Category: Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Sacred Art: A Prayer to Accompany The First Theological Theme

On By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Beauty, Catholicism, Christian Ethics, Christianity, Culture, discipleship, Ethics, Prayer, Roman CatholicLeave a comment

“And only where God is seen does life truly begin.

Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is.

We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution.

Each of us is the result of a thought of God.

Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.

There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ.

There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him.”

          The above was written by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

If I may add just a few lines inspired by his thoughts:

There is nothing more beautiful than to become aware of what Jesus sacrificed for us in order to make us members of His family.

There is nothing more beautiful than when we repent of our sins, implore His mercy, and amend our lives, in love for Him.

There is nothing more beautiful than an innocent child in their mother’s womb and  being cared for by a loving parent(s).

A relevant theme: as Americans, regardless of religious creed, we need to remember the sixty million nine hundred and ninety-six thousand, nine hundred and ninety-four abortions, that is, the murder of 60 million, 996 thousand, 994 innocent children, that have been surgically murdered since the Roe vs, Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1/22/1973. This number does not include those abortions that have been chemically induced. The estimate for chemically induced abortions in the United States is approximately 250 million children.

In the United States today one abortion is performed every 20 seconds.

World statistics, which began being tabulated in 1980, total: 1,522,353,500. murdered children.

In the world today one abortion is surgically performed every second.

The source for these statistics is a non partisan reproductive health and family planning organization known as the Guttmacher Institute. These statistics, tabulated minute-by-minute, can be found at: http://www.numberofabortions.com

What can Americans do? Those that are against abortion can do three things: physically protest by legally, prayerfully, and peacefully demonstrating in front of abortion clinics and through legal and peaceful mass demonstrations. Catholic Americans that are unable to do so because of age, employment, or health concerns can prayerfully say the Holy Rosary every day. The Rosary can be found on-line by just entering the title – Holy Land Rosary. This will take you to a number of sites, some contain music, others such as the one (which I find very beautiful in its pace and view of Holy Land sites), linked here, is prayed by a Canadian Catholic priest and his Holy Land Tour group: https://youtu.be/a3Z3Sfp_0bA

You can say a prayerful Glorious, Joyful, Sorrowful, and Luminous Rosary at this site. An entire Mystery of five decades can be prayed in under 20 minutes. Save it to your phone, say it while driving or performing other tasks with the intention of interceding with Jesus and His Blessed Mother to touch the hearts of mothers and medical personnel so they do not proceed with the abortions.

A child or children’s lives depend on our prayers.

God bless your daily efforts to end this Satanic scourge of the world’s children.

Thank you.

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Closeup of the face on the Holy Shroud of Turin. At right is a forensic artist’s recreation of a potential human likeness of the image found on the Shroud.

 

Copyright © 2011- 2019 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved

Roman Catholic Sacred Art – Part Five: The First Theological Theme

On By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Art Education, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christianity, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Prayer, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred ArtLeave a comment

In the past four posts I briefly reviewed the following topics: Part 1: What is Art, Part 2: Roman Catholic Sacred Art – Categories, Part 3: Roman Catholic Sacred Art – Painting Schematic, and Part 4: Roman Catholic Sacred Art – Three Major and Minor Stages.

Today in Part 5, I would like to provide you with a brief review of a major, historically based, theological theme that directly impacts the creation of Roman Catholic and Orthodox Greek/Russian sacred art.

It is an historical fact that in the year AD 30, the Roman historian Tacitus writes in his Annals that “The Christ is condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, under the emperor Tiberius.”

It is a belief of all devout Christians that Jesus, the Son of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit, was born of the Virgin Mary. His ministry to the Israeli people was the fulfillment of Hebrew prophecy. At the end of His ministry He was unjustly tried by the Romans, condemned to death, tortured, crucified, and died in reparation for our sins. Three days after His death, through the power of the Father and the Holy Spirit, He rose from the dead and was seen and interacted with the twelve Apostles and hundreds of His disciples. Before His ascent to Heaven the Apostles are told by Jesus to “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28: vs. 19-20).

St. Paul explains to us in his letter to the Colossians (1:15) that Jesus Christ is the image, the icon (eikon) of the invisible, all powerful, God. Our foundation from the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures explains that God communicates with us through historic events, His prophets, and His Son Jesus (“God is With Us” – Emmanuel).

