The Beauty and the Beast

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

While on vacation at my sister’s house, I amused myself by reading the short stories of Giovanni Guarechi in a volume called Don Camillo’s Dilemma. The fictious, wonderful little stories are about the adventures of the country priest in the Po Valley of Italy in the 1950s. One such story was of a talented young artist who came from the city to paint the scenery at Don Camillo’s village and was subsequently employed by the priest to do some art work in his parish Church. The main project turned out to be the complete repainting of a fresco of Our Lady which had been ruined by rain damage. The artist accepted the challenge with enthusiasm and immediately set himself to accomplish the project with all his skill and effort. 

The first thing he wanted was to find a suitable subject to model his Madonna from among the local villagers. After searching for two weeks, he was disappointed and on the point of quitting the whole project when he stopped for a meal at a tavern. The face of the young lady who served him his lunch captivated his attention and he asked permission to sketch her while she worked on her sewing. He had found his subject and put all his artistic and spiritual effort into creating a beautiful image of Our Lady based on the face of this unknown, but lovely young woman. When he finally unveiled his masterpiece to Don Camillo, the beauty of the image was undeniable but when Don Camillo recognized the face of the local girl, Celestina, he was severely disappointed. The young lady had indeed a beautiful countenance, but her gruff manner and political persuasion were sorely lacking for any in Catholic circles, and worse, it was well known to all the villagers. They would invariably recognize the local Celestina and be scandalized by her representing the Sweet Mother of God.

When Celestina herself learned of the project, she immediately protested in her usual ill-mannered way to it all, demanding to see the production and watch as it was scrubbed of her image. When she actually saw the fresco of Our Lady, however, she was moved by its heavenly beauty and fell to her knees making the sign of the cross to begin a long overdue prayer to the Madonna. As the story goes, she reconciled with the Church and her God, changing her rough manner for a devoted Christian one and married the artist in the very Church which housed the beautiful Madonna. 

Consider this simple story when you pray the rosary this month of October and recall how heavenly, and yet so similar, is Mary’s likeness to ours and ours to hers. What message do you find in this wonderful short story?