Word: virginity
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...Catholics around the world, Aug. 15 is among the holiest of feast days. It marks the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, when the mother of Jesus is believed to have been physically taken into heaven after death so that her body would not suffer earthly decay. For the Catholics of Sri Lanka, Aug. 15 this year marked a similar miracle: the survival of a 500-year-old statue of the Virgin, through the fiery tumult of a quarter-century of civil war, which was re-ensconced in a jungle church that was once again safe to travel...
...particularly perilous for the shrine. The military had begun a multipronged advance into the Tiger-controlled area in late 2007, and Madhu was about six miles (10 km) north of the line. Earlier that year, 10,000 people were still taking refuge in the church compound, believing the Virgin would protect them. But by February 2008, recalls the Rev. S. Emilianuspillai, then caretaker of the shrine, it was clear that the shrine itself was in danger - and part of the war. On April 3, 2008, fighting had isolated 17 people at the shrine, including four priests and three nuns. Emilianuspillai...
...statue had been in grave danger before. In the late 17th century, the Protestant Dutch tried to eradicate the Roman Catholicism brought to the island by the Portuguese. The Virgin Mother had been moved from the shrine then as well and secreted away. In the 21st century, the statue shared the fate of many Sri Lankans, becoming a refugee as it was carried from church to church until July 2008, when it was in a more secure spot. By November, it was once again at the shrine, ready for the outpouring of piety during this year's Feast...
...last hours of the fighting. "I am old," he says. "I can't look after my family for much longer. I have lost children to the war." Holding one of his grandchildren while the others played, he says, "We need a better and peaceful future." He adds, "The Virgin has brought us together, she has given us hope. It is now up to us to live together...
...altarpiece itself is not spectacular. Certainly, it is visually pleasing—it is called the Beffi Triptych after the village for which it was painted, and narrates the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ in an expressive and vibrant style. One panel depicts Christ’s nativity, another the death of the Virgin. Yet, this piece of art communicates numerous messages. It represents how— in a political world of words and numbers—a gesture can speak more loudly...