Pursued by Truth
The other day I read an interview of Bobby Love, a tattoo artist turned monk, who is now known as Brother Andre. I was really moved by the story but at the same time I wondered why.
What really made this story special?
Was it just the fact that it is rare to see a Catholic monk with tattoos?
After some thought I decided it was more than the novelty. For me, the image of this tattooed man in a monk’s robe was truly something beautiful to behold.
Why is this tattooed monk so beautiful?
In the article, Brother Andre relates that he asked permission to remove his tattoos:
After joining the monastery, he asked the abbot’s permission to remove the tattoos on his hands and neck. The abbot asked him to keep them. “It’s not so much a reminder,” Love said. “It’s part of who I am.”
Immediately upon seeing his tattoos peek out from his rough monk’s robe, one knows that Brother Andre has a past. His tattoos are a symbol of his past, but like he says in the interview, they are not so much a “reminder” as they are “part of who he is.”
As a former fallen away Catholic, I don’t walk around with tattoos that let everyone around me know that my life used to be different. But I do walk around as a person who found herself in Christ and who has been renewed in Christ.
But it is not just former fallen-away Catholics who can relate to Brother Andre.
We are all Brother Andre, wounded by original sin but ontologically changed by our Baptism to become sons and daughters of God.
So in some way I see the tattoos of Brother Andre combined with his vows as a monk, symbolized by his habit, as a sign of redemption. This tattooed monk is a sign of our humanity combined with the transforming power of grace to make something beautiful.
Just look at this man’s smile.
Extras:
- Interview with Brother Andre
- Photos of Brother Andre’s Solemn Profession
- Iconography by Brother Andre
- More info on Church teaching and tattoos
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