It has been said that we are living between times – between Advents – in the times between Christ’s first coming – as an infant in the manger, and His second coming […]
God’s Playfulness – Video and Verse
If you have a moment, click on this link, expand the very brief video to full screen, then sit back and enjoy the playfulness of God and the gift of His creative […]
St. Francis of Assisi, Faith, and Grace
The following is my homily for the 27th Week in Ordinary time delivered at St. Francis of Assisi Church Wakefield, Rhode Island USA, October 6, 2013. The memorial of St. Francis of […]
The Virtue of Christian Responsibility
This weekend’s Gospel (26th Week in Ordinary Time) about Lazarus, and a rich man by the name of Dives, is filled with very concrete images about the virtue of Christian responsibility. Jesus’ […]
The Gospel of St. Luke 12: 49-53 – The Sword of Christ
The following is a homily that will be delivered by Deacon Paul O. Iacono at St. Francis of Assisi Church, South Kingstown, Rhode Island on the weekend of August 17/18 2013. In […]
Pentecost 2013
As we celebrate the birth of the Church at Pentecost (confer the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2 ff), we should be filled with an urgent need to obtain and, most importantly, […]
Roger of Helmarshausen O.S.B. – Theophilus the Presbyter: Part 3 – The Prologues
Last February, in Parts 1 and 2 of this article, I shared with you some thoughts on an important figure in the history of Western European art: the Benedictine monk, Roger of […]
Aidan Hart’s New Book on Sacred Iconography
The article below is reblogged from the always informative Orthodox Arts Journal. The article is the 9th in a series about sacred iconography that was written by Brother Aidan Hart, a British […]
St. Peter’s Affirmation of His Love for Christ Is A Model for Us
In our Scriptures for the 3rd Sunday of Easter we have the extraordinary contrast of St. Peter’s deeds in the first reading with that of his behavior in our Gospel. In the first […]
Evgeny Baranov’s Miniature Icons and Rashid and Inessa Azbuhanov Icon Carvings
My sincere thanks to Jonathan Pageau at the Orthodox Arts Journal, http://www.orthodoxartsjournal.org/, for permission to repost his wonderful presentation of the sacred icon miniatures of Russian artist Evgeny Baranov and the spectacular icon wood […]
Easter 2013
“The splendor of Christ risen from the dead has shone on the people redeemed by His blood, alleluia.” “Our Redeemer has risen from the tomb; let us sing a hymn of praise […]
Good Friday
“Come, let us worship Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who redeemed us with His Precious Blood.” “If we wish to understand the power of Christ’s blood, we should go back to […]
The Last Supper – Jesus as Servant, Christ as Sacrifice: An Evening Meditation
At the Last Supper, on the night He was betrayed, our Savior entrusted to His Church the memorial of His death and resurrection. This memorial came to us through the Institution of […]
The Meaning of Lent: Repentance and Renewal
The following is a homily that was delivered at St. Francis of Assisi Church and St. Romuald Chapel in Wakefield, Rhode Island USA by Deacon Paul O. Iacono on the weekend of […]
Beauty – “The Great Legacy” of Pope Benedict XVI
I am interrupting my series on Theophilus the Presbyter and the affect he had on the development Medieval art and technology with this post that just came in from the Catholic News […]
Theophilus, the Art of Iconography, and the Contemporary Sacred Artist – Part 2
Please take a moment to read the first part of this multi-part essay that I posted a few days ago. I am requesting that you do this in order for you to […]
The Penitent Magdalene and the Way to True Conversion of Heart – A RePost Of Fr. Jason Smith’s Essay
As we begin the season of Lent I thought you would enjoy this article by Father Jason Smith. It contains a magnificent sacred image painted by George de La Tour (1593 – 1652). […]
Pope Benedict 16th – Evangelization Demands Courage and the Truth
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
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
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!
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
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
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
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 […]
Our Lady of Guadalupe – An Icon of The Woman Who Will Crush The Serpent
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 […]
The Immaculate Conception of Mary – The Beauty of the New Eve
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?!
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
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 Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
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 […]
We Are All Blind – We Are All Needy
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
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
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
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
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. Robert Bellarmine, Galileo, and the Glory of God
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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!
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
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 […]
