The Black Madonna loved me into Eastern Catholicism

But despite all of this ideology written into the Black Madonna, what captivated me about her was her eyes. From the very first moment I saw her, I knew that the reality was that she was looking at me. But far from encouraging any worship of Mary, she gestures to her Son, and it is the child Jesus on her lap who blesses the one looking at the icon while in his other hand is the Gospel. The icon of the Black Madonna points to Jesus, and Jesus calls us to hear his Gospel – the good news of life to be found in him – and be saved. The Greek word for this type of icon is ‘Hodegetria,’ she who points to the Way.