Anyone who has ever had a lift in my 15-year-old Aegean-blue VW Polo may remember that she is called the Madonnamobile. Bearing a small Greek icon of Our Lady on the dashboard, and a vinyl sticker nestled in a rear side window of stained glass from Walsingham, she is a travelling shrine. Why Mary? Before you dismiss such adornments as superstitious, possibly idolatrous, frippery, pause for a moment. Our church, after all, is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, the most common dedication for churches in England by a long shot (2,368, followed by All Saints, at 1,467). No matter what our orientation towards Marian devotion, Mary is a cultural and Christian force to be reckoned with. And Mary has something for each one of us. In this coming week, on Monday, 15 August, Christians around the world will observe Mary’s main feast. Whether they mark it as the Assumption (the Roman Catholic doctrine that Mary was assumed bodily into heaven at her death), the Dormition (the more sober Eastern Orthodox version, that Mary’s body stayed on earth while Jesus whisked her soul straight into heaven), or The Blessed Virgin Mary (the characteristic Anglican compromise, allowing for a variety of conclusions), the feast invites us to meditate on Mary’s life, witness, and ongoing activity as a member of the Communion of Saints. This 15 August, whatever our relationship to the Mother of Our Lord, we can all celebrate the extraordinary courage and constancy of the first-century Judean woman known as Mariam, give thanks for her grace-filled life—and death—and be inspired by her example.

Image: Dormition of the Virgin (1431/32), Fra Angelico (Florence, San Marco Museum)