The Fra Angelico Institute for Sacred Art

The mission of The Fra Angelico Institute for Sacred Art is to deepen the prayer life of Western and Eastern Rite Catholics by evangelizing the truth, goodness, and beauty of God through education and the prayerful creation of sacred art. People of all faiths are welcome.

Sunday, January 24th, 2021

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  • About the Founders
  • St. Joseph’s Art Workshop – Introduction and Acrylic Lessons 1 – 3
  • Workshop – Lesson 4 – Colors and Modeling

Pope Benedict 16th – Evangelization Demands Courage and the Truth

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on February 12, 2013 • ( Leave a comment )

No sooner had Pope Benedict announced his planned abdication of St. Peter’s chair when the attacks on him began to appear. I am posting on this story because the Fra Angelico Institute […]

Pope Benedict 16th and the Virtues of Humility and Patience

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on February 11, 2013 • ( 3 Comments )

May the Peace of Christ be with you on this unique day in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Today we commemorate the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes which reminds […]

Mary, The Holy Mother of God – The Sign of Our Unity

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on January 1, 2013 • ( 7 Comments )

We celebrate on this the first day of the New Year the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. Mary, by this very title, is the Holy Mother of the human […]

The Christmas Star of Bethlehem – Merry Christmas, Everyone!

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on December 24, 2012 • ( 5 Comments )

Even though the vast majority of us are not astronomers, the famous star of Bethlehem still has a great ability to intrigue us especially as it relates to its actual astronomical occurrence. […]

The Magnificat of Mary – A Beautiful Analysis By The Venerable Bede

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on December 22, 2012 • ( 1 Comment )

In this morning’s selection from the Office of Readings in the Roman Breviary, the Venerable Bede, an English monk  presents a beautiful analysis of Mary’s joy-filled song – The Magnificat. Bede was born […]

December 21, 2012 – The Archangel Gabriel’s Greeting to Zechariah

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on December 21, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

A very clear narrative greets us in the Gospel by St. Luke. He tells us that both Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were both righteous before God: walking in all the commandments […]

Gaudete Sunday In Light of the Tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on December 16, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means, “Rejoice!” – and we visualize this by the rose-colored vestments and candle in the Advent wreath. Yet, it is so difficult to rejoice in light […]

St. Lucy – Patron of the Blind

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on December 13, 2012 • ( 4 Comments )

On December 13th of every year we remember the life and death of Saint Lucy. Lucy was the virgin martyr who was put to death in the year 304 during the great […]

Our Lady of Guadalupe – An Icon of The Woman Who Will Crush The Serpent

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on December 12, 2012 • ( 2 Comments )

Today’s feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of all the Americas, recalls the apparition of our Blessed Mother on the hill of Tepeyac in present day Mexico City. This approved apparition occurred […]

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on December 9, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

Originally posted on HEARTS ON FIRE:
[“This Akathist, also called the “Akathist of Thanksgiving,” was composed by Metropolitan Tryphon (Prince Boris Petrovich Turkestanov) in 1934.  A copy was in possession of Protopresbyter…

The Immaculate Conception of Mary – The Beauty of the New Eve

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on December 8, 2012 • ( 1 Comment )

We are about to begin the second week of Advent and as you may know the word Advent has its root in the Latin word adventus which means “coming.” The liturgical term […]

What Does Charles Dickens Have To Do With St. Francis Xavier?!

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on December 3, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

The novels of Charles Dickens have always been a favorite of mine, for contained within them are so many marvelous and accurate observations of human nature. For example, in his novel The […]

The Lumen Christi Award

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on November 27, 2012 • ( 6 Comments )

Teresa Rice, prolific essayist and insightful commentator at the catholibertarian.com blog has nominated The Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts for the Lumen Christi award. This is our fourth award nomination, and […]

Our Blessed Mother’s Poverty of Spirit

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on November 26, 2012 • ( 3 Comments )

Our Gospel today (Luke 21: 1-4) asks us to reflect on how we express our love for God. At first glance, the poor woman in the Gospel looks reckless. Yet, love, regardless […]

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on November 25, 2012 • ( 5 Comments )

Thought you might enjoy my homily for this weekend’s solemnity of Christ the King: Today, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, we celebrate the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King […]

A Papal Statement: The Beauty Of Faith Is Not An Obstacle To Artistic Creation

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on November 22, 2012 • ( 10 Comments )

