Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the human heart and is that precious fruit which resists the erosion of time, which unites generations and enables them to be one in admiration...
Art must make perceptible, and as far as possible attractive, the world of the Spirit, of the invisible, of God. It must therefore translate into meaningful terms that which is in itself ineffable.
John Paul II, Letter to Artists
Our Lady of Tenderness
Icons are not just religious art but are actually the Word of God as Image. For this reason, Orthodox Iconography is written (rather than painted) according to particular canons of the Church by an Iconographer fully immersed in her life and practice. In these canons, linear time, gravity, shadows, three-dimensional space, natural perspective and human passions do not exist. An Icon is written objectively rather than subjectively, as is other art. During the process of writing an Icon the Iconographer dies to himself in order to be a vessel for Truth and purity, so the Sacred Icon can draw all who gaze upon it into the presence of the holy one depicted and be sanctified, sharing more fully in the Divinity of Christ.
Sets of 4 Icon Cards with explanations on the back of each Icon are available for purchase.
Prior to the Jubilee Year of 2000, I was ignorant about what an indulgence was and that there even was such a thing anymore! Being given the task of researching the Jubilee Year for my parish's Family Formation classes, I soon learned that a very significant part of the Jubilee Year itself was something called the Jubilee Indulgence.
The following booklet, The Indulgence A Family Treasure, is a result of what I learned during the research and actual experience of the Jubilee Year 2000. It is no understatement to say it forever changed my life. Perhaps it should not be surprising that a practice so immensely powerful and abounding in grace should be so completely misunderstood amongst both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. O Taste and See the Goodness of the Lord. Ps 38:4. The booklet has the Nihil Obstat and Impramatur and is available for purchase.
