Mater Ecclesiae – Mosaic with Totus Tuus – Ornate Dark Framed Art

This print of the Mosaic of Mother of the Church comes in a wood frame with a dark finish. Underneath the image are St. Pope John Paul the II’s papal insignia, and motto, “Totus Tuus” (totally thine).In 1980, a group of university students were in an audience with the St. Pope John Paul II and pointed out that among all the holy images in the square, there were none of Our Lady. Seeing that the square was not complete without her, work began to correct this. The project took on the additional weight of gratitude, after the pope was shot in 1981; he credited the Holy Mother with saving his life. Thus, he chose to depict her as the Mother of the Church because of her closeness to her children, indeed the whole church, in times of adversity. By winter of the same year, the mosaic was completed, in place of where a window once stood. The image is based on Our Lady of the Column, Mother of the Church, which stands above a side altar inside St. Peter’s Basi