Holy Card Heaven: October 2012

All Hallow's Eve

Carefully, in the forest,
a guardian angel
leads lost children home.
Matthew Scheistl

A sweet way to brighten this night:
Saint-o-Lanterns

Guardian Angel

antique postcard

postmarked 1913 USA

I entrust him to you: keep him for all eternity.
Dopter

Guardian Angel
Antique German postcard
the artist was
Lindberg Heilige Schutzengel
TIKK publishing EGMS No 9505
circa 1908

Like the bird, our souls have wings with which to fly toward heaven.

hand colored engraving

I watch over their weakness.

I bring them out of the darkness of ignorance into the light of faith.

The Good Shepherd

Turgis

God has commanded His angels to protect you in all your ways.
Psalm 91:11

Mary's sheep shall only slake their thirst at The Savior's living fountains.

CARITAS
God is Love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him.
1 John 4:16
Bouasse Lebel M92

THE BREAD OF OUR SOUL

Come, eat the breat that I have prepared for you.

Proverbs Ch. 5

Angel of God, my guardian,
Divine mercy has entrusted me to you.
Enlighten me, lead me, guide me, govern me.
Amen

100 days indulgence

LOVE FOR LOVE
It is the whole law of Jesus.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: Memorial, Oct. 16

"Behold this Heart that has so loved men."
Bouasse Lebel

Upon her canonization, October 17 (the day of her death) was set as the memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. Following Vatican ll, in 1969 that date was assigned to St. Ignatius of Antioch, and the memorial of St. Margaret Mary was moved to Oct.16. Many continue to commemorate St. Margaret Mary on October 17.

St. Teresa of Jesus: Feast Day, October 15

“There is a Sun
in the interior
of the soul
from which
a brilliant light
proceeds..."

St. Teresa of Avila
from The Interior Castle p. 124

Sainte Thérèse
(St. Teresa of Jesus)
print from an engraving attributed to Demarteau
Art Catholique #279
6 Place St. Sulpice
circa late 1800's

The sheep who are always held close to their Pastor are the most favoured.

He feeds them with a portion of the same food with which He himself is nourished. Bouasse Lebel

Our Lady of the Holy Rosary
Each Pater is a diamond, each Ave a flower added to the crown we offer to Mary.
Bouasse Lebel 112B

Small album~
The Rosary, Our Lady's Psalter

My good Angel,

you are my guide and my tender guardian.

Boumard

ACTIVITY OF
THE GOOD ANGEL

First interior lights:

THE PRESENCE OF GOD

God sees everything...

Angel of God, intercede for me.

Our Lady of the Rosary: Feast Day, October 7

Mary, Mother of Grace and of Mercy, help me against the efforts of my enemies.

Small album~
The Rosary, Our Lady's Psalter

Saintin

Our Lady of Victory: Feast Day, October 7

Our Lady of the Rosary was known for several centuries by the alternate title of “Our Lady of Victory,” in honor of her intercession in a 16th century naval victory which secured Europe against invasion by Islam. "The rosary became the spiritual weapon of the Christians as thousands joined together in prayer on the day of the Battle of Lepanto, October 7, 1571." The Rosary was prayed from dawn to dusk and victory was won. In honor of her intercession, Pope Pius V named that day a feast day, Our Lady of Victory. This name was later changed to Our Lady of the Rosary, so both titles refer to the same event.
Read the story at this link
Another source for history Una Voce Carmel:

St. Bruno: Feast Day, Oct. 6

St. Bruno
18th cent. engraving

Link to story of St. Bruno

First Friday

I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3
...Give me your heart.
Proverbs 23:26

small album~
Sacred Heart of Jesus

St. Francis of Assisi: Memorial, Oct. 4

St. Francis
engraving late 18th. or early 19th. cent. Italy

Today Fr. Lawrence reminded us of St. Francis' love of Lady Poverty, the giving up of everything for the love of Jesus, and then he gave this beautiful understanding of the stigmata:
He said that when we are in great pain we rarely allow anyone to know what we are actually experiencing except those who are closest to us. He felt that it was possible to consider that it was because St. Francis was so close to Him, that Our Lord chose to share His greatest pain with him.

Feast of the Guardian Angels: October 2

Small album~
Holy Guardian Angels

Happy Birthday,
Fr. Lawrence!

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face: Memorial, Oct. 1

Portrait by her sister Celine (Sr. Genevieve)
commissioned in 1907
European postcard

Symbolism of harp: song of her heart as she poured out her life in prayer and sacrifice.

Saint Thérèse Home Page

Video with music:
St. Therese of Lisieux

October - Month of the Holy Rosary

October Devotion: Pope Leo XIII declared October as the Month of the Holy Rosary

Feast Days in October

October 2nd. - Guardian Angels (M)
October 4th. - St. Francis of Assisi (M)
October 6th. - St. Bruno, Oct. 6
October 7th. - Our Lady of the Rosary (M)
October 7th. - Our Lady of Victory (M)
October 17th. (now 16th) St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
October 18th. - St. Luke, the Evangelist (M)

Carmelite Feast Days in October

October 1st. - St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face: Memorial, Oct. 1
October 15th. - St. Teresa of Jesus, Memorial, Oct. 15

Small Albums ~ October

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.

October 17th. (now 16th) St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Followers