December 8th is a public holiday where I live. It is The Immaculate Conception of Mary , the conception of the Virgin Mary without any stain (“macula” in Latin) of Original Sin. In our words today we would say, Mary was born without ego – a perfectly empty vessel to conceive and bear the Christ.
In this paining of M Caravaggio, St Domenicus receives a rosary from an apparition of the Madonna. He later founded the Order of the Black Friars.
M Caravaggio, Madonna of the Rosary (1605) Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien
The Living Room 