Throughout all the transformations of religion, the Mother Goddess has remained. In our times, this cult manifests itself through Mariolatry.
In Malta, Mariolatry can be witnessed in the dreary procession of "Our Lady of Sorrows", which attracts more followers than the "risen" Christ. Imagine how surprised and shocked the Jewish mother of Jesus would be to find herself the focus of a Catholic cult, and to see her own effigy paraded through the streets, contrary to God's prohibition against "graven" images.
She would even be more shocked to learn that, at a church in Valletta, the devotees of a doll-like image of "Our Lady of the Rosary", supposedly representing herself - a devout Jewess - were not content with the original statue. They tried to make the wooden effigy life-like by dressing it up in a tacky, gold lamé dress, just as if they were grooming a pagan idol or a doll!
John Guillaumier
St Julian's