Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

The bronze figures of Gabriel and the Virgin by Igor Mitorj are from the left-side door (completed only in 2005) of the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels and Martyrs in Rome (just beyond the Termini train station). The incomplete arms of both figures are the artist's homage to the state of the classical statues that had earlier been on display in a local museum.

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

This contemporary triptych in tropical hues invites us to draw close to the stable where we will soon find Jesus in Mary's arms:

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

Verse on the Nativity of Christ (by St Romanos the Melodist)

They look to me, those who were cast out
of the Paradise of pleasure, for I bring them back.
May all things understand that, through me, you have been born
a little Child, God before the ages.

Cathy France is a Catholic artist in Arkansas with degrees in Fine Arts and Theology.

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

Contemporary artist Caroline Jennings returns to the Annunciation frequently in her  boundary-pushing but intriguing work.

Annunciation with Yellow Dress (2006) could be a romance scene—in fact, the image is tagged with  “annunciation”, “couple” and “romantic”—but the the lily, the book resting on a stool, the prayerful pose of the woman in the yellow dress and the descending dove all evoke traditional Annunciation scenes. While the woman in the yellow dress fits within the space afforded by the canvas, Gabriel's legs and outstretched arm all extend past the boundaries the canvas provides. He is larger than life, an emissary from another realm, a fitting reminder of "things above" on this All Souls Day.

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Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

London artist Gloria Ssali specializes in African-inspired artwork and Catholic themes. She has done several depictions of the Annunciation. I wish I knew more about African art to be able to understand this image, but I do love how the Spirit is being "communicated"! 

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

Mary, her features so familiar to us from Byzantine icons, stands at a well, facing us while Gabriel walks away, his mission complete. The winter setting makes Gabriel’s scarf (or is it a wing?) both appropriate and tantalizing.

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

For tomorrow's feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos, the Troparion from the Byzantine liturgy:

Your Nativity, O Virgin,
Has proclaimed joy to the whole universe!
The Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God,
Has shone from You, O Theotokos!
By annulling the curse,
He bestowed a blessing.
By destroying death, He has granted us eternal Life.

Donna Pierce-Clark, an Ohio artist whose motto is CELEBRATING GOD'S GLORY, ONE BRUSHSTROKE AT A TIME, beautifully portrays Mary as an innocent child, prophetically intuiting the death of the son whose coming is being announced, and at the same time hearing Gabriel’s reassuring, “Do not be afraid, Mary.” It fits well with the Byzantine hymn for tomorrow's celebration of Mary's birth.

Pondering the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

"Mary is the ladder that God made for Himself, by which he descended from Heaven to earth."

Blessed James Alberione

Contemporary American artist John Lautermilch graduated from Washington University School of Fine Arts (St. Louis, Missouri) with a certificate in fine art. He has been painting for the past 60 years and has had numerous one man shows. His most recent shows were at the Missouri Botanical Garden and Componere Art Gallery in University City where he displays his work. He has completed numerous commissions in his life, the most recent was for the Lutheran Senior Services.

Pondering the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

The vivid colors of this contemporary Annunciation by Jan Oliver-Schultz  of Arizona seems perfect for a summer day. Mary's mantle is covered with stars like the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Pondering the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

Annunciation by Lina Delpero. Photo by Sr Sergia Ballini, FSP.

Lina Maddalena Delpero is an Italian iconographer.

Pondering the Angelus with Art

This week's Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is a perfect occasion to promote the prayer of the Angelus (even if very soon we will be shifting to the "Regina Coeli" of the Easter season!).

On this day, a prayer by Catherine of Siena:

Today, O Mary,
you have become a book in which our rule is written.
In you, today, is written the wisdom of the eternal Father.
In you, today, is manifested the strength and freedom of all humankind.

The mosaic of the Annunciation is from the chapel of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD missionaries) in Nemi, Italy.

