Holy Card Heaven: September 2012

Small albums ~
To Jesus Through Mary ~ Totus Tuus

The Reefs Avioded

My child, watch with me ...

One must watch and pray without ceasing.

Small albums~

Divine Pilot

Prayer Light

Mater Dolorosa
Bensiger

Divine Shepherdess

I dare to lift my eyes toward you.
Bes & Dubreuil

The Mast and the Sail are Dressed

Take up your cross ... and be faithful
to the breath of Grace.

Happy the soul who loves me.

Bouasse Lebel 999

My heart is all shining with love.
For you the heart of my mother
was pierced with sorrow.

Small album~
Our Sorrowful Mother

The Sweet Name of Mary is my Hope and my Refuge.

Turgis

The way of the Cross leads to the divine light.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD Rejoice, for I have found my sheep that was lost. Luke 15:6
Letaille, Paris

My sheep will not perish, and no one can snatch them from my hand.

words of Jesus in John 10

Oh, Divine Shepherdess, I want to be numbered among your flock.

Good Mother, take me under your protection. L. Turgis et Fils, Paris
1032

Ask, ask, and ask again.
Jesus loves to give.
Bouasse Lebel

The Tree of Life is their refuge.

Small album~
The Holy Cross

Our Lady of Sorrows, Memorial, September 15

Small album~
Mater Dolorosa

Exaltation of the Holy Cross: Solemnity, September 14

St. Helena
J. Koppe, Prague

Link to explanation of Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Roodmas)

Small album~
Images of the Holy Cross

Carmelite Feast Day:
Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
(St. Edith Stein)

My heart is all shining with love.
For you the heart of my mother
was pierced with sorrow.

Holy Name of Mary, Feast Day, September 12

Her Name is a Prayer.

Baillard

Small album~

The Holy Name of Mary

I'll Sing a Hymn to Mary ~ sung by Richard Carney

I WILL SAIL IN PEACE
UNDER THE GUARD OF MARY

"When you find yourself tossed by the raging storms on this great sea of life, far from land, keep your eyes fixed upon this Star ... When the winds of temptation or the rocks of tribulation threaten, look up to the Star, call upon Mary!"
~ St. Bernard

Vivifying Source!

My heart is a fountain of living water
where my servants come to find strength.

Bouasse Lebel 1085

As a mother
caresses her child,
so I comfort you.

Bouasse Lebel 782B

Nativity of the Holy Virgin: Solemnity, September 8

NATIVITY OF THE HOLY VIRGIN

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The children of Mary are above all and forever the children of the Cross.

Alcan

Small Album~

Nativity of the Holy Virgin

First Friday

SACRED HEART OF JESUS, MOST HOLY AND MOST LOVING.
Bouasse Lebel 442

small album~
Sacred Heart of Jesus

Soul of My Savior sung by Richard Carney

Mary, consolation of the afflicted.
hand painted on silk

What is sweeter than putting one's whole heart into the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

The Divine Shepherdess relieves of their sufferings the sheep of her flock. Maison Basset 338

Small album~ La Divine Bergere

Our Lady, Mother of the Good Shepherd, Feast Day, Sept. 3

The Divine Shepherdess
Villemur

Background on the Feast of Our Lady, Mother of the Good Shepherd

Small album~
La Divine Bergere

The Divine Shepherdess Pannier, Paris Pl. 20-004

SHE HAS SHARED MY SORROWS
Imitate her
if you want to
share my glory.
Bouasse Lebel

Link to Carmelite Feast Day:
St. Teresa of the Sacred Heart

SEPTEMBER Devotion: Our Sorrowful Mother

Feast Days in September:

3. Our Lady Mother of the Good Shepherd (F)
8. Nativity of the Holy Virgin (S)
12. Holy Name of Mary (F)
14. Exaltation of the Holy Cross (S)
15. Our Lady of Sorrows: (M)
29. Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael (F)

Small Albums ~ September

Divine Bergere (Mother of the Good Shepherd)
Nativity of the Holy Virgin
Holy Cross
The Holy Name of Mary
Mater Dolorosa (Our Sorrowful Mother)
Faith Hope and Love

Carmelite Saints and Blessseds

September 1st. - St. Teresa Margaret Redi of the Sacred Heart - (1747-1700 ) - Virgin
September 12th. - Bl. Mary of Jesus - (1560-1640) - Virgin
September 17th. - St. Albert of Jerusalem - (c.1149-1215) Bishop and Lawgiver of Carmel

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.

Feast Days in September:

Followers