This site's editor-in-chief is a Catholic husband, father, and author. He loves sharing the Catholic faith through art and graphic design. Check out his prayer books and coloring books on Amazon.com
For four years, Saint Jerome retreated to the desert to the southeast of Antioch (in modern-day Turkey), where he purified his soul through physical suffering. Seated before the vaulted ruin of his desert hermitage, his wiry limbs, sunken eye sockets, and tanned skin are a testament to the harsh...
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, is the only king of France to be canonized in the Catholic Church. He took the Crown of Thorns to Paris about 1238 and had the Sainte-Chapelle built (1242–48) to house...
By blessing water, Catholic priests praise God and ask him for his grace. Intended as a reminder of baptism, Catholic Christians dip their fingers in the holy water and make the sign of the cross when entering the church. Fr. John F. Sullivan, writing in the early twentieth century, noted...
This small panel once decorated the predella of an altarpiece along with nine other small portraits of apostles, three of which are in the collection of the National Gallery of Art: Saint Matthew, Saint Simon, and Saint Judas Thaddeus. The brother of the apostle John, Saint James Major was in...
David IV, the greatest of the Georgian Kings, ascended the throne in 1088, at a time when Georgia had been utterly devastated by incursions of Seljuk Turks. King David was exceedingly devout and God-fearing. He would arise before daybreak to pray, and would always finish his activities at midnight...
The Book of the Gospels or Evangeliary contains the full text of the passages from all four gospels that the deacon or priest is to read or chant at Mass in the course of the liturgical year. However, use of the Book of the Gospels is not mandatory, and the...
In this simple yet dramatic composition, an angel leads Saint Peter past the sleeping guards, releasing him from King Herod's imprisonment on the night before his trial. Early Christians traditionally regarded the episode as symbolic of the coming deliverance of the Church from persecution. With its elegantly posed...
Giles is the subject of an elaborate and largely unhistorical anonymous Latin legend first attested in the 10th century. According to the legend, Giles first lived in retreats near the mouth of the Rhône and by the River Gard in the Visigothic Kingdom. Finally he withdrew deep into the forest...
Please enjoy the latest posts from the blog below. I've added dozens of images lately, so if you haven't checked out the home page in a while, go over there and do so. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you find! Remember, all the images...
The Advent wreath, or Advent crown, is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church. It is an evergreen wreath with four candles, sometimes with a fifth, white candle in the center. Beginning with the First Sunday...
This image, along with Saint Peter and Christ Blessing, originally occupied a single panel. They and two others—one now in a museum in France, the other lost—were cut from the same altarpiece. It would have been an imposing work with triangular gables (see Reconstruction). The considerable dimensions and...
Francis of Assisi (born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone; Italian: Francesco d'Assisi; Latin: Franciscus Assisiensis; 1181 or 1182 – 3 October 1226), venerated as Saint Francis of Assisi, also known in his ministry as Francesco, was an Italian Catholic friar, deacon, mystic, and preacher. He founded the men'...
In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, candles are required to be placed on or beside the altar, at least for the celebration of Mass. For reasons of religious tradition, the Church used the candles at divine service that are made of beeswax. To the three elements of a...
This Bible was written and illuminated in the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, the capital of Persia (present-day Iran) in the 1600s. The artists Malnazar and Aghap'ir lavishly decorated this book with scenes from the Old Testament, such as the Creation of the World, and portraits of the...
Saint Joan of Arc lived in the 1400's during the Hundred Years' War. She played a major part in the war between two warring French factions (Armagnac and Burgundian). She regularly saw visions of St. Michael (who was accompanied by other angels), St. Margaret, St. Catherine, and...
The Missionaries of Charity were founded in India in 1950, by Mary Teresa Bejaxhiu. The Sisters serve the poorest of the poor throughout the world. In the United States, they maintain five Centers of Formation, as well as many soup kitchens, shelters, camps for poor children, homes for the dying...
This image, along with Christ Blessing and Saint James Major, originally occupied a single panel. They and two others—one now in a museum in France, the other lost—were cut from the same altarpiece. It would have been an imposing work with triangular gables (see Reconstruction). The considerable dimensions...
This is a list of my favorite 12 orders of Catholic nuns and sisters in no particular order. This list includes their history, and images of their habits. What is a Catholic Nun or Sister? In the Roman Catholic tradition, there are many religious institutes of nuns and sisters (the...
Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (Greek: Μύρα; modern-day Demre, Turkey) during the time of the Roman Empire. Because of the...
In the Roman Catholic tradition, there are many religious institutes of nuns and sisters (the female equivalent of male monks or friars), each with its own charism or special character. Traditionally, nuns are members of enclosed religious orders and take solemn religious vows, while sisters do not live in the...
Giotto's explorations and innovations in art during the early 14th century developed, a full century later, into the Italian Renaissance. Besides making panel paintings, he executed many fresco cycles—the most famous at the Arena Chapel, Padua—and he also worked as an architect and sculptor. Transformed by...
A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christian history); written melodies are extra, and...
Benedictine sisters are nuns who live according to the Rule of Saint Benedict : “ora et labora”, that is to say a life of prayer and work, of silence, of welcoming guests and of fraternal charity. By her monastic profession the nun devotes her life to the search for God, promising...
I saw our Lord fastened upon the cross coming down towards me and surrounding me with a marvelous light… Then there came down from the holes of his blessed wounds five bloody beams, which were directed towards the same parts of my body: to my hands, feet, and heart. This...
