Catholic art tends to depict Mary Magdalene’s beauty, emphasizing her as the embodiment of a conversion from worldly pleasures and the pomp of life (drawing from her debated attribution as the woman caught in adultery). The Scriptures do testify (regardless of this attribution) that she had a dramatic conversion: “And Read more…
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…
Jesus’ words to the Pharisees often resonate with his own followers as well: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but Read more…
Statuary serves its role in the church primarily through the Crucifix: prominently displayed in almost every sanctuary and Catholic home. Although there are some statues of the Risen Christ, they do not find nearly as much prominence (and we won’t even speak of the attempts to combine the imagery of Read more…
“God is dead and we have killed him.” Nietzsche is right once a year. The horror of the death of Christ for our sins, marred beyond recognition, and the responsibility we bear for this suffering, should touch us deeply. Although the terror of the death of God gives way to Read more…