"My mother is the only reason I have any sort of affiliation now to Catholicism, despite no longer practicing. I have a very strong affinity towards the Virgin Mary, fostered by my own mother. She would call her 'Mama Mary' and I would do the same. Watching my own mother hold such love and reverence for Our Lady allowed me to hold her in the same light; a universal mother who gives and loves unconditionally. The Pietà, to me, is the penultimate representation of motherly love. Knowing her own son would die on the cross for humanity, she still mourns him. Michelangelo beautifully depicts this aching grief, a different suffering that exists beyond the worlds of God and man. Her expression is gentle, pure, and intimate. Even in death, she is still his mother. To her, that isn't just the messiah, but her little boy."