O Mother of God, open the door of your compassion to us by always praying for us, your prayers are the salvation of all humankind! - St Alphonsus Liguori
Providence sometimes ordains that we should come across new friends in Heaven at exactly the right time. This happy accident of grace has just occurred to me. I’ve been reading about the Jesu…
Some 19th century Sacred Heart iconography veered between the weirdly gruesome and the almost anatomically correct
From Turkey to Italy, churches built during the Byzantine period host the best-known icon of Christian art.
Earlier this year, I shared an update about our family moving to a cattle ranch. But this didn’t happen without a lot of fervent prayer. This is where St. Philomena worked a little miracle for our family. To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. –...
. . . Good music for looking the post over. * In the Catholic tradition, holy cards or prayer cards are small, devotional pictures mass-produced for the use of the faithful. They typically depict a religious scene or a saint in an image about the size of a playing card. The reverse typically contains a prayer, some of which promise an indulgence for its recitation. The circulation of these cards is an important part of the visual folk culture of Roman Catholics. . . . . . . Old master prints, nearly all on religious subjects, served many of the same functions as holy cards, especially the cheaper woodcuts; the earliest dated surviving example is from 1423, probably from southern Germany, and depicts Saint Christopher, with handcolouring, it is found as part of the binding of a manuscript of the Laus Virginis (1417) which belongs to the John Rylands Library, Manchester. Later engraving or etching were more commonly used. Some had elaborate borders of paper lace surrounding the images; these were called dévotes dentelles in France. . . The invention of colour lithography made it possible to reproduce coloured images cheaply, leading to a much broader circulation of the cards. An early centre of their manufacture was in the environs of the Church of St Sulpice in Paris; the lithographed images made there were done in delicate pastel colours, and proved extremely influential on later designs. Belgium and Germany also became centres of the manufacture of holy cards, as did Italy in the twentieth century. Catholic printing houses (such as Maison de la Bonne Presse in France and Ars Sacra in Germany) produced large numbers of cards, and often a single design was printed by different companies in different countries. . . . Special holy cards are printed for Roman Catholics to be distributed at funerals; these are "In memoriam cards", with details and often a photograph of the person whom they commemorate as well as prayers printed on the back. Other specialized holy cards record baptisms, confirmations, and other religious anniversaries. Others are not customized, and are circulated to promote the veneration of the saints and images they bear. . . . . . . At the end of the nineteenth century, some Protestants attempted to answer these Roman Catholic images with similar images of their own. They produced Bible cards or Sunday school cards, with lithographed illustrations depicting Bible stories and parables, more modern scenes of religious life or prayer, or sometimes just a Biblical text illuminated by calligraphy; these were linked to Biblical passages that related to the image. . . . The reverse typically held a sermonette instead of a prayer. Imagery here was always the servant of text, and as such these Protestant cards tended to be replaced by tracts that emphasized message instead of imagery, and were illustrated with cartoon-like images if they were illustrated at all. . From Wikipedia . . . . . . . . . . . The Order of Catholic nuns called the Poor Clares, the sisterhood counterpart to the all-male Franciscan Order, has a free e-card service with religious imagery and messages for holy days, birthdays, events, get-well, and more. See them here: http://holyecards.com/ . .
⦽ S ome people may grow better from the rule, and some are from guidance. But the rare case to those, who supposed to grow from the love and...
Mater Dolorosa
Explanations of the different Catholic symbols. These symbols act as badges of faith, teaching tools, and aids on the journey towards understanding complex philosophies.
This exquisite piece is one of the Loreto Embroideries, a series of breathtaking embroideries from the early 1900s. This is perhaps our favorite of the collection, though they are all beautiful. The original drawings, based on the Litany of Loreto, are likely to be the work of Ezio Anichini, an Italian artist who did much Catholic work. It is not known who did the stitching. They were a gift to an elderly nun, who sent them to the SHCJ Mayfield Convent in Surrey, England, for safekeeping during World War II. They are now held by the Royal School of Needlework in London, regarded as masterpieces of beauty, design, and execution. (Source: CorneliaConnellyLibrary.org) Original worked mostly in long and short stitch on a rich cream satin background in shades of beige, fawn, and brown silks, as well as white, warmed and enriched with gold threads. We spent a lot of time restoring this image, removing the flaws from the photograph and lightening it a bit to bring out the richness and contrast of the colors and the precision of the needlework. If you love this series as we do, you can own 8, 9, 10, or all 11 of them at big savings. Go to this link to find out how: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1166393551/loreto-embroideries-lot-of-8-9-10-or-11 ** IMPORTANT ** THE IMAGE IS SMALLER THAN THE PAPER! There is a white border of about 0.5" inch for 5x7", 1.3" for 8.5x11", or 1.6" for 11x14" pictures. All Approx! Fine art printers do this because the images are almost never the same rectangular ratio of the standard paper sizes. It also gives the prints a finished look, and lets them look good in a frame without a matt. – Acid-free paper – Archival pigments, rated to last for generations. – Cardboard backer – Above story of the art – Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag. Thanks for your interest! Sue & John You might also enjoy original Catholic Art and Jewerly by me, Sue Kouma Johnson, here on Etsy at www.Etsy.com/shop/TreeOfHeaven Also, check out our Catholic Quote shop, where we are pairing authentic quotes from Saints with Art: www.Etsy.com/shop/CatholicQuote “In order to communicate the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art.” ~ St. Pope John Paul II Original image is out-of-copyright. Descriptive text and image alterations (hence the whole new image) © by Sue Kouma Johnson – Classic Catholic.
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