“And Blessed the God of Heaven”

This simple portrait is a tribute to the indominable faith and courage of the pilgrims of Plymouth Colony.  Legend credits teenage Mary Chilton (1607-1679) with being the very first to step foot on Plymouth Rock when the Mayflower docked in Plymouth Harbor.  Already a religious exile from Britain, following new persecutions in her adopted Dutch homeland, she, together with her parents, bravely traveled to the New World seeking religious freedom.  Despite the crushing bereavement of losing both her parents within that first cruel winter at Cape Cod, Mary's trust in God enabled her to press on and labor with her fellow exiles in building a thriving Commonwealth founded on gratitude to and faith in God.  Ultimately Mary married, raised a large family, and died firm in the faith of Christ.

   Of hers and her fellow pilgrims' Heaven-inspired sacrifices, one scholar extolled:

"Through the operation of the genius of intelligence, which is the Spirit of Truth, the soul of the race had been undergoing a preparation, like unto the deep plowing of a field, for the planting of the gospel afresh....In due time the good ships Mayflower and Speedwell brought to the western world the Pilgrim Fathers, as the vanguard of a host escaping from exile and seeking a new home wherein they could worship according to the dictates of their consciences. The coming of Columbus and the later immigration of the Puritan Pilgrims had been predicted nearly six hundred years before Christ; their respective missions had been as truly appointed unto them as has been the sending of any prophet with a message to deliver and a work to do" (James E. Talmage in "Jesus the Christ" published by Deseret Book Company, 1922, p. 755).

The title for this painting is taken from the words of Mary's fellow traveler and first governor of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford: "Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, [we] fell upon [our] knees and blessed the God of heaven." Of lessons the Pilgrims learned their perilous voyage, he concluded, "the Lord is never wanting unto us in our greatest needs [and] His mercies endure forever" (Bradford's History "Of Plimoth Plantation: From the Original Manuscript published by Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1898, p. 96-97. Spelling and punctuation has been standardized).

Mary's simple garb is reminiscent of the modest working-class clothing of her day and appropriate to her puritanical beliefs in the simple, the pure, and the unostentatious.  Her cloak symbolizes the protective care of Christ's atonement ("kaphar," meaning covering, in Hebrew).  In her Last Will and Testament, Mary references her faith in Christ's atoning power, commending herself to the, "merits of Jesus Christ my redeemer" (see The Plymouth Colony Archive Project http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/winslowwill.html).  Her cloak is also intended to remind the viewer of the Lord's injunction to, "clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace" (D&C 88:125), a quality which Mary's selfless life demonstrated in abundance.

Her upward gaze, kneeling posture, and folded hands rimmed in light are the symbol of her worshipful reverence for the God of Heaven.

To Mary's left, the viewer sees the suggestion of a rock--a reminder of historic Plymouth Rock--and beyond in the distance, the Mayflower is moored.

   The waterfowl in in the distance are a reminder of Mary's own migration overseas, as well Heaven's promise of succor to those who make the sea their path: "If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me" (Psalm 139:9-10).