Wishing all Americans a Happy Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and all friends and followers of this blog a blessed and creative day. The statement below was released by Pope Benedict 16th this morning. […]

We Are All Blind – We Are All Needy

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on November 19, 2012 • ( 2 Comments )

There are three parts of this morning’s Gospel that we should highlight. The first is that the blind man is petitioning the Lord for His help. The lesson from this is that […]

Bishop Josaphat Kuncevych – A Saint of Forgiveness and Unity

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on November 12, 2012 • ( 4 Comments )

In this morning’s Gospel from St. Luke (17: 1-6) we hear Jesus imploring His disciples to teach and practice the art of forgiveness toward those who hurt and abuse us, our families, […]

St. Teresa of Avila – On Love

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on October 15, 2012 • ( 2 Comments )

On October 15th we celebrate the Memorial of the great Spanish saint and the first woman declared a “Doctor of the Church” – Teresa of Jesus, also known as Teresa of Avila. […]

The Virtues of St. Francis of Assisi – A Model For Sacred Artists

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on October 4, 2012 • ( 6 Comments )

In our celebration of the memorial of St. Francis of Assisi we must pause for a moment and examine the virtues that motivated and energized his life. We can begin by saying […]

St. Therese of Lisieux and the Christian Way of Beauty

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on September 30, 2012 • ( 7 Comments )

On October 1st we celebrate the memorial to Saint Thérèse of The Holy Face, also known as St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St Thérèse  – The Little Flower. She was born Therese Martin in […]

St. Vincent de Paul: Seeing the Poor in the Light of Faith

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on September 27, 2012 • ( 4 Comments )

On September 27th the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion celebrate the memorial of St. Vincent de Paul. St. Vincent was born in Gascony, France in 1581. After completing his studies […]

St. Robert Bellarmine, Galileo, and the Glory of God

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on September 17, 2012 • ( 8 Comments )

Today, September 17th, the Church celebrates the memorial of Cardinal Robert Bellarmine. St. Robert was born into a noble Italian family during the crisis filled 16th century – a time of great artistic […]

Our Lady of Sorrows – Seven Sorrows – Seven Graces

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on September 15, 2012 • ( 3 Comments )

Today is the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Roman Breviary tells us that in a sermon by St. Bernard of Clairvaux he explains that “The martyrdom of the Virgin is […]

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross of Jesus

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on September 14, 2012 • ( 11 Comments )

Today we celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. During the first 280 years of its life the Catholic Church was severely persecuted. The symbol of the Cross, the […]

The Most Holy Name of Mary

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on September 12, 2012 • ( 1 Comment )

This is my third post in as many days on Our Blessed Mother Mary. September is an appropriate time to remember the significance of Mary in the life of the Church and, […]

Mary – The Mystical Spouse of the Holy Spirit and the Wife of Joseph

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on September 10, 2012 • ( 8 Comments )

The question may be asked “How is the word “spouse” used in reference to Mary and the Holy Spirit? We have all read the nativity accounts of St. Matthew and St. Luke […]

The Nativity of Mary – Our Blessed Mother

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on September 7, 2012 • ( 18 Comments )

On September 8th the Church celebrates the feast of the birthday of Mary, our Blessed Mother. Tradition tells us that Mary was the daughter of Saints Joachim and Anne. She was betrothed to […]

St. Gregory the Great – Laborer in Christ’s Vineyard

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on September 3, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

Today is the feast day of Saint Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the Church. Gregory was born in the year 540 of a noble Roman family who believed in the […]

Saint Monica – Patron of Mothers

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on August 27, 2012 • ( 6 Comments )

Today is the memorial of St. Monica, the extraordinarily faith-filled mother of St. Augustine. In the year 321, Monica was born in Algeria into a family that was devoutly Christian. As a […]

The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on August 22, 2012 • ( 4 Comments )

Today is the memorial of the Queenship of Mary. Through the centuries, sacred icons and images have expressed the Queenship and Coronation of the Holy Theotokos – the Mother of God. The […]

The Assumption of Mary

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on August 15, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (8:30), sets that stage for this great solemnity: “Those God predestined He likewise called; those He called He also justified; and those He justified He in […]

Saints Pontian and Hippolytus and Our Call to Duty

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on August 13, 2012 • ( 1 Comment )

Today we celebrate the martyrdom of Saint Pontian, who was the lawfully elected successor pope to St. Callistus during the early 3rd century. St. Pontian was considered a criminal by the emperor Maximinius […]

