptance and love, Mary wordlessly proclaims the greatest expression of faithful discipleship, “Let it be done unto me according to your will.” All disciples are called to imitate Mary in holding the body of Christ — when we receive Him in the Eucharist, when we encounter Him in the poor, when we work to build His Kingdom, and when we embrace our spouse in marriage.
Fr. Charlie Archer is the associate pastor at St. Peter Parish in Kirkwood. He grew up in St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and attended the University of Dallas before entering Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, being ordained in 2021.