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6th century painting of Jesus as Pantocrator (all knowing, all powerful)

The Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, communicate among themselves, too. The Father communicates with His creation through His incarnated Son. The Father discussed His plan for our eternal salvation, with His Son, and the Son  – Jesus, the Christ, agreed to both the Father’s plan for our Redemption and His Incarnation into human history. He also agreed to humbly obey His Father’s will.

Thus, through His Incarnation, Jesus expresses his two natures: human and divine. He does this while “hiding” the full majesty of His divinity (except for His Transfiguration and Resurrection). The full ramifications of the Incarnation of Jesus is one of the great mysteries of our Faith. It demands of us humility, faith, and loving obedience to God’s revealed teachings.

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15th century painting by St. Andrei Rublev of the Holy Trinity (Jesus is in the center)

The Incarnation of Jesus Christ changed the Universe. God became flesh, thus, all matter is good. Nature’s matter – its water, mineral, plant, and animal life – and its living beings – must be enjoyed and respected in obedience to God’s Laws.

Thus, we have our first theological theme: God the Father has communicated His love and laws to us. He has achieved this through His revealed word in the Scriptures, and the ministry, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, the Christ. Our Redemption by Jesus has made it possible for the Holy Spirit – the Sanctifier – to  express the love of the Holy Trinity to us through the Sanctifying Grace of the Seven Holy Sacraments.

Through theologically based sacred art these truths come alive. We are able to experience the life of our Redeemer  and the historic life of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith. This is all made visible to us through the painting, sculpture, music, drama, literature, poetry, and architecture of two thousand years of gifted artists.

Thanks for visiting with me. My best wishes for a great weekend!

Copyright © 2011- 2019 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved

 

 

Roman Catholic Sacred Art – Three Major Stages

On By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Art Education, Benedict XVI, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Christianity, Religious Art, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Art, TeachingLeave a comment

Allow me to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I can do that because, liturgically, we are still in the Christmas Season! That Season ends this Sunday – the Baptism of the Lord.

Okay, we left off in the last post with a schematic of the discipline of painting. The previous posts also provided a simple definition of Art and its disciplines.

As we now return to our study allow me to provide you with the three “Major Periods” of Catholic Sacred Art. These Periods also impact what I, in my humble opinion, have labelled “minor stages” of sacred art. These minor stages were outgrowths and were dramatically influenced by the previous major period. The academic source for the Major Periods is Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s book: The Spirit of the Liturgy.

I labelled the other stages minor not because they are any less in value, artistic merit, or cultural import, rather, I gave them that designation because the Major Periods promoted specific Catholic theological insights. The minor stages while artistically very significant, continued the theological themes and dogmas of the previous major period.  The minor stages contributed to culture and sacred art by providing different artistic interpretations of the previous major period.

I am emphasizing that Catholic theology and its cultural environment dramatically affected Catholic sacred art. This is not a “new” insight on my part, just one that I believe should be emphasized in our studies. The beginning and end dates for the Periods below are fluid and, depending on the region of Europe you are studying, can be slightly increased or decreased in time.

My chart of the Periods/Stages is below:

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Soon I will begin posting the development of specific theological themes, and a brief explanation of the major periods and minor stages. I will provide some artistic examples, too.

Your comments and constructive criticism are always welcome.

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend.

Copyright © 2011- 2019 Deacon Paul O. Iacono. All Rights Reserved.

Art Schematic of Church Painting

On By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Art Education, Artists, Beauty, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholicism, Christianity, Education, Evangelization, painting, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Art, Sacred Artists, TeachingLeave a comment

 

This is an easier way to view the material within yesterday’s post.

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Copyright © 2011- 2018 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved

Roman Catholic Sacred Art – Categories

On By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Art Education, Catholic Art, Education, Evangelization, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, painting, Religious Art, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred ArtLeave a comment

Tonight we will use yesterday’s post as a starting point to examine Roman Catholic painting. I mentioned that there are seven disciplines within the definition of Art. One of those disciplines is painting.

As it applies to this discussion when we consider the discipline of painting we can say that there are two major categories: Roman Catholic Sacred Painting and Secular Painting.

