The darkness of our time often feels like a liturgical anti-incense, a dense smog that can be only temporarily fanned away before quickly returning to choke us again. This metaphor is a ripe one for Catholic lay action, because while …
Category: Art
A Hidden Renaissance: The First Annual Catholic Art Guild Conference in Chicago
All photos courtesy of Ruth Durkin. On the Feast of the Christ the King, the center of the faithful Catholic world was briefly focused on the Drake Hotel in Chicago, IL, as over 200 members of the Catholic Art Guild, …
Why Are We Making Our Children the Victims of Bad Religious Art?
Walking out of church this week, I noticed a pile of free children’s pamphlets/Mass supplements at the door. I was so annoyed by this smushy and blobby cover that I picked it up to see if the inside was just …
The Making of a Saint Statue
This summer, our little family has been blessed by the generosity of neighbors who also happen to be fellow Catholics. Both of these neighbors – a husband and a wife – are gifted artists. H. Reed Armstrong and Roxolana Armstrong …
An Advent Gift: An Interview with Michael O’Brien
Perhaps the most prolific living Catholic author in the English language, Michael O’Brien has been thrilling us with theologically rich and emotionally poignant works of fiction for over twenty years. He recently returned to finish one of his most popular …
Invention and Exaltation: A Lecture by Artist Daniel Mitsui
The following is a lecture given by artist Daniel Mitsui on 14 September 2015, to open an exhibit of his artwork at Franciscan University of Steubenville. INVENTION and EXALTATION I wish you a very happy feast. This is a special …
On the Catholic Art of the Printed Book – Part III: Parisian Books of Hours
This is the third installment of a multi-part series. You may find each part here: Part I – Part II – Part III A Book of Hours was the essential guide to devotion for a literate Catholic layman of the late Middle Ages, from the …
A Pearl in the Desert: San Xavier del Bac
I arrive at the Mission, having driven past the casino and its glittering billboard, stucco and neon mixing garishly among the saguaro. I’ve come to take pictures of this beautiful but challenging monument, indulging my photographic interest in a place …
Have Altar – Will Travel
Several years ago my Pastor, Fr. Dennis Gordon, FSSP, asked me if I would build him a portable altar to house an altar stone from the Cristeros era. He had seen some of my carpentry skills through work I had done at …
On the Catholic Art of the Printed Book, Part II: Block Books
This is the second installment of a multi-part series. You may find each part here: Part I – Part II – Part III The printing press reduced the cost of book production in late medieval Europe enormously. But printed books did not altogether replace illuminated …