There is a deliberate interplay between the colours red and blue in the mosaic. Red is the colour of divinity; blue the colour of humanity. Christ wears a red tunic covered by a blue mantle to remind us that the Son of God took on human flesh. Our Lady has a blue tunic, signifying her humanity, surmounted with a red cloak, indicating the divine grace that she received. Saint Athanasius remarked that “God became human so that we might become God” (De Incarnatione 54, 3). This invitation to become more like God finds a special expression in the liturgy of the Church and in the Eucharist. Notice the blue and red irregular shapes and lines throughout the mosaic: the mystery of God’s incarnation and of our divinization permeates the work.

While the saints in the apse are depicted in deisis, episodes from their lives are included in the representations of Saints Joseph, Saint Brigid and Saint Patrick on the sidewalls of the nave. The nave, the central aisle or way forward in any church is a symbol of the length of the life of all creation, of all humanity, of the Church and of each person. We are accompanied on this journey by the saints who help us to overcome the many trials that life presents.