17 POSTS.
FEATURE Image: Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430-1516). St. Francis in Ecstasy, c. 1475-1480, 49 1/16 x 55 7/8 in. (124.6 x 142 cm), Frick Collection, New York. https://collections.frick.org/objects/39/st-francis-in-the-desert?ctx=852c9ba455cb52cd75e5f9beca0c0713376389db&idx=4 – retrieved May 28, 2026. Francis is shown receiving the stigmata in a natural mystical light surrounded by a variety of animals. Bellini’s setting for this religious event that took place in September 1224 is a valley in the Venetian countryside (it took place in Umbria), with a small hilltop town in the background and Francis standing outside his hermit’s dwelling. Saint Francis is said to have composed his Canticle of Creatures also in late 1224, considered one of the first masterpieces of Italian verse. The 1470’s saw Bellini produce his most glorious landscapes including the warm and glowing St. Francis at the Frick. Specific details about this painting’s provenance are speculative. It is presumed to have been painted in the late 1470’s for Venetian patrician Zuan Michiel and was destined for the monastery of San Francesco del Deserto on a remote Venetian island. By 1525, the painting hung in the palace of Taddeo Contarini in Venice. see- https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/bellini_giorgione – retrieved December 17, 2024.
UNITED STATES. The NATIONAL SHRINE OF ST. JUDE in Chicago is the church where Danny Thomas, entertainer and founder of St. Jude Children’s Hospital, came to have his prayer intentions answered – as have thousands of others across the globe – by this patron saint of “hopeless cases.”
FEATURE Image: The many prayer intentions received at the National Shrine of St. Jude in Chicago are placed at the patron of hopeless cases’ devotional altar in the main sanctuary. These petitions are remembered at the National Shrine’s Masses and devotional prayers throughout the years. June 2018 80% 7.76mb DSC_9191. Author’s photograph. The National Shrine…
Metropolitan of Liverpool, Derek Worlock (1920-1996), ecumenical leader in Britain.
FEATURE image: Archbishop Derek Worlock, sculpture Liverpool. “Archbishop Derek Worlock, sculpture Liverpool” by mira66 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Derek Worlock: Archbishop of Liverpool Derek Worlock (February 4, 1920 – February 6, 1996) was an English priest of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Liverpool. A leading figure in post‑war British Catholicism, he became…
Forty Days of Rain: Winchester’s Saint Swithun’s Day Tale That Inspired Jane Austen’s Final Poem.
FEATURE image: The shrine of Saint Swithun (or Swithin) in Winchester Cathedral in England, The official name of the old minster or mynster ( from monasterium) is the Cathedral Church of Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint Swithun. Since July 15, 971 the shrine at the grave of St. Swithun has been inside…
FRANCE. ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, Bishop of Geneva, Switzerland (1567-1622).
FEATURE Image: St. Francis de Sales, 18th c, Besançon, 96 x 131 cm. Public Domain. Saint Francis de Sales sitting in front of a copy of his work, “Introduction to the Devout Life,” oil on canvas, c.1790s, 77 cm x 99.5 cm, unknown artist. Hovering above the 17th century French Catholic bishop, saint, and Doctor of…
Ten miles west of Chicago: A Miraculous Crucifix in Hillside, Illinois, where the Virgin Mary is reported to have appeared in the 1980s and other unexplained “miracles.”
FEATURE Image: Old Testament prophets window, Mausoleum, Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois. This is one of scores of original stained glass and artifacts in the mausoleum in Chicago’s near western suburbs. The crucifix today is located in a southern section of Queen of Heaven cemetery in Hillside, Illinois. The cemetery is almost 500 acres…
UNITED STATES. My Art Photography: BIAGIO GOVERNALI, Bronze Doors, Mysteries of the Rosary (2004)—Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, Chicago, IL.
FEATURE IMAGE: Dedicated by Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. on October 11, 2004, the three sacred bronze doors – East, West, and Central – at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago, IL, are by Italian artist Biagio Governali, native of Corleone, Italy, and depict the mysteries of the Rosary. CENTRAL Bronze Door: Sorrowful…
Wisdom of the Heart.
FEATURE image: 16th century/Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), The Daoist Immortal Lü Dongbin (detail), artist unknown, China. Philadelphia Museum of Art. Public Domain. The Secret of the Golden Flower is a Chinese Taoist book about Neiden, or inner alchemy. It provides an array of physical, mental, and spiritual practices that Taoist initiates use to prolong life. The…
ITALY. ST. PEREGRINE LAZIOSI (1260-1345) is patron saint of those suffering from CANCER and other life-threatening maladies. The saint’s image often shows him exposing his tumorous leg that was miraculously cured. His National Shrine is in Chicago.
FEATURE image: December 2013. At the National Shrine of St. Peregrine at Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica on Chicago’s west side is a painting attributed to the late 17th century painter, Gregorio Lazzarini (1665-1740) entitled Jesus the Healer; St. Peregrine, OSM the Helper. The artwork depicts the healing miracle of his tumorous leg experienced by…
ITALY. POPE ST. JOHN XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli), 1881-1963. (11 Quotes).
