A Mother and A Saint

Abstract

I never expected to conceive my mother's eulogy long before she needed it; and, a lifelong Presbyterian, I never expected to find its text in the polemical writings of a Catholic saint, Thomas More. However, his description of Mary's womb as a “holy closet,” incapable of admitting any offspring after Jesus, led me to meditate on the secrecy of other souls, even that of my mother, with whom I was once physically united. As I have whenever confronted with a spiritual mystery, I looked to the life and afterlife of language for clues.