The beauty and intimacy of light

St. Joseph Shrine at St. Gertrude Catholic Church, Chicago, Illinois

It’s been a while since I’ve posted to this blog, a trend I would like to reverse.  I had to post this picture from a tour of the stained glass window pieces found in St. Gertrude Catholic Church in Edgewater in Chicago, Illinois.  The lighting on this shrine is so intimate and beautiful, I had to share it.  I especially like the tender embrace of the Christ Child by St. Joseph, and the humility in his clutching the small bouquet of lilies.  It seems to me that this is a masterwork of showing how chastity (his tender and unassuming embrace of the lilies) and charity (his strong and intimate embrace of the Christ Child) can be lived, and in this image depicted, with humility and intimacy.

St. Joseph, pray for us, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!

Easter Flowers

A few images of the flowers decorating Church of the Ascension, Chicago during Eastertide 2011:

Detail from the floral arrangements on the high altar

The high altar and sanctuary arrangements

Shrine of Our Lady

The Annunciation of Our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

The Annunciation of Our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary, from Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Augusta, Georgia

 

“Hail Mary full of grace” – The Annunciation – from the Mysteries of the Rosary windows at Church of the Ascension, Chicago, Illinois

What I’m working on – Volume 1

I’ve decided to start something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while.  From time to time I’d like to give folks a “sneak peak” on some projects, both personal and professional, that I’m working on currently.  Today’s post deals with my ongoing desire to publish high-quality holy cards.  Larger than standard holy cards, they are 4 inches by 5.5 inches with a protective UV coating on the front.   First off, here is an example of one produced (as an example) for the Shrine of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, in Chicago:

Christ the Infant King holy card design: front

 

Christ the Infant King holy card design: back (including a Novena to the Infant King and a Consecration to the Infant Jesus)

 

What I’m working on currently are images from St. Peter Church in Volo, Illinois.  Here is an image of their beautiful window of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the image formatted as the front of a holy card:

 

Here is the design for the front of the holy card:

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe: Ruega por nosotros! Our Lady of Guadalupe: Pray for us!

 

 

 

St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

 

St. Agnes, Virgin, Martyr

from St. Ann Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, Florida

 

Prayer to St. Agnes of Rome:

Let us gain courage for our own battle

by honoring the martyrdom of the glorious virgin Agnes.

St. Agnes, vessel of honor,

flower of unfading fragrance,

beloved of the choirs of Angels,

you are an example to the worth of virtue and chastity.

O you who wear a Martyr’s palm and a virgin’s wreath,

pray for us that, though unworthy of a special crown,

we may have our names written in the list of Saints.  Alleluia.

 

from catholicculture.org

The Epiphany of Our Lord – The Manifestation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles

 

The Epiphany - a detail image from one of the windows at St. John Cantius Parish, Chicago, Illinois

 

“Ab oriente venerunt magi in Bethlehem adorare Dominum. Et apertis thesauris suis, aurum sicut regi magno, thus sicut deo vero, myrrhae sepulturi eius, alleluia.”

Below is my rough translation into English:

From the east there came wise men to Bethlehem to adore the Lord.  They opened their treasures: gold for the Great King, frankincense for the True God, and myrrh for his burial. Alleluia.

 

2010 in review

St. Francis Xavier - St Ann Catholic Church, West Palm Beach, Florida

 

Thank you to all who made the opening year of my blog so successful.  I have much more planned in store for this year, so keep me subscribed and share the link with others.  It’s a new year and I am looking for plenty of opportunities to work Ad majorem Dei gloriam – To the greater glory of God!

 

WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,400 times in 2010. That’s about 13 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 11 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 110 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 131mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was September 10th with 612 views. The most popular post that day was Day 4 of the pilgrimage with the Canons Regular: The Rite of Braga.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were newliturgicalmovement.org, churchartphotography.com, salvemaliturgia.com, casadesarto.blogspot.com, and tribunaonline.blogs.sapo.pt.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for fatima, lady of fatima, www.churchartphotography.wordpress.com, churchartphotography.wordpress.com, and canons regular.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Day 4 of the pilgrimage with the Canons Regular: The Rite of Braga September 2010
1 comment

2

Day 3: Opening Mass of the Sancta Missa liturgical conference in Fatima September 2010
2 comments

3

Pilgrimage to Fatima with the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius – Day 1 September 2010
4 comments

4

Day 2 of the pilgrimage to Fatima with the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius September 2010
1 comment

5

Day 5 – Solemn High Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima September 2010
1 comment

Christmastide

The Nativity from St. Ann Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, Florida

Dum medium silentium tenerent omnia, et nox in suo cursu medium iter haberet, omnipotens sermo tuus, Domine, de coelis a regalibus sedibus venit.

While all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, Thine almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven from Thy royal throne. (Wisdom 18:14-15)

(from the Introit for Sunday within the Octave of Christmas)

The Pilgrimage Photography Experience is now online!

 

Images from the pilgrimage with the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius to Portugal and Spain are now online!

To view: http://www.flickr.com/photos/92099940@N00/collections/72157625424226259/

To purchase: http://ssmithphotography.fototime.com/SJC-Pilgrimage-2010

Another preview..

Still working on the vast amount of exciting images from the pilgrimage.  Here is another one i couldn’t wait to share.  It is a statue of the Infant Christ with Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Dominic, from the courtyard of the Monastery of the Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary Pius XII, in Fatima, Portugal:

The Infant Christ with Our Lady of the Rosary, with St. Dominic. Notice the "full" rosary of 15 decades.