The St Joseph Angelus

Previously posted on March 19, 2014

For the feast of St. Joseph (Thursday), Mary probably wouldn't mind a bit if we tweaked the Angelus meditation this week to remember the important role her spouse played in the work of redemption, and the Annunciation he also received.  

Joseph was the man closest to Christ throughout his formative years. He helped "form" Jesus for his messianic vocation. The "St. Joseph Angelus" honors him for this, using (as does the more typical Angelus prayer) the words of Scripture:

The Angel of the Lord declared unto Joseph--
--And he did as the Angel instructed him.

Have no fear to take Mary your wife into your home--
--for she has conceived by the Holy Spirit.

She is to bring forth a Son--
--and you are to name him Jesus.

Pray for us, O Blessed Joseph,
--that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that by Saint Joseph's intercession
your Church may constantly watch over
the unfolding of the mysteries of human salvation,
whose beginnings you entrusted to his faithful care.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Annunciation to Joseph, by Sieger Koder

Pondering the Angelus with Art

Photo by Sr Sergia Ballini, FSP of the Royal Doors in a hospital chapel in Romania.

Pondering the Angelus with Art

The painting by Sister Bianca Gaudiano (Sisters of St Dorothy) seems to hint at the theme of faithfulness with the mysterious addition of three visitors in the left background. That, and the green roof over Mary's head, suggests the story of Abraham and the promise he received under the terebinth of Mamre: a son would be born, despite the impossibility suggested by Sarai's barrenness and advanced age. "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

On this Solemnity of the Presentation of the Lord, the 40th day after Christmas (and traditionally the end of the Christmas season), two figures join us in contemplating Mary's "yes." Simeon and Anna, grown old in waiting for the promises of the Lord to be fulfilled, witness God's faithfulness. Blessed are they who believed!

This Annunciation scene is part of a series of miniatures in the parlor of the Sisters of St Dorothy convent in Rome.

Pondering the Angelus with Art

Annunciation Window by Cornelia Rota.

Prayer to Mary, "Cause of our Joy"

O Mary, who abandoned your soul to happiness by offering it to God,
grant that in our gift to God, our joy may be complete.

O Virgin radiant with joy, grant that we may believe in the happiness which God in his love wills to offer us.

Make joy bloom again in hearts given over to sadness;
Teach us to detach ourselves from worldly pleasures and to seek our happiness in God;
Help us to radiate the witness of Christian joy.

Through your presence in our lives, be for us the font of a joy which is ever new:
Jesus our Lord,

who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God,
forever and ever.
Amen.

Pondering the Angelus with Art

In these final days of Advent, Gabriel appears to be informing all of us of an unexpected and earth-changing event.

Contemporary Italian artist Bruno Grassi gave Sr Sergia permission to photograph his version of the Annunciation. Grassi's goal in sacred art is to create a work that makes a person "want to pray." His work frequently depicts Mary, and angels (winged or wingless, as Gabriel is here) are also common. But could you tell that this was an Annunciation if not for the title? What other insights might the painting offer before you told someone what the artist's inspiration really was?




Photo of Bruno Grassi's Annunciation by Sr Sergia Ballini, FSP; taken with the artist's permission.

Pondering the Angelus

Today's feast of Our Lady of Sorrows puts a poignant spin on our praying of the Angelus. It is clearer today that Gabriel's words ("The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father") do not presage an untroubled life and an easy victory for the one whom Mary will conceive and bear.

The image this week, in keeping with the feast, is not that of the Annunciation itself, but of the moment when Gabriel's message was made known to the wider world: the Nativity. The shadow of the Cross stands ready to receive Mary's child when the Hour comes. The depiction is by German priest and artist, Sieger Köder, well known for "hiding" images in his images. In this Nativity, look for the inscription INRI, which Pontius Pilate will order placed on his Cross: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

In the Angelus today, pray for parents who must witness the terrible sufferings of their children, especially in situations of war.

Posters, cards and meditation books on the art of Sieger Köder are available from Pauline Books & Media, UK.