… Ten years ago I sat down and wrote my first blog post. My intended audience was simply a few family members who had questions about Catholicism as I went through the RCIA process. They wanted to know what exactly I was converting to. Actually, I think they thought I was joining a cult and just wanted some reassurance. Over the years a small readership grew and I enjoyed having a little fun with my writing. I held contests, hosted... Read more
… Catholics love to decorate. After my conversion I joked with my sponsor that I needed to go home and redecorate now, remembering how every Catholic I’d ever met had a house full of tchotchke. I think this habit to modify our exterior surroundings is a reflection of our interior call of continuous conversion. Not necessarily to reinvent our spiritual interior life, but to celebrate new aspects of it that we may have neglected the rest of the year. Like... Read more
… Seems like the Advent calendar gets all the attention this time of year, understandably so. There are so many different types of Advent calendars and Advent wreath craft projects to choose from that people often forget another type of Advent tradition. The Jesse Tree. Read more
… Nuns are real life superheroes. If you take a woman and enhance her good virtues, give her the supernatural power of devotion and faith, then throw a cape on her, you got yourself a nun. Maybe that’s why our gaze tends to be naturally drawn to them and their ability to inspire simply by appearance. Nuns from the Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, NJ were featured in the New York Times this past September.... Read more
… So far this month I’ve featured portraits and rosary symbolism in fine art. Now I want to focus on the particular mysteries of the rosary to illustrate how the devotion, while wholly Marian in nature, is also a meditation on the life of Christ. Thursday we pray the Luminous Mysteries, which are dedicated to the public life of Christ – The Baptism in the Jordan, The Wedding at Cana, The Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration, and the Institution... Read more
… National Geographic photographer Dave Yoder had access to Pope Francis at the Vatican for six months, which resulted in 68,000 photos. This is my favorite. Naturally. There are other nice ones too. Click to view a preview gallery of 12 images by Photojournalist Dave Yoder. Read more
… Shrine of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in Chicago suffered a tragic fire yesterday. The church was severely damaged and they are asking for our prayers and financial help as they raise funds for the rebuilding campaign. On their GoFundMe page they write; On October 7th, a fire broke out in the Shrine of Christ the King church, adjacent to the headquarters office of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest in Chicago. Evidence indicate that the fire... Read more
… Taking this month’s theme of the rosary in a direction away from portraits, today’s Rosary in Fine Art example is a still life by Dirck de Bray c. 1672. This particular still life incorporates symbolism associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary: the rose, a rosary, rosemary, the thurible, and the crown. To see previous posts and examples of the rosary in fine art, click here. Read more
… Keeping with this month’s theme, the Holy Rosary. Leandro Bassano, c. 1590 Widow at Her Devtions The newly widowed women prays before a painting of the Birth of the Virgin Mary. See previous examples of the rosary in fine art. Read more
… Have you purchased or downloaded Benedicta, Marian chant from the monks of Norcia yet? No? What, you don’t like church bells and heavenly chant? I love that the CD opens up with the deep resonating peal of church bells, the Catholic call to prayer. That’s what Benedicta is, a call to prayer. I listen to it most mornings during my daily commute. It helps with the stress and the road rage to have something calming and holy to focus... Read more
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