Conception and Ensoulment

Conception and Ensoulment
Illumination from Jean Mansel, 15th century manuscript

This illumination from a fifteenth-century French manuscript by Jean Mansel showing a couple in bed is also called Making visible embryos: Acquiring a soul.

 

"The Holy Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Ghost—watch from the upper left corner and send them a childlike form. This recalls the iconography of the Annunciation. 

Feast of the Divine Motherhood of Mary, January 1

From the Marian antiphon of the Christmas season, Alma Redemptoris Mater, we pray these words: "You, in the wonder of all creation, have brought forth your Creator, Mother ever virgin."

The Virgin Mary of the Sign
15th century fresco
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption
Cordoba, Spain