Veronica has been dreaming and discerning each fabric and pattern of the Emmea collection for the past year, with the desire to communicate the intimacy of receiving Christ in the Eucharist.
The silhouettes and shapes of the garments have a dissolving, dripping, reflective effect to mimic the motions of water. The water effects are reflective of how we dissolve into Christ as He dissolves into us in Holy Communion.
Christ comes to us in another form, in humility, knowing that some will still not believe as some even struggled immediately after the Resurrection, “He appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either” (Mark 16:12-13).
Just as Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, as the fulfillment of all the events of the Old Testament, He brings us clarity now through the Eucharist. As we lose ourselves in Him and He dissolves in us, we are able to receive Divine Revelation in its fullness—to see the common thread woven through all of salvation history.
In the height of the disciple’s despairing belief that Christ has abandoned them, “But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel.” He reveals Himself through the Eucharist, “So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Luke 24:21-31).
Veronica loves the intimacy and safety of Christ giving Himself to us through a meal, similar to what St. John Paul II expresses:
“There is no doubt that the most evident dimension of the Eucharist is that it is a meal. The Eucharist was born, on the evening of Holy Thursday, in the setting of the Passover meal. Being a meal is part of its very structure. “Take, eat... Then he took a cup and... gave it to them, saying: Drink from it, all of you” (Mt 26:26, 27). As such, it expresses the fellowship which God wishes to establish with us and which we ourselves must build with one another” (15, Mane Nobiscum Domine, 2004).
God draws man back to Himself through the intimacy of Communion that is simultaneously a familial meal, priestly sacrifice, and marital bond. It is likely that the ones on the road to Emmaus are a married couple which would be fitting as Christ reveals Himself through the breaking of bread—the Eucharist—the communion of Christ as the Bridegroom and His Church as Bride.
The deep blue and white color palette of the collection points to water both from the side of Christ, the wellspring of grace offered to us through the Paschal Mystery, and that which is used in the Mass (water added to wine before Consecration and used as a purifier after administering Holy Communion). These colors are often attributed to Baptism and the Eucharist as man is united to His Creator through the washing away of Original Sin and the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.
The textures in the garments heighten our awareness to the way the Mass draws in our senses. In the Mass there are varying textures: liquid wine, comforting simplicity of the unleavened bread, the shiny reflecting metals, the quiet swishing, clinging, sounds of movement in the priest preparing the altar. We approach the altar to receive Christ with childlike faith. We make ourselves little, submitting our reason to faith, to receive Him just as He has humbled Himself in the appearance of bread.
The Litany Ladies hope this collection draws everyone into deeper contemplation of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist and elevated attention to the details of the Mass through which Creator draws creation back to Himself. May our worship be a full offering of our body, soul, mind, and heart.