Novena for the Church – Day Two
For The Gift of Prayer particularly Sacred Art
Heavenly Father,
How grateful we are for the gift of the Catholic faith. Help us, we pray to recognize, no matter how tattered or torn the world may become, nor how broken we find the faithful, the Church you created to unify us will always persevere. Father, we beg for the grace not only for ourselves but for all the world, to have eyes to see and ears to hear the beauty, like that depicted in sacred art, offered through the Catholic Faith.
Today, we pray to allow our eyes to be conduits of your grace. As we look upon the stories told by artists, in their paintigs, prints, and sculptures, may our hearts be moved. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, guide us through Sacred Art as a means of catechesis, inspiration, but most importantly, a way to connect in a deeper way to you.
(Include Your Intentions Here)
Offer One Each: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Sacred Art: Encountering the Pietà and more
A Snippet of Kimberly Cook’s Sacred Art Post:
Awe for Michelangelo’s Pietà was something that every art historian, scholar, and apprentice alike has shared from the time of its creation. Its stone magnificence gave life to the most beautifully significant posture of the mother of God cradling her son Jesus’ lifeless body in her lap that the world had ever known.
Awe can sometimes seem like an understatement, or at least that’s how I felt when I first walked through the doors of St. Peter’s basilica. It was sheer magnificence, a reflection of perfection, and almost too much to behold. I didn’t know it at the time, but only feet away from me stood Michelangelo’s prided sacred art.
Yet, my eyes took me higher and higher up the walls and ceilings…
Optional For Today: Choose one of the sacred images Kim mentions in her article, to spend some time in Visio divina (“divine seeing”) with:
- Michelangelo (Creation of Adam, Pietà, Last Judgement),
- Leonardo da Vinci (Last Supper),
- Rembrandt (Prodigal Son),
- Caravaggio (Calling of St. Matthew),
- Raphael (Madonna, Transfiguration),
- El Greco (Burial of Count of Orgaz),
- Jean-Francois Millet (The Angelus),
- Salvador Dali (Christ of St. John of the Cross),
- William-Adolphe Bouguereau (L’innocence, Song of the Angels).