St. Clare – Our Holy Friend and Lover of God

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on August 11, 2012 • ( 1 Comment )

The Church honors today, August 11th, the holy woman, consecrated virgin, founder and Abbess of the religious order known as the Poor Clares, and dear friend of St. Francis of Assisi. We […]

St. Lawrence – Archdeacon and Servant of Christ

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on August 10, 2012 • ( 3 Comments )

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Lawrence, a deacon and third century martyr. St. Lawrence was one of the seven deacons of Rome who served as the Pope’s ministers during Holy Mass […]

Fr. Richard Reiser’s Beautiful Icon of the Transfiguration

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on August 7, 2012 • ( 1 Comment )

The article that is found below my opening comments, and the image of the Transfiguration, is reblogged, through the courtesy of Fr. Richard Reiser, St. James Catholic Church Omaha, Nebraska. I really […]

We Receive and Give Awards – We Are Deeply Touched!

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on August 6, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

The Fra Angelico Institute for the Sacred Arts is truly honored to receive three blogging awards. Teresa Rice at Catholiclibertarian has nominated this blog for three awards: The Illuminating Blogger Award, The […]

The Transfiguration of Christ

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on August 6, 2012 • ( 2 Comments )

Today we celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This feast has been celebrated since the 5th century.          It was inserted into the general calendar of the […]

Thank You! Our One Year Anniversary!

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on August 1, 2012 • ( 10 Comments )

We are so very grateful to everyone who has visited this website over the past year. It was on August 1, 2011 that I posted my first essay. By midnight tonight over […]

St. Peter Chrysologus’ Appeal By Christ To Be Transformed

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on July 30, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

Today is the memorial of Saint Peter Chrysologus. Peter was born in the late 4th century in northern Italy. In 424, after serving as a deacon and priest in Emilia, he became […]

Summer 2012 Workshop in Painting Sacred Images – A Few Reflections

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on July 27, 2012 • ( 5 Comments )

Over the past six years I have participated in numerous workshops in sacred art and have produced a number of sacred images, each of which helped me understand the techniques of this […]

A Sacred Image – The Sun of Justice, Jesus Christ

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on July 26, 2012 • ( 11 Comments )

You are probably thinking, the poor old fellow has made a mistake in his spelling. Shouldn’t the title read “Son” of Justice? One evening a passage from Evening Prayer in the Divine […]

A Most Amicable Teacher – The Insights of Artist Robert Henri

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on July 21, 2012 • ( 2 Comments )

One of the great pleasures of life is discovering and becoming friends with people who have a similar philosophy of life – especially when it comes to understanding truth, goodness, and beauty. […]

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Calls Us To Holiness

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on July 15, 2012 • ( 4 Comments )

The book of Exodus mentions the Egyptian city of Rameses. If you travel to the Egyptian University Museum of Antiquities, in one of the side rooms, you will see two interesting artifacts: […]

Ken Jan Woo – sacred artist

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on July 9, 2012 • ( 4 Comments )

Please see my post of July 9, 2020 entitled Chinese Martyrs and the Art of Ken Jan Woo. Thank you.  

A Decisive Hour for American Catholics

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on July 4, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

Originally posted on The Fra Angelico Institute for Sacred Art:
As we approach the conclusion of the Fortnight for Freedom, we draw near to the decisive hour, an hour of decision in…

A Decisive Hour for American Catholics

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on July 2, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

As we approach the conclusion of the Fortnight for Freedom, we draw near to the decisive hour, an hour of decision in the history of our great nation; an hour which truly […]

3rd Century Bronze Medallion of Saints Peter and Paul

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on June 26, 2012 • ( 3 Comments )

In response to a valuable comment made about my post – Part 2 – Icons, Icon Painters, and Praying with Sacred Images, I thought everyone would enjoy seeing one of the oldest […]

When People Or Governments Get In Our Face

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on June 21, 2012 • ( 1 Comment )

Recently I received a rather funny email from a friend concerning a God loving Marine coming to terms with an atheist professor. It triggered, however, a serious reflection on how we, as […]

Seeds of Faith and Art

By Deacon Paul O. Iacono on June 17, 2012 • ( Leave a comment )

In our Gospel today, from St. Mark Chapter 4: 26-34, we have two important parables concerning the reign of God: the first concerns the farmer’s sowing of seed and the second refers […]

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  • Vatican Creche – 2020 – A Contemptuous Insult December 15, 2020
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