Holy Card Heaven: July 2012

The Divine Arbor

The blood of Jesus
revivifies the earth.

St. Martha, Feast Day July 29

Martha, Martha,
one thing only is needful.
St. Augustine's sermon
on Martha and Mary

Feast of St. Martha

Nest of the Dove
I will retire into solitude and there I will listen to what the Lord tells me.
Letailler

Oh, that I had the wings of the dove

for I would fly away and be a rest.

small album: Holy Card Retreat

Sts. Joachim and Anne, Feast Day, August 26

Joachim: the name means, God prepares

Anne: the name means grace

Honored by both the Church in the East and in the West on this date, Sts. Joachim and Anne are also are celebrated as Protectors of the Carmelite Order.

Small Album:
St. Joachim and Anne

The Hospitable Rooftop.

They were hungry.
I have satisfied their longing.

Bouasse Lebel 1090

Purify my soul,

O, Adorable Blood.

The Divine Master sprinkles and makes fruitful

this visit of His choice.

I am the Fountain of Living Water which brings the virtues into being.

Letaille, Paris

Mother of Divine Grace: Feast Day July 23

Mother of Divine Grace
( Our Lady of the Bowed Head )
Vienna, Austria
Link
to story of the miraculous image.

Not content to die, to be our victim, Jesus himself gives us the food divine.
He bleeds for us, his blood pouring milk to wash and feed his timid children.

The Blood of Jesus Christ
Lejeune, Paris

St. Elijah: Carmelite Solemnity - July 20

Please visit:
~Elijah Album~ for other engravings and devotional images of the prophet and links to the Bible narrative

The Holy Prophet of God Elias, Leader and Father of the Carmelite Order

Inscription in cave where, according to Carmelite tradition, Elijah stayed: "Hanc aliquando speluncam incoluit Maguns illa Prophetarum Dux et Pater Elias Thesbites". Latin for "in this cave stayed occasionally the great leader and father of the prophets Elijah the Tishbite ".

Carmelite Series III no.33

Source of Grace, I come to drink from your divine waters.
Langlume

THIS IS THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY

THE SINS OF THE WORLD

Divine Blessings

JESUS NOURISHES OUR SOUL WITH HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD

What greater proof of love could Jesus give us than the sacrifice of himself?

Basset

The Lamb conducts to the fountains of Living Water those whose robes are washed white in His Blood.

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: July 16

O.L. of Mount Carmel Pray for Us

K. van de Vyvere - Petyr Brugge

Novena Prayer

La Bruna: Crowned by Vatican decree on July 11, 1875

Link to: La Bruna (The Virgin of Tenderness, or Eleousa) the earliest image venerated by the Carmelite Order with history of the miraculous icon from the writing of Carol Cruz.

References to La Bruna on the internet often link to The Marian Library at Dayton Universiy. Unfortunately, the author of the article cites no sources to support his subjective interpretation of La Bruna.

For those who want sound teaching on the meaning of icons, the following books are foundational: Art of the Icon: A Theology of Beauty by Paul Evdokimov and Fr. Steven Bigham
The Meaning of Icons, by Vladimir Lossky with Léonid Ouspensky
Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying With Icons by Henri J.M Nouwen

St. Benedict, Father of Monasticism: Feast Day March 21 / July 11

St. Benedict's Summer Feast Day

3rd Day Novena to O.L. of Mt. Carmel

Novena Prayer

2nd Day Novena to O.L. of Mt. Carmel

Novena Prayer

A Powerful Prayer
to be said before praying:
"Almighty Father,
I place the Precious Blood of Jesus before my lips
before I pray,
that my prayers may be purified
before they ascend to Your divine altar."
~St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
Carmelite

From the small album, Prayer Light

Novena to O.L. of Mt. Carmel begins today

Novena Prayer

Small album of Our Lady of the Scapular

With Mary the Mother of Jesus
Scapular Message of Joseph Chalmers O.Carm, Prior General Camilo Maccise OCD, Superior General

Podcasts of Novena to O.L.of Mt. Carmel - Missouri Carmel

The Blessed Eucharist is the Testament of the Heart of Jesus.

Turgis, Paris

First Friday

The Heart of Jesus gives us the torrent of graces.

Turgis

The Blood of Jesus Christ
Lejeune, Paris

THE FAITHFUL SHEEP

Thirst quenched

The faithful sheep quenches its thirst at the life-giving sources
of the Savior.

Precious Blood of our Redeemer, it is by you that our souls will be saved.

