My new office companion – Our Lady of Silence
I’ve welcomed a new companion into my office—the place where I meet people for pastoral counseling and spiritual direction: Our Lady of Silence.
This modern icon was written by Capuchin friar Fr. Emiliano Antenucci and blessed by Pope Francis in 2016. The Pope even keeps a copy near the elevator of the Apostolic Palace. In his typically direct style, he scribbled on the back: “Don’t speak badly of others.”
At first glance, the message seems simple enough. Her finger rests gently on her lips: guard your speech. Her other hand is raised as if to say, “Stop.” It’s a gesture I’ve needed more than once. Earlier in my life, I was quick with words—sometimes too quick—and I’ve had my share of fraternal corrections (some ongoing, if my wife is to be believed).
But the longer I sit with the icon, the less it feels like a warning and the more it feels like an invitation.
Mary is not silencing me; she is drawing me into silence.
In the Gospel of Luke, Mary “treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Lk 2:19, 51). The Greek is rich here. To “treasure” (syntēreō) is to preserve carefully, like something precious. To “ponder” (symballō) is to hold things together, to reflect deeply until meaning begins to emerge.
That is what this icon invites: not just less speaking, but deeper listening.
The finger to the lips becomes an invitation to interior quiet. The raised hand becomes a gentle slowing—an encouragement to linger, to notice, to receive. In a world of constant commentary and reaction, this kind of silence is not empty; it is fertile.
Even her gaze teaches something. It is soft, slightly averted, giving space rather than demanding attention. It’s a posture I’ve come to recognize in spiritual direction: presence without pressure. Silence that makes room for God to act.
And that may be the heart of it.
Silence is not the absence of words. It is the place where God’s voice becomes audible.
In that quiet, our scattered experiences begin to come together. Consolation surfaces. Truth clarifies. What once felt like noise begins to sound like invitation.
So perhaps the question is not simply, “What should I stop saying?” but “What might God be saying that I cannot yet hear?”
Take a moment. Sit with the image.
What is Our Lady of Silence inviting you to notice… to treasure… to ponder?
Prayer to Mary, Mother of silence*
Mother of silence, who watches over the mystery of God,
Save us from the idolatry of the present time, to which those who forget are condemned.
Purify [our eyes] with the eye-wash of memory:
Take us back to the freshness of the origins, for a prayerful, penitent Church.
Mother of the beauty that blossoms from faithfulness to daily work,
Lift us from the torpor of laziness, pettiness, and defeatism.
Clothe [us] in the compassion that unifies, that makes whole; let us discover the joy of a humble, serving Church.
Mother of tenderness who envelops us in patience and mercy,
Help us burn away the sadness, impatience and rigidity of those who do not know what it means to belong.
Intercede with your Son to obtain that our hands, our feet, our hearts be agile: let us build the Church with the Truth of love.
Mother, we shall be the People of God, pilgrims bound for the Kingdom. Amen.
* Brackets changed ‘Pastors’ to include all readers.
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