[livius]

Yes. St John the Baptist is much more important in the East. Actually, I shouldn’t say that - he was much more important in the West until fairly recently. It’s odd that he’s sort of disappeared in the West. I wonder why?

[annalex]

I have a theory. The Orthodox have a fixed structure of the iconostasis with Mary and John flanking the Royal Gate. That is not going anywhere, and of course to the Orthodox mind the iconostasis is an integral part of the liturgy, -- it is not decoration. That explains how John and Mary appear together. Further, the belief that John the Baptist was free from sin also, -- and the lack of Catholic precision regarding actual vs. original sin and regarding the moment of sanctification, -- make St. John a symmetrical figure to the Blessed Virgin.

On the Catholic side, -- see my post 52 -- we really had a happy triumphant Church in the Renaissance, and that happy attitude leads to Mary. We have these magnificent images of her, that make her simultaneously very royal and also very much like beloved women in our own lives. This created, I think, an artistic bias in her favor.

Note, however, that at Fatima Our Lady's message is the message of John the Baptist, -- penance. She knows what we need.