Langlume

Christ loves us and washes us in His Blood.
hand-painted illumination

St. Thomas the Apostle, Feast Day, July 3

Precious Blood of Jesus: Feast Day, July 1

It is by the virtue of My Blood,

that the heart is purified and absolved.

Turgis

Seven Offerings of the Precious Blood

JULY: Devotion The Precious Blood

Feasts in July:
1. Most Precious Blood of Jesus: (S) July 1
11. St. Benedict, Father of Monasticism 7/11
22. St. Mary Magdeline, Feast Day, 7/22
29. St. Martha: (M) 7/29

Carmelite Feasts in July:
8. Novena begins to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 7/8
11. Anniversary ~ La Bruna:The Virgin of Tenderness, Crowned by Vatican decree, July 11, 1875
16. Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel OCD (S) 7/16
20. St. Elijah, Prophet OCD (M) July 20 (Elijah is Father of the Carmelite Order)
23. Our Lady of Divine Grace (O.L. of the Bowed Head): OCD Memorial 7/23
26. Sts Joachim and Anna OCD (M), 7/26 (Joachim & Anne are Protectors of the Carmelite Order)

SMALL ALBUMS July:
The Precious Blood of Jesus
The Pelican of Heaven
Living Water

Nestling Doves

Holy Card Retreat

CARMELITE ALBUMS:
Carmel, the Order of the Virgin
Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel
Novena Prayer
St. Elijah, Prophet and Father of the Carmelite Order
Our Lady of Divine Grace
Sts Joachim and Anna Parents of the Blessed Virgin and protectors of the Carmelite Order

WELCOME TO HOLY CARD HEAVEN

One of our favorite holy cards says simply, "Heaven is the home of loving souls." In a way, an album of holy cards is like a little heaven; the truth that inspired the cards greets us anew with each tender image, and we feel at home. Little by little I hope to bring together a collection of this gentle faith art for the delight and comfort of any loving soul who happens by.

Ethereal messengers of God's Love and Light, the small engravings that gather here fly in day by day. Little paper shrines that shelter the sacred, they are gathered here in the hope of sharing their beauty and meaning with another generation. To those who love them, they have much to give; like time spent in a restful garden, they are a feast for the eyes and a feast for the soul.

This gentle art can be used today to enter safely into the inner landscape allowing its imagery to guide the soul. Visual poetry employing symbol and metaphor as carriers of meaning, the path to which they invite us is always one in which God's own Love leads the way.

You can click on an image to enlarge it and see the artist's loving attention to detail. It is especially meaningful to be able to see the faces at a higher resolution. In many of the images, the sweetness of expression is at once joyful and serious, and, for a brief moment, we seem to draw close to the Presence of pure goodness, pure happiness.

The blessing I ask for any who come this way is again taken from a favorite holy card: "May a tender Friendship surround you always, and may all your days be a smile of heaven."
Fr. François Fénelon

About the Cards in this Collection

While some are from Italy, Germany, the Netherlands or other parts of Europe, Paris was perhaps the main place of publication. Dates are seldom available but most are from the mid 1800's to the close of that century. The depiction of persons is Eurocentric, but the symbols in the early holy cards are universal and inclusive: the image of the Heart as symbol for the incarnation of divine love, the image of the small bird as a symbol for the human soul eager but fragile and in constant need of God's love and care, the Living Water, the garden enclosed, the door that opens into Light... through visual poetry, the early holy cards continue to speak a language that reaches across the barriers of time and space and can be received by everyone.

Our favorite holy card illustrates the hope we hold as Christians that the door to heaven will be opened to the soul refined by love. It is the refinement of the soul by divine love that the art of the holy cards helps us to contemplate. The card has an engaving of the dove in flight into the mystery of Trinitarian love. The Uncreated Light overlaid by the symbol for the Holy Trinity is at the heart of the card. The writings of the early fathers, as well as those of the the Carmelite saints and Christian mystics throughout the ages - both in the Church in the east and the west - help us to approach the mystery of Trinitarian love not only as the theological underpinning of Christian belief but also as the action of the Spirit of Love in and through which we live and move and have our being.

Scheduling of the Cards and the Small Albums

Holy Card Heaven enters its fourth year on the first Sunday in Advent, December 2, 2012. Day by day the cards will continue to be moved into the new church year depending for their placement on the dates of the movable feasts and seasons. This way no cards need get lost in the distant past, new cards can be added, and we can appreciate the collection a little differently with each passing year.
Small Albums, each with a different topic, will change from month to month and will be linked in the top right column.

JULY: Devotion The Precious Blood

Followers