Holy Card Heaven: May 2014

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

You Rescue the Orphan

vers 1850, "recueillez l'orphelin"

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Jesus is Shepherd, all souls are the sheep of his fold
He knows and loves all.

May 24, Anniversary of the Ordination

of our beloved Fr. Lawrence Vadakkan

Friday, May 23, 2014

What is sweeter than putting one's whole heart

into the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Through the Mother of mercy
we have access to Jesus Christ

~St. Bonaventure Bouasse Jeune

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Faithful Guardian

I will draw all to myself

by the watchful care of my kindness.

Bouasse Lebel 1009

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

I am the Good Shepherd

Vaurs

Monday, May 19, 2014

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Oh Jesus, our friend, be Thou our guide and our protector.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Monday, May 12, 2014

Discourse of Jesus with Mary

O, Mary, let us share thy union with Jesus.

Rosa Mistica

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Happy Mothers Day!

For you, the flowers of Mary

[Ave Maria monogram]

Hand painted

Queen of Mothers

Bertin

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Sweet prayer at the feet of Mary.

Bouasse Lebel 692

Friday, May 9, 2014

The Sweet Rest of the child of Mary.

In the arms of my mother I do not fear the storm. Bouasse Lebel 545

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Repose of St. John the Theologian, May 8

St. John the Aposte by Lucas van Leyden (ca. 1490 - 1533)

The Repose of St. John Evangelist and Theologian is commemorated on May 8

in the Eastern Church

The Love of Mary.

The benedictions of the Divine Child Jesus are for those who love His Mother. ~ Fr. Faber

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Hand-colored engraving signed by artist

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Sweet Mary, Mother dear, pray for us.

Monday, May 5, 2014

I have but my heart.

Take it, O, Mary, with all its weaknesses

and fill it with grace for eternal life.

Bouasse Lebel, Paris

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Friday, May 2, 2014

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, May 1

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.

Holy Card Heaven