FEATURE image: Pope St. John 23 (1881-1963). “Pope John XXIII” by jimforest is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. “Giovanni, why don’t you sleep? Is it the Pope or the Holy Spirit who governs the church? It’s the Holy Spirit, no? Well, then, go to sleep, Giovanni!” Wit and Wisdom of Good Pope John, collected by Henri Fesquet. One…
The Book of JOSHUA (Books of the Bible).
FEATURE image: Marc Chagall, Moses Blesses Joshua, Lithograph on paper, 1966. Introduction by John P. Walsh. Begins Israel’s story of the conquest of Canaan (1405 BCE) The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible. It is the same for Christians in the Old Testament. It is the first book of…
BRITAIN. ST. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, Cardinal and Doctor of the Church (1801-1890).
N.B. – Vatican City, July 31, 2025 (UPI) — Pope Leo XIV will bestow St. John Henry Newman, the influential 19th-century Anglican convert, with the honor of “Doctor of the Church” [today].” Cardinal Newman was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 and canonized by Pope Francis in 2019. With Pope Leo XIV’s action Card.…
LOW COUNTRIES. Dachau Prisoner and Martyr: Blessed TITUS BRANDSMA, O. Carm., Catholic scholar and journalist.
FEATURE image: Titus Brandsma, a Dutch educator, journalist and priest, had been appointed by the Catholic Bishops in Holland as their chief spokesman to defend the freedom of Catholic education and the press. The 60-year-old Carmelite was arrested in Holland by the Nazis in early 1942 and killed by lethal injection (carbolic acid) in Dachau…
ITALY. St. Francis of Assisi and the plenary PORTIUNCULA INDULGENCE: since 1216, from sunset of August 1 to sunset of August 2.
FEATURE image: Detail from St. Francis Receiving the Franciscan Order from Pope Honorius III by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494). The fresco, painted in the mid1480s (1483-85), was originally for Santa Trinita in Florence, Italy. It is today in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. Ghirlandaio’s complete fresco image is included in this post below. Giotto (1267-1337),…
UNITED STATES. My Art Photography: THE SHRINE OF CHRIST’S PASSION, St. John, Indiana. (73 Photos & Video).
FEATURE image: (detail) Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene, John 20:11-18. INTRODUCTION One hour’s drive (about 40 miles) south of downtown Chicago—and 90 minutes drive from the University of Notre Dame near South Bend, Indiana—is The Shrine of Christ’s Passion. Within a 30-acre site whose landscaped rocks, hills, and trees envelop the visitor, the shrine is…
BELGIUM. My Architecture & Design Photography: 11th century COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. GERTRUDE, in Nivelles, Belgium, designed by an anonymous architect, is named for the patron saint of cats, gardeners, and travelers.
FEATURE image: The Westwork of the Collegiate Church of St. Gertrude in Nivelles, Belgium, fronts an expansive historical building of the 11th century. Nivelles is an ancient settlement about 25 miles south-east of Brussels in Belgium’s French-speaking region of Wallonia. Author’s photograph. March 1992. WHO IS ST. GERTRUDE OF NIVELLES, PATRON SAINT OF CATS, GARDENERS AND…
FRANCE. Martyr-Maid of France, St. JOAN OF ARC (1412-1431), in paintings.
FEATURE image: King’s Coronation at Reims Cathedral. France was divided in the early 15th century when a teenage girl called Joan of Arc heard her Voices with their explicit instruction for her to go to the French royal court to aid France as a warrior-maid. For a young girl to dress and act as a…
AUSTRIA. BL. FRANZ JÄGERSTÄTTER (1907-1943): Austrian Farmer, Husband and Father, Conscientious Objector in World War II, and Martyr.
FEATURE image: Detail of Franz Jägerstätter on a motorbike in St. Radegund, Austria, in 1940. By John P. Walsh October 26, 2017/updated July 15, 2021. In his 17-minute speech at the TED conference in April 2017, Pope Francis talked about the importance of human interdependence, equality, and inclusion. Perhaps surprisingly, the pope stressed the power…
Stage & Screen. ITALY. St. Francis of Assisi and the leper depicted in “The Flowers of St. Francis” (1950) by Italian filmmaker ROBERTO ROSSELLINI (1906-1977).
FEATURE Image: Saint Francis kissing the leper, Zacarías González Velázquez, oil on canvas, c. 1787, 217×264 cm, Prado. The painting is part of a serial of thirty-three scenes on the “Life of Saint Francis” commissioned for the Basilica of Saint Francis the Great in Madrid done by multiple Spanish painters. The artist was inspired by…
FRANCE. God Cherishes Simplicity: A Brief Account of the Life of SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX (French, 1873-1897).
FEATURE image: Thérèse Martin (St. Thérèse of Lisieux) at 15 years old in a photograph taken in October 1887. By John P. Walsh October 1 is the feast day of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (French, 1873-1897), one of only four women “doctors” in the Roman Catholic Church, and popularly known as The Little Flower of Jesus.…
