Stop being prudish about Mary

We shouldn't be ashamed of the Virgin Mary showing us her breasts, two art critics said in the most recent copy of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. They say we should see more painting with Mary breast-feeding baby Jesus, according to an article in the U.K Mail.

"The Virgin Mary who nurses her son Jesus is one of the most eloquent signs that the word of God truly and undoubtedly became flesh," wrote Father Enrico dal Covolo, a professor of classic and Christian literature.

For nearly 1,500 years, the Blessed Mother was depicted in this motherly fashion. Then Protestant prudes (I mean reformers) came along and were offended by "the carnality and unbecoming nature of many sacred images," Italian church historian Lucetta Scaraffia wrote in another article.

Even the nudes in the Sistine Chapel were covered up, the Mail article reports, adding that you're more likely to find a painting of a semi-nude Mary in a museum than a church.

In more Mary news, the BBC reported on the premiere of a musical, "Mary: A Story that Continues," held in the Vatican. Pope Benedict did not attend, but many cardinals, including the Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, attended with thousands of Roman citizens.

The story starts with her childhood, and takes "a good deal of poetic license is taken over the gospel story," the BBC reported, but a top Vatican theologian signed off on the script. I'm sure Mary, played by former Miss Italy contestant Alma Manera, did NOT bare all for this piece of live performance art!