Holy Card Heaven

Monday, June 25, 2012

THE DIVINE ARBOR
It is I who take care of you.
Bouasse Lebel

Saturday, June 23, 2012

FOR ALL IS THE
HEART OF JESUS OPEN

Resting Place in the Wild

The Heart of Jesus is a place of peace for the poor wanderer through this life.

L. Turgis 589

Friday, June 22, 2012

The Perfect Gifts of the Heart of Jesus

Faith that illumines, Hope that consoles, Love that vivifies.

Bouasse Lebel 3005

Thursday, June 21, 2012

RETURNING TO JESUS
You have lighted my
heart, O, my God,
it traveled...
it is Yours.
Turgis

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

O. HEART OF MY GOD
always open to receive souls,

receive me,
that I am one with you at last.

Bouasse Jeune

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

There

in recollection

and solitude

in the Heart of Jesus
I lose myself.

hand painted

Monday, June 18, 2012

My God, receive me into your Divine Heart.
Bouasse Lebel

Sunday, June 17, 2012

REFUGE OF THE DOVE

I wish to hide you in my Heart, faithful soul, my good friend.

L. Turgis

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Immaculate Heart of Mary (M) June 16, 2012

Holy Heart of Mary

FAITHFUL FRIEND
Bouasse Lebel

Friday, June 15, 2012

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Bouasse Lebel 3000

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

St. Anthony of Padua, June 13

About
St. Anthony of Padua
Petithenri, Paris

To rest on your heart, O Jesus. is all my happiness

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The love of Jesus for us
equals its power.
Bouasse Lebel 1035

Take and eat, this is my body.

Take and drink, this is my blood.

Monday, June 11, 2012

My Sweet Jesus, I give You my heart.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Feast of Corpus Christi ~ June 10, 2012

This is My Body
BREAD OF HEAVEN
Support my strength to do good.
Bouasse Lebel 3350

Small Album:
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Saturday, June 9, 2012

St. Joseph,
Protector of Carmel

Sacred Heart of the Child Jesus with St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church.

Friday, June 8, 2012

The Source of Graces.
Turgis

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Poor frozen soul, from the cold breath of the world
come and warm up at the Heart of Jesus.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

LOVE FOR LOVE

That is the whole law of Jesus.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The door to Heaven will be opened to the Christian soul who has been purified by Love.

Small album:

The Most Holy Trinity

Monday, June 4, 2012

Divine Heart of Jesus, save us!
Sweet Heart of Jesus, be my love!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

"JESUS' LOVE GIVES US ALL A HEART AND A REASON"
"And they were all from One Heart and Will."
Flemish engraving Cornelius de Boudt (1660-1735)
Link to thoughts on the mystical symbolism in this image

"One is the
signature of God."
~ Fr. Lawrence Vadakkan

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Let us offer
to the Divine Heart
a Crown of
Love and Praise

Turgis

Friday, June 1, 2012

First Friday

The Heart,
Furnace of love where man becomes angel,

is the eternal flame that illuminates the heavens.

Santin 317

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

There is all my happiness.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Prayer to Mary reassures, consoles.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Feast of Pentecost

Small album Come, Holy Spirit!
links to homilies
Taize chant: Veni Sancte Spiritus!

Have a blessed day, full of joy!

Friday, May 25, 2012

O, my Mother, guard innocence.

Bouasse Lebel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi: Memorial, May 25

St. Mary Magdalene de'Pazzi
Protector Carmelite Third Order
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 Magdalene de Pazzi

External Links
Life of St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi (ebook)
Index of Websites on Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi
Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi

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

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.

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.

Scheduling of the Cards and the Small Albums

Holy Card Heaven enters its seventh year on the first Sunday in Advent, 2015. 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.