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Architecture

Byzantium Under Siege Again: Preserving Chora’s Icons

The four gigantic minarets surrounding Hagia Sophia serve as a constant reminder of the Turkish triumph in 1453 over the holy city founded by the emperor Constantine. The church, turned mosque, turned museum, and now reverted to a mosque stands undoubtedly among the greatest architectural accomplishments in human history. Its Read more…

By Jared Staudt, 5 yearsAugust 31, 2020 ago
Art

According to the Scriptures: The Promise of the Resurrection

Every Sunday we proclaim our belief the Risen Lord in the Creed: “And rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures.” The phrase “according to the Scriptures” builds directly upon Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians: For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also Read more…

By Jared Staudt, 5 yearsMay 7, 2020 ago
Art

The Patron Saint against Plague and the Great Art He Inspired

I stumbled across the pilgrim plague survivor, St. Rocco, when I was 15. It was my first time in Europe, visiting my aunt who was studying at the University of Montpellier (founded c. 1292) in southern France. I hadn’t heard of Rocco before, but I found myself praying in his Read more…

By Jared Staudt, 5 yearsMarch 24, 2020 ago
Art

Dawn in a Bleared World: Hopkins and Monet

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-89), an Oxford convert mentored by St. John Henry Newman, stands among the greatest Catholic poets in the English language. After teaching at Newman’s oratory in Birmingham, Hopkins entered the Jesuits and, after numerous teaching positions in Britain, was sent as a professor of Greek and Latin Read more…

By Jared Staudt, 5 yearsJanuary 28, 2020 ago
Feast Days and Liturgical Seasons

St. Martin’s Day: The Feast that Began the Fast

This website focuses on rebuilding Catholic culture through art, festivity, education, Catholic history and traditions, and a life shaped by prayer. St. Martin of Tours (c.316-97) can be considered one of the original builders of Catholic culture. Thanks to Sulpitius Severus, we have a detailed biography speaking of his life Read more…

By Jared Staudt, 6 yearsNovember 8, 2019 ago
Painting

Sanctifying the Day with the Angelus

Psalm 55 speaks of crying out to God at morning, noon, and night and Catholics traditionally mark these three key periods of the day by praying the Angelus at six, noon, and six. Sanctifying the key periods of the day began in the early Church by reciting the Our Father Read more…

By Jared Staudt, 6 yearsJuly 13, 2019 ago
Art

Why Technology Certainly Is Not Neutral

Neil Postman aptly described our society as a Technopoly, or what we could also refer to as technocracy – a society fundamentally shaped and ruled by technology. Technology has played a central role civilization from the beginning, but a shift has occurred as technology has passed beyond normal human proportions. Read more…

By Jared Staudt, 6 yearsJune 23, 2019 ago
Art

Reflecting on the Visitation through Art

Art enables us to engage in visio divina, a visual contemplation of the Scripture. Each artist attempts to capture particular details and when we put a few works side by side, we can contrast them to discover the elements of the story they emphasized and illuminated. Raphael draws out the Read more…

By Jared Staudt, 6 yearsMay 31, 2019 ago
Art

A May Garland for Our Lady

May is the month of Mary, a time of new growth and a return to life fitting for the New Eve. Blessed John Henry Newman spoke of how nature itself bears witness to the joy we find in Our Lady: Why is May chosen as the month in which we Read more…

By Jared Staudt, 6 yearsMay 25, 2019 ago
Art

Velázquez’s Christ in the House of Martha and Mary

I chose this painting by Diego Velázquez (1599-1660) as the first of many artifacts of Catholic culture through which I will explore Catholic cultural literacy. It certainly is not one of the most important works of Catholic art, but it represents an important concept for Catholic culture: the breaking of Read more…

By Jared Staudt, 6 yearsMarch 28, 2019 ago
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