We can then subdivide these two major categories.

Within the category of Roman Catholic Sacred Painting we have two major subcategories: Sacred Icons and Sacred Images.

I propose that there is a subcategory below Sacred Images, it is called Religious Images. I will explain in later posts the difference between Sacred Images and Religious Images.

Within the category of Secular Painting we can say that there are two subcategories. Let us call the first subcategory A Variety of Images. It consists of all the different types of paintings, made for the purpose of being “artifact, entertainment, political or social commentary, therapy, or a combination of two or more.” (Sporre, 1996; see previous post). It begins with the many generational wall and ceiling cave paintings painted by Paleolithic Man in the Vezere Valley, France approximately 17,000 years ago and continues with contemporary painters. Mankind loves to paint pictures.

The second subcategory within Secular Painting, as it applies to this discussion, is what I call Absurd Religious Images. Even though it has religious subject matter it is, in my opinion, secular art. I will provide a definition of that subcategory in an upcoming post and images which will make it recognizable.

Thanks for stopping by and spending some time here.

Copyright © 2011- 2018 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved

What is Art?

On By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Blessed Mother, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholicism, Christianity, Education, Evangelization, Mary, Mary - Our Blessed Mother, Prayer, Religious Art, Roman Catholic, Sacred Art, Virgin Mary2 Comments

Hello!  Glad to be back after a series of learning experiences which took me away from the keyboard. I see from the website’s analytics that we are still popular on a worldwide level (thank you!). I also appreciate and thank all of the hundreds of subscribers that have stayed with this blog and continue to use and enjoy the material I’ve presented and the many tens of thousands that have popped in and out over the past seven years.

Last week I made a church presentation (a power point lecture) on “Our Blessed Mother and Sacred Art Applied to Prayer.” For the upcoming weeks, during the Advent and Christmas seasons, I will be presenting to you – in short form – my lecture notes accompanied by relevant sacred and religious art. This is probably one of the busiest times of the year so I will be blogging it to you in small doses on a frequent basis. If you use any of it in your work, ministry, or studies please reference me. Thanks.

My lecture had  three major goals:

  1. What is Art and its forms of sacred, religious, and absurd religious painting?
  2. What are the major/minor stages of  sacred art within the history of the Roman Catholic Church?
  3. How do we apply sacred art, specifically in reference to the Blessed Mother, to the prayer form of Lectio Divina?

Let’s tackle the first part of the first goal: What is Art?

My perception is that art is a process in which an artist: 

  1. Creatively thinks,
  2. Makes a product (there are seven major historical disciplines in which products are made: architecture, drama, literature, music, painting, poetry, and sculpture),
  3. Intends that the product will cause a reaction/response (for the artist alone and/or from the public).

The above process occurs in all seven major disciplines of art. More recent historical artistic disciplines such as photography, computer art, grand and small scale landscape architecture possess this process, too.

Also, Professor Dennis J. Sporre has discussed that “Art has four functions: artifact, entertainment, social and political commentary, and therapy. These functions, or options, are not mutually exclusive, nor is one more important than the others” (found in his book The Creative Impulse, Prentice Hall, 4th ed., 1996. When I taught Humanities years ago this highly valuable book was one of the foundation blocks of my lectures and activities).

Tomorrow I will discuss Roman Catholic sacred art within the discipline of painting.

Thanks for joining me today.

Copyright © 2011- 2018 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved

 

 

St. Joseph’s Art Workshop: Lesson 4 – Applying Color and Modeling the Face

On By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Art Education, Artists, Beauty, Beauty built on Gospel Values, Catholic Art, Catholic Devotions, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christianity, Education, Evangelization, Faith, New Evangelization, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, painting, Religion, Religious Art, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholic Beliefs, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Art, Sacred Images, Saints, Spirituality, St. Rose of Lima, Uncategorized

Just wanted to notify the people who are following the art lessons in my St. Joseph Art Workshop tab that I just published Lesson 4: Applying Color and Modeling the Face. You need to go to the Menu tab above and click on Lesson 4 to see it.

My next post in the St. Joseph’s Art Workshop tab will be Lesson 5. It will be the last post in my Art Exercise of Painting Sacred Images using Acrylic Paint. 

Thanks.